Yavuz Alp Sencer ÖZTÜRK
Computer Science at Bilkent University | Research Intern at TÜBİTAK BİLGEM
I'm Alp, a final-year Computer Science student at Bilkent University and a Candidate Research Intern at TÜBİTAK BİLGEM working on state-of-the-art NLP research.
I'm passionate about pushing the boundaries of AI, particularly in Generative AI and Natural Language Processing.
Chat with my AI clone to learn more!
2023 - Present
Candidate Research Intern
- Pre and post training of LLMs
- Building large-scale datasets
- Global Top Contributor to Cohere For AI's Aya Project (ACL 2024 Best Paper)
2023 - Present
Founding President
- Founded and leading the society's initiatives and activities
2023 - Present
Student AI Network Lead
- Leading NVIDIA's student AI initiatives at Bilkent University
2023 - Present
Campus Leader
- Leading Notion's campus initiatives at Bilkent University
2024
Research Intern in Multimodal NLP
- Developed synthetic data pipeline for VLMs
- Contributed to the Multimodal Aya Project
- Supervised by Dr. Ece Takmaz & Prof. Albert Gatt
2024
Aykut Koç Lab, Bilkent University
Undergraduate Researcher
- Working on integrating transformers with GNNs for semi-supervised learning
- Paper submitted to ACL 2024
- Supervised by Prof. Dr. Aykut Koç
2023
TÜBİTAK Software Technologies Research Institute
Software Engineer Intern
- Built full-stack web applications using Spring Boot 3 and Next.js 13
- Worked in a CMMI Level 5 certified environment
- Mastered best software practices
Highlighted Projects
Rubber Duck AI
An educational multiagent LLM powered platform combining Feynman learning and Rubber Duck debugging techniques using knowledge graphs.
1st Place, Amazon AWS Competition
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1st Place, Amazon AWS Competition
Bilkent Online & Bilkent GPT
A social media platform with real-time RAG capabilities. Secured $5000 in funding.
1st Place at CS319, Supported by Microsoft
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1st Place at CS319, Supported by Microsoft
Autonomous Drone Tracking UAV
Designed and implemented an autonomous flight algorithm using YOLO.
3rd Place, Teknofest F-UAV 2021
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3rd Place, Teknofest F-UAV 2021
Chat with My CV
An interactive AI-powered application that allows users to have natural conversations with my CV, providing a unique and engaging way to learn about my professional background.
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Personal Interests:
- AI Alignment: Exploring the ethical and philosophical dimensions of artificial intelligence.
- Philosophy: Mind, metaphysics, and epistemology. Topics like free will and meaning. Check out my philosophy link log. And, reach me out for a discussion!
- Linguistics: Fascinated by the structure and evolution of language.
- Personal Knowledge Management: Building systems for efficient learning and information organization (Obsidian, Notion, and TickTick).
- Self-Hosting & Linux: Managing 60+ Docker services on my personal VPS, including this website, my AI clone, personal Overleaf and Stirling PDF, LinkStack, Coolify, and more using Ngnix Proxy Manager and Portainer.
- Running: I love running. I recently ran a 10K at Runkara’24. Check me out at Strava.
- Linklogging: I’m a fan of linklogs (a type of blog for links only). I’ve been keeping a linklog for a while. You can check it out here.
Let’s connect! I’m always open to discussing new ideas and collaborations. Feel free to reach out through the contact form or connect with me on social media.
news
| Jan 1, 2025 | Accepted to MenaML Winter School 2025. Sponsored by Google DeepMind and QCRI. |
|---|---|
| Oct 24, 2024 | Became a Global Ambassador for Cohere For AI’s Aya Expanse Project. |
| Sep 18, 2024 | First place in the Amazon Competition at Bilkent University for the Rubber Duck AI project, developed in collaboration with Yusuf Kesmen and Eray Yapağcı. Awarded a $4,000 Gen AI Scholarship, along with mentorship and referrals from Amazon. |
| Aug 25, 2024 | The Maya (Multimodal Aya) project, which I was a member of, has been selected as “The Most Promising Project” at Cohere For AI’s AI expedition. |
| Jun 10, 2024 | Accepted to Utrecht University NLP Research Group as a Research Intern for summer 2024; granted Erasmus+ Traineeship Scholarship. |
| Apr 10, 2024 | Bilkent Online project has been accepted into the Microsoft Founders Hub and has received a grant worth over $5000 in total from Microsoft and OpenAI. |
| Jan 26, 2024 | Became NVIDIA Student Network Community Leader at Bilkent University |
| Jan 26, 2024 | Bilkent AI Society accepted into the NVIDIA Student Network program |
| Dec 25, 2023 | Bilkent Online project selected as the best project in the Bilkent University CS 319. |
| Dec 17, 2023 | Became Top Contributor of Cohere For AI Aya Project, ranked #16 in global leaderboard. |
| Sep 15, 2023 | Became the Notion Campus Leader of Bilkent University (one of the 2 CLs in Turkey). |
| Sep 10, 2023 | Selected as the Founding President of Bilkent AI Society |
| Jul 31, 2023 | Internship: TÜBİTAK BİLGEM B3LAB Software Development (NLP and LLMs) |
| Jun 20, 2023 | Internship: TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) Software Development Institute Software Development |
| May 10, 2023 | Founded the Bilkent AI Society with our core team. |
| Apr 8, 2022 | Awarded Turkish Education Foundation (TEV) Outstanding Achievement Scholarship |
| Mar 30, 2022 | Speaker at the opening talk for the STEM Education and Coordination Center. |
| Jan 2, 2022 | Launched the website and education portal for the STEM Education and Coordination Center for gifted students. (Funded by the European Union and the Turkish Ministry of Education) |
| Sep 17, 2021 | Ranked 3rd at TEKNOFEST 2021 Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Competition (World’s Largest Aviation, Space and Technology Festival) |
| Sep 13, 2021 | Started Computer Science degree at Bilkent University. |