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Sima Adleyba

MS Student in Data Science · VRL Lab · Sabancı University

I'm a first-year Master's student in Data Science at Sabancı University, advised by Dr. Onur Varol. My research interests lie at the intersection of computational social science, network analysis, and algorithmic fairness.

Currently, I'm studying bias and fairness in Bluesky's starter pack system — examining how curated recommendation lists influence network formation and visibility on decentralized social platforms.

Research

My research focuses on understanding bias and fairness in social platforms, network effects of algorithmic recommendations, and building knowledge systems from large-scale data.

MSc Thesis Oct 2025 – Present

Bias and Network Effects of Starter Packs on Bluesky

Advisor: Dr. Onur Varol

Analyzing how Bluesky's starter packs influence user follow patterns and network topology. Studying structural and representational biases in starter pack composition and their downstream effects on network visibility and fairness. Working with a dataset of ~270,000 starter packs containing 1.7 million members.

Social Networks Algorithmic Fairness Decentralized Platforms
Industry Project Oct 2024 – Jun 2025

Kariyer.net Knowledge Base

Supervisors: Dr. Onur Varol, Ömür Bali

Developed a knowledge base for Turkey's largest job platform. Built a skill extraction pipeline using LangChain and GPT-4o-mini, with HDBSCAN clustering for normalization. The resulting graph contains 114,000+ nodes and ~61 million edges.

NLP Knowledge Graphs LLMs
Project Poster →

Experience

Teaching Assistant — CS412 Machine Learning

Sabancı University

Led recitations, held office hours, and handled grading for the Machine Learning course.

Data Science Intern

iLab

Built a RAG-based usability testing tool using LangChain, OpenAI API, MongoDB, and Docker.

Education

MS in Data Science

Sabancı University

Full Scholarship

BS in Computer Science

Sabancı University

GPA: 3.13

Beyond Research

Photography

I enjoy capturing moments around İstanbul and travels.

Music

Learning electric guitar.

Languages

Turkish, English, Chinese. Currently learning Korean.