Transfer Learning

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Overview

Transfer learning asks how a model trained on one task or domain can help with another, reducing the need for target-specific data and computation. Common approaches include pretraining followed by fine-tuning or parameter-efficient adapters, feature alignment for domain shifts, and knowledge transfer through distillation, model merging, or shared representations. Evaluations span zero-shot and few-shot transfer, cross-domain benchmarks in vision and language, and adaptation in settings such as clinical data, robotics, and scientific modeling. A central tension is that transferred knowledge can improve accuracy and sample efficiency or cause negative transfer; predicting when it will help, and separating reusable knowledge from dataset or architecture effects, remains difficult.

Latest papers

CardsList

420 papers62 papers in the last four weeks, up 29% on the four weeks before. 0.4% of all new papers.

  1. Learning to Look Beyond Screens: Transferable Visual Observation from GUI Grounding

    Oct 27, 2026Ruilin Yao, Xinyu Qiu, Tianyu Zou +4Active Visual PerceptionTransfer Learning

    Wuhan University of Technology · Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) · Zhejiang University +1

  2. Cross-Domain Sequential Recommendation with Representation-Level User Transfer

    Oct 26, 2026Abdulaziz Samra, Nikita Sukhorukov, Alexey Grishanov +2Cross-Domain RecommendationSequential Recommendation

    Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russian Federation · Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation · AXXX, Moscow, Russian Federation +1

  3. Toward Clinical Translation of Deep Learning-Based Intracranial Super-Resolution 4D Flow MRI Using Multi-Cohort Transfer Learning

    Oct 26, 2026Oliver Welin Odeback, Susanne Schnell, Patrick Winter +5Medical Image Super-ResolutionMagnetic Resonance Imaging

    Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. · Department of Medical Physics, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany. · Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. +3

  4. Beyond Wasserstein Proximity: Finding Better Transfer Sources

    Oct 26, 2026Gordei Verbii, Georgii Killinkarov, Vladimir YafarovTransfer LearningDomain Adaptation

    School of Mathematical Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China · Stratwise, Singapore

  5. Multitask Interactions in Recurrent Dynamics across 100 Cognitive Tasks

    Oct 24, 2026Sílvia García-Hernández, Leema Hamid, Manuel BrennerMulti-Task LearningRecurrent Neural Networks

    Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) of the Max Planck Society, Germany · Goethe University (GU) Frankfurt, University Hospital, Department for Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Germany · GU Frankfurt, Cooperative Brain Imaging Center, Germany

  6. From Parameter Rebasin to Functional Transfer Across Heterogeneous Transformers

    Oct 23, 2026Filippo Rinaldi, Aniello Panariello, Giacomo Salici +4Transfer LearningTask Vectors

    University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy · University of Florence, Italy

  7. Standing on Open Shoulders: Regional Fine-Tuning of Open-Weight Camera-Trap Models for UK Wildlife with Modest Data and Compute

    Oct 23, 2026Paul FergusImage ClassificationWildlife Monitoring

    Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, United Kingdom

  8. PYTHIA, a transferable machine learning framework for simultaneous defect and adsorption site optimization

    Oct 22, 2026Ioannis Kouroudis, Zhaosu Gu, Poonam +2Materials DiscoveryTransfer Learning

    Chair of Simulation of Nanosystems for Energy Conversion, Department of Electrical Engineering, TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology, Atomistic Modeling Center (AMC), Munich Data Science Institute (MDSI), Technical University of Munich, Hans-Piloty-Straße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany · Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, Berlin, Germany

  9. A Transfer Learning-Driven Methodology for Efficient and Sustainable Indoor Localization Using VLC

    Oct 21, 2026Masood Jan, Wafa Njima, Xun Zhang +1Wireless LocalizationTransfer Learning

    Doctoral School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Electronics (EDITE), Sorbonne University, Paris, France · LISITE Laboratory, Institut Supérieur d’Électronique de Paris, Paris, France · Université Paris-Saclay, LISV Laboratory, France +1

  10. From Weather to Enhanced Weathering: Weather Foundation Models for Carbon Dioxide Removal at Operational Scale

    Oct 20, 2026Sasankh Munukutla, Felipe Oviedo, Danrong Zhang +2Transfer LearningEarth Science

    Terradot Soil, Inc. San Francisco, CA, USA · Microsoft AI for Good Redmond, WA, USA · Microsoft Research Redmond, WA, USA +1

  11. Combating Catastrophic Forgetting in Continual Domain Adaptation via Knowledge Recasting

    Oct 20, 2026Zijie Liu, Zhen Tan, Charles Fleming +1Continual Learning for LLMsDomain Adaptation

    UNC at Chapel Hill · Stevens Institute of Technology · Cisco Research

  12. Borrowing Strength Across Stores: Transfer Learning for Choice-Based Revenue Management

    Oct 20, 2026Recep Yusuf Bekci, Stefanus Jasin, Joline UichancoShrinkage EstimationTransfer Learning

    Department of Management Science and Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada · Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA · Department of Technology Management and Innovation, Tandon School of Engineering, New York University, Brooklyn, New York, USA

  13. Selective Transfer through Sequence Distillation: From Benchmark Knowledge to Backdoor Behaviour

    Oct 19, 2026Jonibek Mansurov, Sholpan Bolatzhanova, Filbert Aurelian Tjiaranta +2Language Model DistillationKnowledge Distillation

    Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, UAE · University of Indonesia, Indonesia · Binus University, Indonesia

  14. Minimax-optimal Scaling Laws in Ridge Regression via Transfer Learning

    Oct 16, 2026Yalda Shabanzadeh, Diyuan Wu, Marco MondelliTransfer LearningRidge Regression

    Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA).

  15. Cross-Centaur: Modeling Individual Decision-Making Across Psychological Tasks with Language Models

    Oct 16, 2026Hikaru Asano, Hidezo Suganuma, Ryutaro Mori +1Human Behavior ModelingHuman Behavior Prediction

    The University of Tokyo · RIKEN Center for Brain Science

  16. Deep Learning for Deepfake Image Detection: Comparative Model Evaluation and Gradient-Based Visual Attribution

    Oct 15, 2026Saad Korchi, Abderrahim WagaDeepfake DetectionExplainable Deepfake Detection

    Euromed University of Fez, Fez, Morocco

  17. Cross-Embodiment Causal Transfer from Human Videos to Robot Manipulation

    Oct 15, 2026Xingyu Zhang, Yingchao Li, Peizheng Guo +3Cross-Embodiment Robot LearningRobotic Manipulation

    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences · Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences · Meituan

  18. Transfer Learning in Bandits from Unknown Adaptive Policies: Problem-Dependent Lower and Upper Bounds

    Oct 15, 2026Adrien Prevost, Timothee Mathieu, Waris Radji +1Multi-Armed BanditsTransfer Learning

    Equipe Scool, Univ. Lille, Inria, CNRS, Centrale Lille, UMR 9189-CRIStAL, F-59000 Lille, France

  19. Can Visual Generation Expand What Unified Multimodal Models Know?

    Oct 15, 2026Wenkai Li, Wenyi Hong, Zhuoyi Yang +1Unified Multimodal ModelsTransfer Learning

    Tsinghua University

  20. XferAgent: Cross-Agent Experience Transfer for Self-Improving LLM Agents

    Oct 14, 2026Weihao Li, Jun Bai, Shijie Chen +3LLM Agent Self-ImprovementMemory-Augmented Language Model Agents

    McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University · School of Computer Science, McGill University · Mila – Quebec AI Institute +1

  21. IMU-Bench: Benchmarking Wrist IMU Representations Across Kinematic, Semantic and Clinical Tasks

    Oct 14, 2026Yiquan Li, Aidan Bradshaw, Chenfeng Gao +1Wearable SensingMulti-Task Learning

    Northwestern University

  22. Learning What to Keep: Transfer-Aware Personal Skill Learning from User Feedback

    Oct 14, 2026Li Wang, Chen Zhang, Yirong Yang +4Personalized Language ModelsTransfer Learning

    Beihang University · Chengdu University of Information Technology · Nanyang Technological University +2

  23. Learning When to Transfer: Reinforcement Learning for Carbon-Footprint Modeling in New Manufacturing Domains

    Oct 13, 2026Muhammad Umar Farooq, Daniel R. CooperTransfer LearningCross-Domain Transfer Learning

    Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Michigan, 2350 Hayward Street, Ann Arbor, 48109, MI, United States

  24. The Smart Buildings Challenge: Learning Foundation Models for Real-World Optimization at Scale

    Oct 13, 2026Judah Goldfeder, Ayush Rai, Philippe M. Wyder +11Building Energy ManagementTransfer Learning

    Columbia University · Harvard University · Distyl AI +6

  25. Beyond Task Success: A Theory of Representation Reuse

    Oct 13, 2026Zibo Meng, Andrew C. M. Austin, Alin AchimRepresentation LearningTransfer Learning

  26. Can Machine Learning Potentials Be More Accurate Than the Methods They Are Trained On?

    Oct 13, 2026Pavlo O. Dral, Yi-Fan Hou, Yuxinxin Chen +4Machine Learning Interatomic PotentialsTransfer Learning

    State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China · Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy, and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, ul. Grudziadzka 5, 87-100 Toruń, Poland · Institute of Advanced Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, ul. Wileńska 4, 87-100 Toruń, Poland +1

  27. From Simulated Fluids to Living Tissue: Zero-Shot Foundation Model Transfer to Perturbed Embryos

    Oct 12, 2026Louisa Cornelis, Haewon Jeong, Irina Espejo +1Physical Foundation ModelsTransfer Learning

    UC Santa Barbara · PolymathicAI · New York University +1

  28. Latent-Space Importance Weighting under Covariate Shift

    Oct 11, 2026Yuling Jiao, Lican Kang, Yang Xiang +2Covariate ShiftTransfer Learning

    School of Artificial Intelligence, and Hubei Key Laboratory of Computational Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China · Institute for Math and AI, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China · Department of Mathematics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China, and Algorithms of Machine Learning and Autonomous Driving Research Lab, HKUST Shenzhen-Hong Kong Collaborative Innovation Research Institute, Shenzhen, China +2

  29. State Representation Shapes Long-Horizon Agent Learning and Transfer: An Empirical Study

    Oct 11, 2026Dong Nie, Rui Lan, Yixin Nie +1LLM AgentsTransfer Learning

    Independent Researcher · University of North Texas

  30. Physics Foundation Models for Efficient Control of Fluid Flows

    Oct 10, 2026Mahindra Rautela, Shaifalee Saxena, Alexander ScheinkerPhysical Foundation ModelsPolicy Learning

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA · University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA