How can academics use large language models in writing without giving up originality, rigor, or accountability? This was the central question at the workshop “Responsible Use of LLMs in Academic Writing”, held on Monday, July 20, 2026, at the Hörsaal Rundbau in Freiburg. The event brought together perspectives from dissertation research, manuscript preparation, scholarly publishing, […]
From June 29 to July 1, our doctoral researchers came together in the Black Forest for the SMART Retreat 2026. In preparation for this year’s SMART Retreat, early career researchers met on June 18 to pitch a rich variety of topics for the Writing/Coding/Collaboration/Discussion (WCCD) sessions. During this preparation meeting, the pitches were refined: topics […]
How can academics use large language models (LLMs) responsibly without compromising originality, rigor, or trust? This workshop brings together perspectives from dissertation research, manuscript preparation, scholarly publishing, and mathematics to explore how LLMs are changing academic writing. Speakers will discuss how AI tools can support learning, critical thinking, innovation, and more efficient writing processes, while […]
On May 4, 2026, SMART Master Lab Cohort 3.0 came together for its kick-off day at IMBI. The program opened with SMART PI Nadine Binder, who introduced the SmallData / SMART context, followed by SMART Coordinator Iván Acevedo, who outlined structure, goals and timeline of the program. A central part of the day was the exchange between students […]
ISCB GMDS 2026 invites you to secure your place at the conference. Find out all details and access the registration platform via the official website: Conference Registration and Fees | ISCB GMDS Annual conference 2026 We’re happy to announce that the CRC 1597 Small Data will be working with ISCB GMDS 2026 to bring you the SmallData […]
How can academics use large language models in writing without giving up originality, rigor, or accountability? This was the central question at the workshop “Responsible Use of LLMs in Academic Writing”, held on Monday, July 20, 2026, at the Hörsaal Rundbau in Freiburg. The event brought together perspectives from dissertation research, manuscript preparation, scholarly publishing, […]
The Autumn School “Facing the Gender Data Gap” (October 6–10, 2025), a joint initiative of the Centre of Anthropology and Gender Studies, the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Freiburg, the Gender Equality Office of the Faculty of Medicine, and the CRC 1597 Small Data, has been awarded the Bertha Ottenstein Prize 2026! […]
The 43rd International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) took place on July 6–11, 2026, in Seoul, South Korea. We’re proud to announce that SmallData researchers took the opportunity to showcase their work in this prestigious conference. “End-to-End Compression for Tabular Foundation Models” by our PI Josif Grabocka and our doctoral researcher Guri Zabërgja was selected as a spotlight, which represents the top […]
From June 29 to July 1, our doctoral researchers came together in the Black Forest for the SMART Retreat 2026. In preparation for this year’s SMART Retreat, early career researchers met on June 18 to pitch a rich variety of topics for the Writing/Coding/Collaboration/Discussion (WCCD) sessions. During this preparation meeting, the pitches were refined: topics […]
The recent progress in artificial intelligence has been facilitated by big data volumes and data-driven modeling approaches. However, there is a much larger number of applications where data analysis has to be performed with a relatively small number of observations. This can be addressed with knowledge-driven approaches, such as differential equations that incorporate biomedical domain knowledge, or by adapting data-driven approaches, e.g., neural networks, or ideally by combining the two types of approaches. When developing such methods for small data settings, three key areas need to be addressed: similarity, transfer, and uncertainty. This enables combination of similar observations, e.g., from different hospitals, and more generally transfer of information, e.g., between genome screening and mechanistic models, while quantifying and reducing uncertainty. For creating comprehensive solutions that fuse such exciting emerging ideas, our Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1597 'Small Data' (SmallData), which started on October 1st, 2023, integrates contributions from computer science, mathematics, and statistics/systems modeling, with input from biomedicine. Our doctoral program SMART is key for establishing a shared language across those disciplines. We are located in Freiburg, Germany, with external partners in Bochum and Greifswald. For more details see our scientific framework and interdisciplinary approach, or have a look at the individual research projects.
Institute of Medical Biometry and Statistics,
Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center –
University of Freiburg
