Search Solutions 2025 - Information Retrieval SG

Agenda

09:30 - Registration and coffee
09:50 - Introduction

We will then have a full day of talks and discussion. The detailed programme will be announced soon, but here is the list of confirmed speakers so far:

• Alessandro Benedetti (Sease) “Search Quality Evaluation in the Era of Large Language Models: RRE-Dataset Generator”
• Jon Brassey (TRIP) “Harnessing AI for Faster, Smarter Clinical Decision Support: The Evolution of Trip Database”
• Gianna Cipponeri “Evaluating Citation Quality and Context Faithfulness in Retrieval-Augmented Generation: A Product-Specific Framework”
• Mark Harwood (Ex Elastic Developer) “Plasticine Not Porcelain: Shaping Embeddings Through Interactive Clustering”
• Orland Hoeber (University of Regina) “Support Human Intelligence – An Alternative to Retrieval Augmented Generation in Academic Digital Library Search”
• Marianne Lykke (Aalborg University) “Role of metadata and taxonomies in professional contexts”
• Sean MacAvaney (University of Glasgow) “Re-Thinking Re-Ranking”
• Adam Roegiest (Zuva) “Information Retrieval Evaluation in the Real-World: A Legal Tech Perspective”
• Cedric Ulmer (France Labs) “Adding GenAI to Datafari Community Edition - what and why”

16:30 - Panel Session
17:15 - BCS Search Industry Awards
17:25 - Closing words
17:30 - Evening Reception
21:00 - Event close

Synopsis

Innovations in Search and Information Retrieval

Search Solutions is the BCS Information Retrieval Specialist Group’s (BCS IRSG) annual event focused on practitioner issues in the arena of search and information retrieval (IR). We bring together practitioners, researchers, analysts and end users to discuss the latest developments in the IR community and to share insights between research and practice.

The event consists of a Tutorial Day (25 November) and a Conference Day (26 November), each with a separate registration.

The conference day includes presentations, panels and keynote talks by influential industry leaders on novel and emerging applications in search and information retrieval.

Ticket costs:

(Prices stated are inclusive of VAT and fees)

• BCS/ISKO members: £92.00
• Non-members: £110.00
• Students: £80.00

Refunds/cancellations:

A refund, excluding fees, will be issued if a cancellation request is received within 14 days of the booking date or by noon on Wednesday, 19 November 2025; otherwise, name substitutions will be allowed after this date.

Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.

BCS is a membership organisation. If you enjoy this event, please consider joining BCS. You’ll be very welcome. You’ll receive access to many exclusive career development tools, an introduction to a thriving professional community and also help us Make IT Good For Society. Join BCS today: https://www.bcs.org/membership/events

If you are attending in person, please familiarise yourself with the Visitor Instructions for the BCS London Office.

Please note, if you have any accessibility needs, please let us know via groups@bcs.uk and we’ll work with you to make suitable arrangements.

For overseas delegates who wish to attend the event, please note that BCS does not issue invitation letters.

This event is brought to you by: Information Retrieval SG (IRSG)