In May, a delegation of over ten members from the Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence at Renmin University of China, including tenured associate professors Xu Hongteng and Yan Rui, tenure-track associate professors Mao Jiaxin and Shen Weiran, and doctoral students such as Liu Xiaodong and Fan Zhikang, attendedThe Web Conference 2025(formerly known as the International World Wide Web Conference, abbreviated as WWW) in Sydney, Australia. The Web Conference is one of the most influential academic gatherings in the fields of internet and web technologies and is recognized as aCategory A international conferenceby the China Computer Federation (CCF). Faculty and students from our school presented14 research papersat the event.

Reflections on Participation: Intellectual Resonance and Cognitive Breakthroughs

Master’s studentJin Jiajie, the first author of a paper presented in theResource Track, delivered an oral presentation and participated in a poster session. He shared:“I met academic peers in the same field, establishing potential scholarly connections. I also gained insights into cutting-edge developments and the latest trends in information retrieval.”

Doctoral studentChen Yiqun, the first author of two papers—*“MA4DIV: Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Search Result Diversification”*and“TourRank: Utilizing Large Language Models for Document Ranking with a Tournament-Inspired Strategy”—presented his work in theIR-related session. He remarked:“I made many new friends and gained fresh perspectives on research.”

Master’s studentTan Tao, the first author of“PEAR: Position-Embedding-Agnostic Attention Re-weighting Enhances Retrieval-Augmented Generation with Zero Inference Overhead”, presented his paper in thePost Retrieval and Search-based Text Generationsession. He reflected:“Engaging with researchers from around the world was a valuable opportunity to improve both my communication and presentation skills.”

Doctoral studentFan Zhikang, the first author of a poster presentation, noted:“This exchange program allowed me to share my research with international peers. Through the poster session, I received invaluable feedback and established new academic connections.”

Doctoral studentLi Jianan, the first author of another paper, represented his team at WWW2025. He said:“I met many leading experts in the field and learned numerous innovative research ideas.”

Doctoral studentMa Yuchao, the first author of“A Context-Aware Framework for Integrating Ad Auctions and Recommendations”presented in theUser Modeling, Personalization, and Recommendationsession, shared:“Exchanging insights and discussing problems with researchers from different countries and regions was immensely rewarding. I also made many new friends—it was a fantastic experience.”

Doctoral studentLiu Xiaodong, the first author of“Optimizing Revenue through User Coupon Recommendations in Truthful Online Ad Auctions”(presented in theAuctions and Gamessession), commented:“I met many new friends and gained a lot from our discussions.”

Doctoral studentLiu Qi, the second author of“TourRank: Utilizing Large Language Models for Document Ranking with a Tournament-Inspired Strategy”(oral presentation in theSearch Session) and the first author of“Leveraging Passage Embeddings for Efficient Listwise Reranking with Large Language Models”(poster presentation), actively contributed to the conference.

Doctoral studentTan Jiejun, the first author of another paper, also presented his research at WWW2025.

Doctoral studentDong Guanting, the first author of“DPA-RAG”, showcased his work atPosterboard-16. He said:“During this international exchange, I shared my research on aligning large language models with retriever knowledge preferences. I connected with numerous AI and information retrieval researchers from institutions like Alibaba, Ant Group, Google, and the National University of Singapore (NUS), gaining exposure to cutting-edge AI research directions and broadening my academic horizons.”

Suggestions and Expectations for Future Exchange Programs: Empowering Students to Soar Globally

Students expressed high hopes for future overseas exchange opportunities. Some suggested that the schoolexpand the number of participantsto enhance its global academic influence. They believe that as the school grows, more students will have the chance to present their work on international stages, bringing honor to both the university and the school.

With the support of the university and the school, it is believed that more students will successfully participate in international conferences, embarking on new journeys of academic growth.

Compass of Experience: Guiding the Next Wave

Many students offered valuable advice for future attendees:

Plan the conference schedule in advance, prioritizing cross-disciplinary sessions of interest.

Actively engage in poster sessionsto deepen academic exchanges.

Given the relatively niche audience of certain tracks (e.g.,DAI), proactivelybuild interdisciplinary networksto enhance independent academic networking skills.

The students of Gaoling AI School shone brightly atWWW2025. Their insights, suggestions, and shared experiences will serve as invaluable assets for the school’s future development. It is certain that in the years to come, more students will emerge on the global academic stage, earning further accolades for the school and collectively advancing progress in the field of artificial intelligence.