Large Language Models (LLM)

Working groups at the IC D2MCM research and develop specific topics in the areas of digitality and digital methods. Members of HU Berlin can participate. If you're interested, just drop by one of the upcoming working group meetings!

Members of the working group

Alan Akbik, Noah Baumann, Paul Bayer, Felix Butz, Nicole Dresselhaus, Gerd Graßhoff, Torsten Hiltmann, Robert Jäschke, Sven Kraus, Jan Krämer, Anselm Küsters, Kilian Lüders, Roland Meyer, Gregor Middell (BBAW), Clemens Neudecker (SBB), Vladimir Neumann (SBB), Carolin Odebrecht, Mariia Razguliaeva, Philipp Schneider, Konstantin Schulz, Claudia Tiersch, Tim Westphal (BBAW)

Former Members: Melanie Althage, Martin Dröge, Sophie Eckenstaler

Goal

This interdisciplinary working group focuses on large language models within text-based disciplines, addressing them both as tools in the group’s own research practice and as objects of study in their own right. A key objective is the regular exchange of information on current developments; the field is evolving so rapidly that it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of relevant projects, models, and literature on an individual basis. The meetings provide a forum for members to stay updated, present their own work, and collectively discuss and contextualize new publications.
Since 2025, the group has also placed a special thematic focus on chronosensitive language models—that is, models capable of representing meaning, perspective, and expression as tied to specific historical periods. Key areas of focus include:

Benchmarking and evaluation: examining how such capabilities can be tested and determining the criteria for assessing whether a model meets the requirements of research in the humanities
Alignment: addressing the fact that the post-training of current models is geared toward contemporary language and values, thereby smoothing over the very differences that historically oriented disciplines seek to investigate
Training corpora: including an overview of potential datasets, developed in collaboration with the Berlin State Library and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities

General Information

WG-Spokespersons: Torsten Hiltmann & Noah Baumann
Registration: iz-d2mcm.contact@hu-berlin.de
Language: German/English
Zoom-ID: 61297868894, Zoom
Mailinglist: izd2mcm-wg-llm@lists.hu-berlin.de
Zotero-Link: Bibliographie

Next Meeting:

13.11.2026, 14:00 - 15:00, Location: Raum 5006, Friedrichstraße 191-193 und über Zoom( iCal-Download ) Add to Google calendar