I am pleased to announce that Lukas Wegmeth has completed his PhD in computer science after 3.5 years, earning a magna cum laude. The early completion is a success for him and, frankly, a loss for our group.
Lukas worked in recommender systems. He was consistently productive: ideas turned into experiments, experiments into papers and software. He managed projects with little overhead, responded to feedback, and supported colleagues. It was also easy to work with him on a personal level—reliable, organized, and respectful in discussion. These traits matter in a research group at least as much as publication counts.
He invested in exchange and collaboration. Research stays with Alan Said in Gothenburg and Min Zhang at Tsinghua University in China broadened his perspective and strengthened ongoing work. He attended and presented at several ACM Recommender Systems Conferences (A-ranking), including Prague, Seattle, and Amsterdam, as well as other venues such as ECIR and Dagstuhl. This regular contact with the community led to sharper questions and better methods.
My thanks go to Alan Said for co-supervising, and to Kristof Van Laerhoven and Roman Obermaisser for serving on the committee. Their input improved the dissertation and the defense.
A short note for students considering a PhD: Lukas’s path illustrates that a doctorate can be both focused and timely. The essentials are clear problems, small but solid steps, careful evaluation, and openness to critique. Community engagement helps, but the core remains transparent methods, reproducible results, and usable code. If you value structured work and intellectual independence, a PhD is a viable and rewarding route.
As Lukas moves on, we lose a capable researcher and colleague. We also keep what matters: papers that others can build on, tools that others can use, and a standard for how we work as a group. Congratulations, and thank you to everyone who contributed to this successful project.
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