---
_id: '62701'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: 'Learning continuous vector representations for knowledge graphs has
significantly improved state-of-the-art performances in many challenging tasks.
Yet, deep-learning-based models are only post-hoc and locally explainable. In
contrast, learning Web Ontology Language (OWL) class expressions in Description Logics (DLs) is ante-hoc and globally
explainable. However, state-of-the-art learners have two well-known lim-itations: scaling to large knowledge graphs and handling missing infor-mation. Here, we present a decision-tree-based learner (tDL) to learn
Web Ontology Languages (OWLs) class expressions over large knowl-edge
graphs, while imputing missing triples. Given positive and negative example individuals,
tDL firstly constructs unique OWL expressions in .SHOIN from concise bounded descriptions of individuals. Each OWL
class expression is used as a feature in a binary classification problem to represent
input individuals. Thereafter, tDL fits a CART decision tree to learn Boolean
decision rules distinguishing positive examples from nega-tive examples. A final
OWL expression in.SHOIN is built by traversing the built CART decision tree from the root node to leaf nodes for each
positive example. By this, tDL can learn OWL class expressions without exploration,
i.e., the number of queries to a knowledge graph is bounded by the number of input
individuals. Our empirical results show that tDL outperforms the current state-of-the-art models across
datasets. Impor-tantly, our experiments over a large knowledge graph (DBpedia
with 1.1 billion triples) show that tDL can effectively learn accurate OWL class
expressions, while the state-of-the-art models fail to return any results.
Finally, expressions learned by tDL can be seamlessly translated into
natural language explanations using a pre-trained large language model and a DL
verbalizer.'
author:
- first_name: Caglar
full_name: Demir, Caglar
last_name: Demir
- first_name: Moshood
full_name: Yekini, Moshood
last_name: Yekini
- first_name: Michael
full_name: Röder, Michael
last_name: Röder
- first_name: Yasir
full_name: Mahmood, Yasir
last_name: Mahmood
- first_name: Axel-Cyrille
full_name: Ngonga Ngomo, Axel-Cyrille
last_name: Ngonga Ngomo
citation:
ama: 'Demir C, Yekini M, Röder M, Mahmood Y, Ngonga Ngomo A-C. Tree-Based OWL Class
Expression Learner over Large Graphs. In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science.
Springer Nature Switzerland; 2025. doi:10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29'
apa: Demir, C., Yekini, M., Röder, M., Mahmood, Y., & Ngonga Ngomo, A.-C. (2025).
Tree-Based OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs. In Lecture Notes
in Computer Science. European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles
and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases - ECML PKDD, Porto, Portugal.
Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29
bibtex: '@inbook{Demir_Yekini_Röder_Mahmood_Ngonga Ngomo_2025, place={Cham}, title={Tree-Based
OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs}, DOI={10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29},
booktitle={Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, publisher={Springer Nature Switzerland},
author={Demir, Caglar and Yekini, Moshood and Röder, Michael and Mahmood, Yasir
and Ngonga Ngomo, Axel-Cyrille}, year={2025} }'
chicago: 'Demir, Caglar, Moshood Yekini, Michael Röder, Yasir Mahmood, and Axel-Cyrille
Ngonga Ngomo. “Tree-Based OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs.” In
Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29.'
ieee: 'C. Demir, M. Yekini, M. Röder, Y. Mahmood, and A.-C. Ngonga Ngomo, “Tree-Based
OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs,” in Lecture Notes in Computer
Science, Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025.'
mla: Demir, Caglar, et al. “Tree-Based OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs.”
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025, doi:10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29.
short: 'C. Demir, M. Yekini, M. Röder, Y. Mahmood, A.-C. Ngonga Ngomo, in: Lecture
Notes in Computer Science, Springer Nature Switzerland, Cham, 2025.'
conference:
end_date: 2025-09-19
location: Porto, Portugal
name: European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge
Discovery in Databases - ECML PKDD
start_date: 2025-09-15
date_created: 2025-11-28T14:09:17Z
date_updated: 2025-11-28T14:57:39Z
department:
- _id: '34'
- _id: '574'
doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29
keyword:
- Decision Tree
- OWL Class Expression Learning
- Description Logic
- Knowledge Graph
- Large Language Model
- Verbalizer
language:
- iso: eng
place: Cham
project:
- _id: '285'
name: SAIL - Nachhaltiger Lebenszyklus von intelligenten soziotechnischen Systemen
publication: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
publication_identifier:
isbn:
- '9783032060655'
- '9783032060662'
issn:
- 0302-9743
- 1611-3349
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
status: public
title: Tree-Based OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs
type: book_chapter
user_id: '114533'
year: '2025'
...
---
_id: '63572'
author:
- first_name: Caglar
full_name: Demir, Caglar
id: '43817'
last_name: Demir
- first_name: Moshood Olawale
full_name: Yekini, Moshood Olawale
id: '114533'
last_name: Yekini
- first_name: Michael
full_name: Röder, Michael
id: '67199'
last_name: Röder
orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8609-8277
- first_name: Yasir
full_name: Mahmood, Yasir
id: '99353'
last_name: Mahmood
- first_name: Axel-Cyrille
full_name: Ngonga Ngomo, Axel-Cyrille
id: '65716'
last_name: Ngonga Ngomo
citation:
ama: 'Demir C, Yekini MO, Röder M, Mahmood Y, Ngonga Ngomo A-C. Tree-Based OWL Class
Expression Learner over Large Graphs. In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science.
Springer Nature Switzerland; 2025. doi:10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29'
apa: Demir, C., Yekini, M. O., Röder, M., Mahmood, Y., & Ngonga Ngomo, A.-C.
(2025). Tree-Based OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs. Lecture
Notes in Computer Science. European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles
and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases, Porto. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29
bibtex: '@inproceedings{Demir_Yekini_Röder_Mahmood_Ngonga Ngomo_2025, place={Cham},
title={Tree-Based OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs}, DOI={10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29},
booktitle={Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, publisher={Springer Nature Switzerland},
author={Demir, Caglar and Yekini, Moshood Olawale and Röder, Michael and Mahmood,
Yasir and Ngonga Ngomo, Axel-Cyrille}, year={2025} }'
chicago: 'Demir, Caglar, Moshood Olawale Yekini, Michael Röder, Yasir Mahmood, and
Axel-Cyrille Ngonga Ngomo. “Tree-Based OWL Class Expression Learner over Large
Graphs.” In Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland,
2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29.'
ieee: 'C. Demir, M. O. Yekini, M. Röder, Y. Mahmood, and A.-C. Ngonga Ngomo, “Tree-Based
OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs,” presented at the European Conference
on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases,
Porto, 2025, doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29.'
mla: Demir, Caglar, et al. “Tree-Based OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs.”
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025, doi:10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29.
short: 'C. Demir, M.O. Yekini, M. Röder, Y. Mahmood, A.-C. Ngonga Ngomo, in: Lecture
Notes in Computer Science, Springer Nature Switzerland, Cham, 2025.'
conference:
end_date: 2025-09-19
location: Porto
name: European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge
Discovery in Databases
start_date: 2025-09-15
date_created: 2026-01-12T17:13:22Z
date_updated: 2026-01-12T17:17:07Z
department:
- _id: '574'
- _id: '923'
doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-06066-2_29
language:
- iso: eng
place: Cham
publication: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
publication_identifier:
isbn:
- '9783032060655'
- '9783032060662'
issn:
- 0302-9743
- 1611-3349
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
status: public
title: Tree-Based OWL Class Expression Learner over Large Graphs
type: conference
user_id: '67199'
year: '2025'
...