Main
About the Course
Personalised machine learning (PML) is a sub-field of machine learning that aims to create models and predictions based on the unique characteristics and behaviours of individual entities. While PML is commonly used in applications such as recommender systems, which recommend items to users based on their personal interests, its principles can be applied to a wide range of other fields, including education, medicine, and chemical engineering.
In this course, we will explore the latest PML methods from theoretical, algorithmic, and practical perspectives. Specifically, we will focus on cutting-edge models that are of interest to both the research and commercial communities.
This course is designed for students seeking an advanced understanding of personalised machine learning methods and a practical introduction to applied and/or fundamental research in the field. The course is also suitable for those seeking an initial foray into research.
By the conclusion of the course, students are expected to have developed a thorough understanding of personalised machine learning models and the practical skills and knowledge necessary for developing such models in research and commercial contexts. Moreover, it is expected that the course project should result in a scientific paper (submission is not required) or a practical solution that can be publicly shared and added to the student’s portfolio.
Lectures
| Week | Date | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21.09.2026 | Intro & Organisation / PML Concepts | TBA |
| 2 | 28.09.2026 | Public holiday – no lecture | – |
| 3 | 05.10.2026 | Matrix Factorisation Methods | Slides (WS25) / Materials (WS25) |
| 4 | 12.10.2026 | Similarity-based Methods | Slides (WS25) / Materials (WS25) |
| 5 | 19.10.2026 | Autoencoders for Collaborative Filtering | Slides (WS25) |
| 6 | 26.10.2026 | Deep Learning Methods for Personalisation | Slides (WS25) |
| 7 | 02.11.2026 | Evaluation of PML | Slides (WS25) |
| 8 | 09.11.2026 | CIKM conference – no lecture | – |
| 9 | 16.11.2026 | TBA | TBA |
| 10 | 23.11.2026 | Project: First Experiments (at least the baselines) | – |
| 11 | 30.11.2026 | Ethics in PML | Slides (WS25) / Paper |
| 12 | 07.12.2026 | Practical Aspects (Guest Lecturer) | – |
| 13 | 14.12.2026 | Project Presentation (Poster) | – |
Tutorials
| Week | Date | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21.09.2026 | Introductory Tutorial | Materials (WS23) |
| 2 | 28.09.2026 | Public holiday – no tutorial | – |
| 3 | 05.10.2026 | Project Topic / Matrix Factorisation | Materials (WS26) |
| 4 | 12.10.2026 | Project: Related Works, Motivation, Novelty and Baselines | – |
| 5 | 19.10.2026 | Project Discussion | TBA |
| 6 | 26.10.2026 | Project: Proposed Methodology and Evaluation | – |
| 7 | 02.11.2026 | Compresso | TBA |
| 8 | 09.11.2026 | CIKM conference – no tutorial | – |
| 9 | 16.11.2026 | Scalability | TBA |
| 10 | 23.11.2026 | Project: First Experiments (at least the baselines) | – |
| 11 | 30.11.2026 | Project Tutorial | – |
| 12 | 07.12.2026 | TBA | TBA |
| 13 | 14.12.2026 | Project Presentation (Poster) | – |