Francesca Bonin

Overview

Francesca Bonin

Pronouns

She/Her/Hers

Title

Research Staff Member, AI and Accelerated Discovery, IBM Research

Location

IBM Research Europe - Ireland Dublin, Ireland

Bio

Dr. Francesca Bonin is a research scientist with IBM Research, specializing in Artificial Natural Language Processing (NLP), one of the main fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In her current role, Francesca leads several research projects, focusing on the application of AI to address real-world challenges in healthcare. Following her PhD, Francesca joined IBM Research Europe, Dublin.

There, she participated in one of the most significant AI challenges in recent years, the Debater Project, which involved creating a machine capable of engaging in interactive debate with humans. This project resulted in a cover publication in the esteemed scientific journal Nature. Francesca was among a select group of researchers from across the globe recognised by IBM Corporation for their contribution to the project.

Francesca works at the frontier of one of the most exciting areas in modern AI – combining Knowledge Extraction with Large Language Models. Much in demand for her expertise, Francesca leads and drives technical engagement with customers and business units internationally. Currently, Francesca leads the IBM contribution to the EU-funded SEURO research project in digital health, applying new technologies to improve care for an ageing population.

Careful and ethical use of AI, along with empowering underrepresented minorities in STEM, are two topics that are close to Francesca’s heart. Francesca was formerly the IBM representative in Ireland in Connecting Women in Tech (CWIT) and is currently still actively participating in CWIT activities. She has participated in initiatives aimed at bridging the gender gap in STEM, engaging with schools and communities and being an active role model via mentoring and school visits.

Currently, Francesca has published more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles in top-tier NLP and AI international conferences. Francesca has a strong commitment to sharing and giving back to the community and has shared her expertise in several invited talks/panels varying from NLP to Ethical AI. Her public speaking engagements provide a platform to discuss these important topics with a wider audience.

Francesca gained a BS degree and a MSc in Language Technology from the University of Pisa in Italy and completed her PhD in AI and NLP at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.

Publications

Patents

Projects

Top collaborators

AP
Alessandra Pascale

Alessandra Pascale

Senior Research Scientist and manager, Accelerated Discovery, NLP and Inference on Graphs
RB
Roy Bar-Haim

Roy Bar-Haim

Senior Technical Staff Member - AI, Natural Language Processing
NS
Noam Slonim

Noam Slonim

Distinguished Engineer, Language Models Utilization