Hi, I'm Vagrant!

I'm a computer scientist, linguist and birder, and I work on natural language processing (NLP), i.e., getting computers to do things with human language. I am finishing a PhD in computer science at Saarland University in Germany, and I am the 2024 recipient of the Independent Postdoc Fellowship at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies.

My research is about both social and technical aspects of trustworthy NLP – especially fairness, reasoning and robustness. On the technical side, I propose methods for and evaluations of these aspects that are inspired by linguistics. On the social side, I investigate gaps and opportunities in how we define and operationalize abstract concepts like 'robustness', 'bias', etc., as well their societal implications. In both types of work, I value interdisciplinarity and methodological pluralism.

When I'm not working or thinking about birds, I spend my time on hobbies both conventional (reading almost exclusively non-fiction, listening to metal, writing code or posts for my website) and unique (preserving bugs, etching glass, collecting skull graffiti).

You may have known me under a different name but I go by Vagrant now. Please refer to me with they/them or xe/xem pronouns, and use Mx (pronounced like "mix") if you absolutely must use a title. My name is pronounced exactly like the English word, i.e., /'veɪ.gɹɘnt.'gaʊ.tʌm/. Press the play button to hear it.

Vagrant, a brown-skinned person with short curly black hair, smiles at the camera. They are wearing all-black clothes, a black leather jacket, and a leather choker with spikes. Their hand holds a mocktail in a wine glass.