Rabia Yasa Kostas

Hi. I am Rabia, a lecturer at Gümüşhane University, Türkiye. Machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) are my research interests. I aim to develop explainable AI approaches and solutions by investigating key features in sequence analysis, particularly in text but not limited to that, using various feature extraction methodologies.

Previously, I had the opportunity to work as a research intern at Huawei UK, Edinburgh R&D, where I was part of the Indoor Positioning group. My task involved POI-Map matching, which used Point of Interest (POI) information to improve the spatial distribution of 3D maps by identifying outliers and influential points. Helping to improve data quality by cleaning data using Natural Language Processing techniques and creating solutions to indoor positioning problems with machine learning methods were also part of my duties. Therefore, I can include working with geospatial information relying on GNSS data among my interests.

I hold a PhD from the  School of Informatics at The University of Edinburgh, where I was a member of the Institute for Language, Cognition, and Computation (ILCC), which I completed in 2024. My thesis, titled 'Automatic Detection of Clusters and Switches in Turkish Semantic Verbal Fluency Data,' was supervised by Dr.Maria Wolters and Dr.Sarah MacPherson. During my PhD, I specialized in analysing neurolinguistic verbal/utterance (particularly Semantic Verbal Fluency (SVF)) data using Natural Language Processing techniques, with a focus on semantic analysis. The aim is to create AI-based automated techniques for SVF sequences (word lists) to understand the organization of thought and the grouping strategies people use while recalling from memory.

I received my Master of Science degree in Advanced Computer Science from The University of Essex, UK, in 2018, and I completed my undergraduate degree at Marmara University, Türkiye, in 2009.

My research interests are;

• Semantic analysis
• Machine learning
• Natural Language Processing and applications
• Statistics
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Assessment Tests
• Verbal Fluency
• Human computer interaction
• Indoor positioning