diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c100436f..24a10fc7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 doc/_build*
 target
+build
 .DS_Store
 .project
 .settings
@@ -12,21 +13,13 @@ target
 *.obj
 *.zip
 data/maps/customisations.obj
-data/db/db-en
-data/db/db-fr
-data/db/db-de
-data/db/db-it
-data/db/db-es
-data/db/db-kb
+data/db/db-*
 data/db/domains-en.db
 data/embeddings
-data/embeddings/en
-data/embeddings/fr
-data/embeddings/de
-data/embeddings/es
-data/embeddings/it
+data/embeddings/*
 data/corpus/corpus-long/aida/RawText
 data/corpus/corpus-long/aida-train/RawText
 data/corpus/corpus-long/aida-testa/RawText
 data/corpus/corpus-long/aida-testb/RawText
-data/species/*
\ No newline at end of file
+data/species/*
+.gradle
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ca2977d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+language: java
+dist: trusty
+sudo: false
+
+jdk:
+  - oraclejdk8
+
+addons:
+  apt:
+    packages:
+      - oracle-java8-installer
+
+
+script: ./gradlew clean build -x test
+#after_success:
+#  - mvn clean cobertura:cobertura org.eluder.coveralls:coveralls-maven-plugin:report
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d64eef4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,263 @@
+buildscript {
+    repositories {
+        mavenLocal()
+        mavenCentral()
+        jcenter()
+    }
+    dependencies {
+        classpath group: 'net.researchgate', name: 'gradle-release', version: '2.6.0'
+        classpath 'org.kt3k.gradle.plugin:coveralls-gradle-plugin:2.4.0'
+        classpath 'com.jfrog.bintray.gradle:gradle-bintray-plugin:1.7.3'
+        classpath 'com.github.jengelman.gradle.plugins:shadow:2.0.1'
+    }
+}
+
+
+apply plugin: 'maven'
+apply plugin: 'com.jfrog.bintray'
+apply plugin: 'com.github.johnrengelman.shadow'
+apply plugin: 'java'
+apply plugin: 'war'
+apply from: 'https://raw.github.com/gretty-gradle-plugin/gretty/master/pluginScripts/gretty.plugin'
+
+group = "com.scienceminer.nerd"
+
+description = """entity recognition and disambiguation against Wikidata and Wikipedia in a raw text, 
+partially-annotated text segment or PDF"""
+
+sourceCompatibility = 1.8
+targetCompatibility = 1.8
+
+tasks.withType(JavaCompile) {
+    options.encoding = 'UTF-8'
+}
+
+repositories {
+    mavenLocal()
+    mavenCentral()
+    jcenter()
+    maven { url "https://dl.bintray.com/rookies/maven" }
+}
+
+dependencies {
+    //Tests
+    testCompile 'junit:junit:4.12'
+    testCompile 'org.easymock:easymock:3.4'
+    testCompile 'org.hamcrest:hamcrest-all:1.3'
+    testCompile group: 'org.easymock', name: 'easymock', version: '3.4'
+    testCompile group: 'com.googlecode.json-simple', name: 'json-simple', version: '1.1.1'
+
+    //Logging
+    compile 'org.slf4j:slf4j-log4j12:1.7.25'
+    compile group: 'log4j', name: 'log4j', version: '1.2.17'
+
+    //GROBID
+    compile group: 'org.grobid', name: 'grobid-ner', version: '0.5.1'
+    compile 'org.grobid:grobid-trainer:0.5.2'
+    compile(group: 'org.grobid', name: 'grobid-core', version: '0.5.2') {
+        exclude(module: 'slf4j-jdk14')
+    }
+    compile group: 'directory-naming', name: 'naming-java', version: '0.8'
+    compile group: 'fr.limsi.wapiti', name: 'wapiti', version: '1.5.0'
+    compile group: 'org.wipo.analysers', name: 'wipo-analysers', version: '0.0.1'
+
+    //Apache commons
+    compile 'org.apache.commons:commons-collections4:4.1'
+    compile 'org.apache.commons:commons-lang3:3.6'
+    compile 'commons-logging:commons-logging:1.2'
+    compile 'commons-io:commons-io:2.5'
+    compile 'commons-pool:commons-pool:1.6'
+    compile group: 'org.apache.httpcomponents', name: 'httpclient', version: '4.5.3'
+    compile group: 'org.apache.httpcomponents', name: 'httpmime', version: '4.5.3'
+    compile group: 'org.apache.commons', name: 'commons-text', version: '1.1'
+    compile group: 'com.google.guava', name: 'guava', version: '25.1-jre'
+
+    //Json
+    compile 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core:2.9.5'
+    compile 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-annotations:2.9.5'
+    compile 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.9.5'
+    compile group: 'com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat', name: 'jackson-dataformat-yaml', version: '2.9.5'
+    compile group: 'net.arnx', name: 'jsonic', version: '1.3.10'
+
+    //Web interface
+    compile group: 'com.sun.jersey', name: 'jersey-client', version: '1.8'
+    compile group: 'com.sun.jersey', name: 'jersey-server', version: '1.8'
+    compile group: 'com.sun.jersey.contribs', name: 'jersey-multipart', version: '1.8'
+    compile 'javax.ws.rs:javax.ws.rs-api:2.1'
+    compile 'javax.servlet:javax.servlet-api:3.1.0'
+
+    //Misc
+    compile group: 'com.googlecode.clearnlp', name: 'clearnlp', version: '1.3.1'
+    compile group: 'com.google.guava', name: 'guava', version: '21.0'
+    compile group: 'directory-naming', name: 'naming-java', version: '0.8'
+    compile group: 'org.jvnet', name: 'mimepull', version: '1.6'
+    compile group: 'net.arnx', name: 'jsonic', version: '1.3.10'
+
+    //Specialised libraries
+    compile group: 'com.cybozu', name: 'language-detection', version: '09-13-2011'
+    compile group: 'com.github.haifengl', name: 'smile-core', version: '1.3.1'
+    compile group: 'com.googlecode.clearnlp', name: 'clearnlp', version: '1.3.1'
+    compile(group: 'it.unimi.dsi', name: 'sux4j', version: '3.1.2') {
+        exclude(module: 'log4j-over-slf4j')
+        exclude(module: 'logback-classic')
+    }
+    compile group: 'it.unimi.dsi', name: 'fastutil', version: '6.5.12'
+    compile(group: 'it.unimi.dsi', name: 'dsiutils', version: '2.1.9') {
+        exclude(module: 'logback-classic')
+    }
+    compile group: 'de.ruedigermoeller', name: 'fst', version: '2.50'
+
+    //Wikipedia
+    compile group: 'org.sweble.wikitext', name: 'swc-parser-lazy', version: '3.1.5'
+    compile group: 'org.sweble.wikitext', name: 'swc-engine', version: '3.1.5'
+
+    //XML
+    compile group: 'com.thoughtworks.xstream', name: 'xstream', version: '1.4.10'
+
+    //LMDB
+    compile group: 'org.deephacks.lmdbjni', name: 'lmdbjni', version: '0.4.6'
+    compile group: 'org.deephacks.lmdbjni', name: 'lmdbjni-linux64', version: '0.4.6'
+    compile group: 'org.deephacks.lmdbjni', name: 'lmdbjni-osx64', version: '0.4.6'
+    compile group: 'org.deephacks.lmdbjni', name: 'lmdbjni-win64', version: '0.4.6'
+
+    //Hadoop
+    compile group: 'org.apache.hadoop', name: 'hadoop-core', version: '1.2.1'
+    compile group: 'org.apache.avro', name: 'avro', version: '1.7.5'
+
+}
+
+configurations {
+    compile.exclude group: "org.slf4j", module: "slf4j-jdk14"
+}
+
+configurations.all {
+    resolutionStrategy {
+        force 'xml-apis:xml-apis:1.4.01'
+    }
+}
+
+test {
+    exclude '**/**IntegrationTest**'
+}
+
+//integration (type: Test){
+//    include '**'
+//}
+
+// Gretty configuration
+
+gretty {
+    httpPort = 8090
+    contextPath = '/'
+    servletContainer = "jetty9.4"
+    webInfIncludeJarPattern = ''
+    reloadOnClassChange = false
+}
+
+// return the default value if the property has not been specified in command line
+ext.getArg = { propName, defaultVal ->
+    return project.hasProperty(propName) ? project.getProperty(propName) : defaultVal;
+}
+
+war {
+    classifier = 'war'
+//    dependsOn mainWar
+    enabled true
+}
+
+
+artifacts {
+    archives jar
+    archives war
+}
+
+//TODO: we could create a task to download and unpack the lmdb files automatically 
+//task copyModels(type: Copy) {
+//    from "${rootDir}/resources/models"
+//    include "**/*.wapiti"
+//    into "${rootDir}/../grobid-home/models/"
+//}
+
+//tasks.withType(JavaCompile) {
+//    options.compilerArgs << "-Xlint:deprecation"
+//    options.compilerArgs << "-Xlint:unchecked"
+//}
+
+
+wrapper {
+    gradleVersion "4.6"
+}
+
+// Evaluation
+
+// Run like: ./gradlew evaluation -Pcorpus=[corpusname]
+task(evaluation, dependsOn: 'classes', type: JavaExec, group: 'evaluation') {
+    main = 'com.scienceminer.nerd.evaluation.NEDCorpusEvaluation'
+    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+    args getArg('corpus', null)
+    jvmArgs '-Xms2g', '-Xmx8g'
+}
+
+
+// Run like: ./gradlew evaluationDataGeneration -Pcorpus=[corpusname]
+task(evaluationDataGeneration, dependsOn: 'classes', type: JavaExec, group: 'training') {
+    main = 'com.scienceminer.nerd.evaluation.AnnotatedDataGeneration'
+    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+    args getArg('corpus', null)
+    jvmArgs '-Xms2g', '-Xmx8g'
+}
+
+// Training
+// Run like: ./gradlew train_annotate_en
+task(train_annotate_en, dependsOn: 'classes', type: JavaExec, group: 'training') {
+    main = 'com.scienceminer.nerd.training.WikipediaTrainer'
+    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+    args 'data/wikipedia/training/', 'en'
+    jvmArgs '-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000', '-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000', '-Xms2g', '-Xmx8g'
+}
+
+// Run like: ./gradlew train_annotate_de
+task(train_annotate_de, dependsOn: 'classes', type: JavaExec, group: 'training') {
+    main = 'com.scienceminer.nerd.training.WikipediaTrainer'
+    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+    args 'data/wikipedia/training/', 'de'
+    jvmArgs '-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000', '-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000', '-Xms2g', '-Xmx8g'
+}
+
+// Run like: ./gradlew train_annotate_fr
+task(train_annotate_fr, dependsOn: 'classes', type: JavaExec, group: 'training') {
+    main = 'com.scienceminer.nerd.training.WikipediaTrainer'
+    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+    args 'data/wikipedia/training/', 'fr'
+    jvmArgs '-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000', '-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000', '-Xms2g', '-Xmx8g'
+}
+
+// Run like: ./gradlew train_annotate_it
+task(train_annotate_it, dependsOn: 'classes', type: JavaExec, group: 'training') {
+    main = 'com.scienceminer.nerd.training.WikipediaTrainer'
+    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+    args 'data/wikipedia/training/', 'it'
+    jvmArgs '-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000', '-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000', '-Xms2g', '-Xmx8g'
+}
+
+// Run like: ./gradlew train_annotate_es
+task(train_annotate_es, dependsOn: 'classes', type: JavaExec, group: 'training') {
+    main = 'com.scienceminer.nerd.training.WikipediaTrainer'
+    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+    args 'data/wikipedia/training/', 'es'
+    jvmArgs '-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000', '-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000', '-Xms2g', '-Xmx8g'
+}
+
+// Embeddings (obsolete)
+// Run like: ./gradlew generate_entity_description
+task(generate_entity_description, dependsOn: 'classes', type: JavaExec, group: 'embeddings') {
+    main = 'com.scienceminer.nerd.embeddings.EntityDescription'
+    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+    args 'data/wikipedia/embeddings/en/', 'en'
+    jvmArgs '-Xms2g', '-Xmx8g'
+}
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/doc/build.rst b/doc/build.rst
index 4d46a023..036606cb 100644
--- a/doc/build.rst
+++ b/doc/build.rst
@@ -60,14 +60,14 @@ Then install the compiled indexed data:
 
 #. Build the project, under the *entity-fishing* project repository.
    ::
-      $ mvn clean install
+      $ ./gradlew clean build
 
    Some tests will be executed. If all tests are successful, you should be now ready to run the service.
 
  
 #. Run the service:
    ::
-      $ mvn clean jetty:run
+      $ ./gradlew clean appRun
 
 The test console is available at port ``:8090`` by opening in your browser (preferably *Firefox* or *Chrome*, *Internet Explorer* has not been tested): http://localhost:8090
 
diff --git a/doc/evaluation.rst b/doc/evaluation.rst
index 3c0cecfd..33b28839 100644
--- a/doc/evaluation.rst
+++ b/doc/evaluation.rst
@@ -37,11 +37,11 @@ Evaluation commands
 
 Use the following maven command with the above dataset identifier for running an evaluation:
 ::
-	$ mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.scienceminer.nerd.evaluation.NEDCorpusEvaluation -Dexec.args="aquaint"
+    $ ./gradlew evaluation -Pcorpus=[dataset]
 
 For instance for evaluating against the testb subset of the AIDA-CONLL, use: 
 ::
-	$ mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.scienceminer.nerd.evaluation.NEDCorpusEvaluation -Dexec.args="aida-testb"
+	$ ./gradlew evaluation -Pcorpus=aida-testb
 
 The evaluation process will provide standard metrics (accuracy, precision, recall. f1) for micro- and macro-averages for the entity disambiguation algorithm selected as ranker and for priors (as baseline). 
 
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ If there is a directory called ``pdf`` or ``PDF``, the process will extract info
 
 Use the following maven command with the above dataset identifier for generating the annotation xml file:
 ::
-	$ mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.scienceminer.nerd.evaluation.AnnotatedDataGeneration -Dexec.args="toto"
+	$ ./gradlew evaluationDataGeneration -Pcorpus=[corpusname]
 
 References
 **********
diff --git a/doc/train.rst b/doc/train.rst
index b8366f3a..eafb7fdd 100644
--- a/doc/train.rst
+++ b/doc/train.rst
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@ The following command will build the two models used in *entity-fishing*, the ``
 
 For other languages, replace the ending language code (``en``) by the desired one (``fr``, ``de``, ``it`` and ``es`` are supported), e.g.:
 ::
-	$ mvn compile exec:exec -Ptrain_annotate_de
-	$ mvn compile exec:exec -Ptrain_annotate_fr
-	$ mvn compile exec:exec -Ptrain_annotate_es
-	$ mvn compile exec:exec -Ptrain_annotate_it
+	$ ./gradlew train_annotate_de
+	$ ./gradlew train_annotate_fr
+	$ ./gradlew train_annotate_es
+	$ ./gradlew train_annotate_it
 
 
 Models will be saved under ``data/models``. ``ARFF`` training data files used to build the model are saved under ``data/wikipedia/training/``.
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8e0d48df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+version = 0.0.4
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f6b961fd
Binary files /dev/null and b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar differ
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2db4af13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#Fri Nov 16 08:49:17 CET 2018
+distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
+distributionPath=wrapper/dists
+zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
+zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-4.6-all.zip
diff --git a/gradlew b/gradlew
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..cccdd3d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradlew
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+
+##############################################################################
+##
+##  Gradle start up script for UN*X
+##
+##############################################################################
+
+# Attempt to set APP_HOME
+# Resolve links: $0 may be a link
+PRG="$0"
+# Need this for relative symlinks.
+while [ -h "$PRG" ] ; do
+    ls=`ls -ld "$PRG"`
+    link=`expr "$ls" : '.*-> \(.*\)$'`
+    if expr "$link" : '/.*' > /dev/null; then
+        PRG="$link"
+    else
+        PRG=`dirname "$PRG"`"/$link"
+    fi
+done
+SAVED="`pwd`"
+cd "`dirname \"$PRG\"`/" >/dev/null
+APP_HOME="`pwd -P`"
+cd "$SAVED" >/dev/null
+
+APP_NAME="Gradle"
+APP_BASE_NAME=`basename "$0"`
+
+# Add default JVM options here. You can also use JAVA_OPTS and GRADLE_OPTS to pass JVM options to this script.
+DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS=""
+
+# Use the maximum available, or set MAX_FD != -1 to use that value.
+MAX_FD="maximum"
+
+warn () {
+    echo "$*"
+}
+
+die () {
+    echo
+    echo "$*"
+    echo
+    exit 1
+}
+
+# OS specific support (must be 'true' or 'false').
+cygwin=false
+msys=false
+darwin=false
+nonstop=false
+case "`uname`" in
+  CYGWIN* )
+    cygwin=true
+    ;;
+  Darwin* )
+    darwin=true
+    ;;
+  MINGW* )
+    msys=true
+    ;;
+  NONSTOP* )
+    nonstop=true
+    ;;
+esac
+
+CLASSPATH=$APP_HOME/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
+
+# Determine the Java command to use to start the JVM.
+if [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ] ; then
+    if [ -x "$JAVA_HOME/jre/sh/java" ] ; then
+        # IBM's JDK on AIX uses strange locations for the executables
+        JAVACMD="$JAVA_HOME/jre/sh/java"
+    else
+        JAVACMD="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
+    fi
+    if [ ! -x "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
+        die "ERROR: JAVA_HOME is set to an invalid directory: $JAVA_HOME
+
+Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+location of your Java installation."
+    fi
+else
+    JAVACMD="java"
+    which java >/dev/null 2>&1 || die "ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
+
+Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+location of your Java installation."
+fi
+
+# Increase the maximum file descriptors if we can.
+if [ "$cygwin" = "false" -a "$darwin" = "false" -a "$nonstop" = "false" ] ; then
+    MAX_FD_LIMIT=`ulimit -H -n`
+    if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
+        if [ "$MAX_FD" = "maximum" -o "$MAX_FD" = "max" ] ; then
+            MAX_FD="$MAX_FD_LIMIT"
+        fi
+        ulimit -n $MAX_FD
+        if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
+            warn "Could not set maximum file descriptor limit: $MAX_FD"
+        fi
+    else
+        warn "Could not query maximum file descriptor limit: $MAX_FD_LIMIT"
+    fi
+fi
+
+# For Darwin, add options to specify how the application appears in the dock
+if $darwin; then
+    GRADLE_OPTS="$GRADLE_OPTS \"-Xdock:name=$APP_NAME\" \"-Xdock:icon=$APP_HOME/media/gradle.icns\""
+fi
+
+# For Cygwin, switch paths to Windows format before running java
+if $cygwin ; then
+    APP_HOME=`cygpath --path --mixed "$APP_HOME"`
+    CLASSPATH=`cygpath --path --mixed "$CLASSPATH"`
+    JAVACMD=`cygpath --unix "$JAVACMD"`
+
+    # We build the pattern for arguments to be converted via cygpath
+    ROOTDIRSRAW=`find -L / -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type d 2>/dev/null`
+    SEP=""
+    for dir in $ROOTDIRSRAW ; do
+        ROOTDIRS="$ROOTDIRS$SEP$dir"
+        SEP="|"
+    done
+    OURCYGPATTERN="(^($ROOTDIRS))"
+    # Add a user-defined pattern to the cygpath arguments
+    if [ "$GRADLE_CYGPATTERN" != "" ] ; then
+        OURCYGPATTERN="$OURCYGPATTERN|($GRADLE_CYGPATTERN)"
+    fi
+    # Now convert the arguments - kludge to limit ourselves to /bin/sh
+    i=0
+    for arg in "$@" ; do
+        CHECK=`echo "$arg"|egrep -c "$OURCYGPATTERN" -`
+        CHECK2=`echo "$arg"|egrep -c "^-"`                                 ### Determine if an option
+
+        if [ $CHECK -ne 0 ] && [ $CHECK2 -eq 0 ] ; then                    ### Added a condition
+            eval `echo args$i`=`cygpath --path --ignore --mixed "$arg"`
+        else
+            eval `echo args$i`="\"$arg\""
+        fi
+        i=$((i+1))
+    done
+    case $i in
+        (0) set -- ;;
+        (1) set -- "$args0" ;;
+        (2) set -- "$args0" "$args1" ;;
+        (3) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" ;;
+        (4) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" ;;
+        (5) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" ;;
+        (6) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" ;;
+        (7) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" "$args6" ;;
+        (8) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" "$args6" "$args7" ;;
+        (9) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" "$args6" "$args7" "$args8" ;;
+    esac
+fi
+
+# Escape application args
+save () {
+    for i do printf %s\\n "$i" | sed "s/'/'\\\\''/g;1s/^/'/;\$s/\$/' \\\\/" ; done
+    echo " "
+}
+APP_ARGS=$(save "$@")
+
+# Collect all arguments for the java command, following the shell quoting and substitution rules
+eval set -- $DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS $JAVA_OPTS $GRADLE_OPTS "\"-Dorg.gradle.appname=$APP_BASE_NAME\"" -classpath "\"$CLASSPATH\"" org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain "$APP_ARGS"
+
+# by default we should be in the correct project dir, but when run from Finder on Mac, the cwd is wrong
+if [ "$(uname)" = "Darwin" ] && [ "$HOME" = "$PWD" ]; then
+  cd "$(dirname "$0")"
+fi
+
+exec "$JAVACMD" "$@"
diff --git a/gradlew.bat b/gradlew.bat
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f9553162
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradlew.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+@if "%DEBUG%" == "" @echo off
+@rem ##########################################################################
+@rem
+@rem  Gradle startup script for Windows
+@rem
+@rem ##########################################################################
+
+@rem Set local scope for the variables with windows NT shell
+if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" setlocal
+
+set DIRNAME=%~dp0
+if "%DIRNAME%" == "" set DIRNAME=.
+set APP_BASE_NAME=%~n0
+set APP_HOME=%DIRNAME%
+
+@rem Add default JVM options here. You can also use JAVA_OPTS and GRADLE_OPTS to pass JVM options to this script.
+set DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS=
+
+@rem Find java.exe
+if defined JAVA_HOME goto findJavaFromJavaHome
+
+set JAVA_EXE=java.exe
+%JAVA_EXE% -version >NUL 2>&1
+if "%ERRORLEVEL%" == "0" goto init
+
+echo.
+echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
+echo.
+echo Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+echo location of your Java installation.
+
+goto fail
+
+:findJavaFromJavaHome
+set JAVA_HOME=%JAVA_HOME:"=%
+set JAVA_EXE=%JAVA_HOME%/bin/java.exe
+
+if exist "%JAVA_EXE%" goto init
+
+echo.
+echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is set to an invalid directory: %JAVA_HOME%
+echo.
+echo Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+echo location of your Java installation.
+
+goto fail
+
+:init
+@rem Get command-line arguments, handling Windows variants
+
+if not "%OS%" == "Windows_NT" goto win9xME_args
+
+:win9xME_args
+@rem Slurp the command line arguments.
+set CMD_LINE_ARGS=
+set _SKIP=2
+
+:win9xME_args_slurp
+if "x%~1" == "x" goto execute
+
+set CMD_LINE_ARGS=%*
+
+:execute
+@rem Setup the command line
+
+set CLASSPATH=%APP_HOME%\gradle\wrapper\gradle-wrapper.jar
+
+@rem Execute Gradle
+"%JAVA_EXE%" %DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS% %JAVA_OPTS% %GRADLE_OPTS% "-Dorg.gradle.appname=%APP_BASE_NAME%" -classpath "%CLASSPATH%" org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain %CMD_LINE_ARGS%
+
+:end
+@rem End local scope for the variables with windows NT shell
+if "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" goto mainEnd
+
+:fail
+rem Set variable GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE if you need the _script_ return code instead of
+rem the _cmd.exe /c_ return code!
+if  not "" == "%GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE%" exit 1
+exit /b 1
+
+:mainEnd
+if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" endlocal
+
+:omega
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index c8787ff2..00000000
--- a/pom.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,859 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="US-ASCII"?>
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0
-		                    http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
-
-    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-
-    <groupId>com.scienceminer.nerd</groupId>
-    <artifactId>nerd</artifactId>
-    <packaging>war</packaging>
-    <version>0.0.4</version>
-
-    <name>entity-fishing</name>
-    <description>Entity Recognition and Disambiguation</description>
-
-    <properties>
-        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-        <avro.version>1.7.5</avro.version>
-        <lmdbjni.version>0.4.6</lmdbjni.version>
-        <jackson.version>2.9.5</jackson.version>
-    </properties>
-
-    <licenses>
-        <license>
-            <name>Apache License, Version 2.0</name>
-            <url>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0</url>
-        </license>
-    </licenses>
-
-    <contributors>
-        <contributor>
-            <name>Patrice Lopez</name>
-            <roles>
-                <role>Developer</role>
-            </roles>
-        </contributor>
-        <contributor>
-            <name>Luca Foppiano</name>
-            <roles>
-                <role>Developer</role>
-            </roles>
-        </contributor>
-    </contributors>
-
-    <build>
-        <!--in order to read *.properties in the resource-->
-        <resources>
-        <resource>
-            <directory>src/main/resources</directory>
-            <filtering>true</filtering>
-            <includes>
-                <include>**/service.properties</include>
-            </includes>
-        </resource>
-        </resources>
-        <plugins>
-            <plugin>
-                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.0.2</version>
-                <configuration>
-                    <archive>
-                        <manifest>
-                            <addDefaultImplementationEntries>true</addDefaultImplementationEntries>
-                            <addDefaultSpecificationEntries>true</addDefaultSpecificationEntries>
-                            <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
-                        </manifest>
-                    </archive>
-                </configuration>
-                <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <id>make-a-jar</id>
-                        <phase>compile</phase>
-                        <goals>
-                            <goal>jar</goal>
-                        </goals>
-                    </execution>
-                </executions>
-            </plugin>
-
-            <plugin>
-                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-                <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.20</version>
-                <configuration>
-                    <argLine>-Xms256m -Xmx3072m -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000
-                    </argLine>
-                    <excludes>
-                        <exclude>**/*IntegrationTest.java</exclude>
-                    </excludes>
-                    <systemPropertyVariables>
-                        <log4j.configuration>log4j.test.xml</log4j.configuration>
-                    </systemPropertyVariables>
-                </configuration>
-            </plugin>
-
-            <plugin>
-                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.6.1</version>
-                <configuration>
-                    <source>1.8</source>
-                    <target>1.8</target>
-                    <encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
-                </configuration>
-            </plugin>
-
-            <plugin>
-                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-                <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.1.0</version>
-                <configuration>
-                    <webResources>
-                        <resource>
-                            <directory>src/main/webapp/WEB-INF</directory>
-                            <!--excludes>
-                                <exclude>src/main/resources/</exclude>
-                            </excludes-->
-                            <!--includes>
-                                <include>web.xml</include>
-                            </includes-->
-                            <!--filtering>true</filtering-->
-                            <targetPath>WEB-INF</targetPath>
-                        </resource>
-                        <!--resource>
-                            <directory>utils/brat</directory>
-                            <targetPath>brat</targetPath>
-                        </resource-->
-                        <resource>
-                            <directory>doc</directory>
-                            <targetPath>doc</targetPath>
-                        </resource>
-                        <resource>
-                            <directory>lib</directory>
-                            <targetPath>WEB-INF/lib</targetPath>
-                        </resource>
-                    </webResources>
-                </configuration>
-            </plugin>
-
-            <plugin>
-                <groupId>org.eclipse.jetty</groupId>
-                <artifactId>jetty-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>9.4.8.v20171121</version>
-
-                <configuration>
-                    <jvmArgs>-Xmx4g -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000</jvmArgs>
-                    <scanIntervalSeconds>0</scanIntervalSeconds>
-                    <stopKey/>
-                    <stopPort/>
-                    <systemProperties>
-                        <!-- enable easy JMX connection to JConsole -->
-                        <systemProperty>
-                            <name>com.sun.management.jmxremote</name>
-                            <value/>
-                        </systemProperty>
-                        <systemProperty>
-                            <name>jetty.port</name>
-                            <value>8090</value>
-                        </systemProperty>
-                        <systemProperty>
-                            <name>maxIdleTime</name>
-                            <value>60000</value>
-                        </systemProperty>
-                        <systemProperty>
-                            <name>log4j.configuration</name>
-                            <value>log4j-jetty.xml</value>
-                        </systemProperty>
-                    </systemProperties>
-                </configuration>
-            </plugin>
-        </plugins>
-    </build>
-
-    <profiles>
-
-        <profile>
-            <!-- mvn compile exec:exec -Ptrain_annotate_en -->
-            <id>train_annotate_en</id>
-            <activation>
-                <property>
-                    <name>train_annotate_en</name>
-                </property>
-            </activation>
-            <build>
-                <plugins>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <executable>java</executable>
-                            <classpathScope>compile</classpathScope>
-                            <arguments>
-                                <argument>-XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError</argument>
-                                <argument>-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000</argument>
-                                <argument>-classpath</argument>
-                                <classpath/>
-                                <argument>-Xms2g</argument>
-                                <argument>-Xmx10g</argument>
-                                <argument>com.scienceminer.nerd.training.WikipediaTrainer</argument>
-                                <argument>data/wikipedia/training/</argument>
-                                <argument>en</argument>
-                            </arguments>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </plugin>
-                </plugins>
-            </build>
-        </profile>
-
-        <profile>
-            <!-- mvn compile exec:exec -Ptrain_annotate_de -->
-            <id>train_annotate_de</id>
-            <activation>
-                <property>
-                    <name>train_annotate_de</name>
-                </property>
-            </activation>
-            <build>
-                <plugins>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <executable>java</executable>
-                            <classpathScope>compile</classpathScope>
-                            <arguments>
-                                <argument>-XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError</argument>
-                                <argument>-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000</argument>
-                                <argument>-classpath</argument>
-                                <classpath/>
-                                <argument>-Xms2g</argument>
-                                <argument>-Xmx10g</argument>
-                                <argument>com.scienceminer.nerd.training.WikipediaTrainer</argument>
-                                <argument>data/wikipedia/training/</argument>
-                                <argument>de</argument>
-                            </arguments>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </plugin>
-                </plugins>
-            </build>
-        </profile>
-
-        <profile>
-            <!-- mvn compile exec:exec -Ptrain_annotate_fr -->
-            <id>train_annotate_fr</id>
-            <activation>
-                <property>
-                    <name>train_annotate_fr</name>
-                </property>
-            </activation>
-            <build>
-                <plugins>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <executable>java</executable>
-                            <classpathScope>compile</classpathScope>
-                            <arguments>
-                                <argument>-XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError</argument>
-                                <argument>-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000</argument>
-                                <argument>-classpath</argument>
-                                <classpath/>
-                                <argument>-Xms2g</argument>
-                                <argument>-Xmx10g</argument>
-                                <argument>com.scienceminer.nerd.training.WikipediaTrainer</argument>
-                                <argument>data/wikipedia/training/</argument>
-                                <argument>fr</argument>
-                            </arguments>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </plugin>
-                </plugins>
-            </build>
-        </profile>
-
-        <profile>
-            <!-- mvn compile exec:exec -Ptrain_annotate_fr -->
-            <id>train_annotate_it</id>
-            <activation>
-                <property>
-                    <name>train_annotate_it</name>
-                </property>
-            </activation>
-            <build>
-                <plugins>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <executable>java</executable>
-                            <classpathScope>compile</classpathScope>
-                            <arguments>
-                                <argument>-XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError</argument>
-                                <argument>-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000</argument>
-                                <argument></argument>
-                                <argument>-classpath</argument>
-                                <classpath/>
-                                <argument>-Xms2g</argument>
-                                <argument>-Xmx8g</argument>
-                                <argument>com.scienceminer.nerd.training.WikipediaTrainer</argument>
-                                <argument>data/wikipedia/training/</argument>
-                                <argument>it</argument>
-                            </arguments>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </plugin>
-                </plugins>
-            </build>
-        </profile>
-
-        <profile>
-            <!-- mvn compile exec:exec -Ptrain_annotate_fr -->
-            <id>train_annotate_es</id>
-            <activation>
-                <property>
-                    <name>train_annotate_es</name>
-                </property>
-            </activation>
-            <build>
-                <plugins>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <executable>java</executable>
-                            <classpathScope>compile</classpathScope>
-                            <arguments>
-                                <argument>-XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError</argument>
-                                <argument>-Djdk.xml.totalEntitySizeLimit=2147480000</argument>
-                                <argument>-classpath</argument>
-                                <classpath/>
-                                <argument>-Xms2g</argument>
-                                <argument>-Xmx8g</argument>
-                                <argument>com.scienceminer.nerd.training.WikipediaTrainer</argument>
-                                <argument>data/wikipedia/training/</argument>
-                                <argument>es</argument>
-                            </arguments>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </plugin>
-                </plugins>
-            </build>
-        </profile>
-
-        <profile>
-            <!-- mvn compile exec:exec -Ptrain_annotate_fr -->
-            <id>generate_entity_description</id>
-            <activation>
-                <property>
-                    <name>generate_entity_description</name>
-                </property>
-            </activation>
-            <build>
-                <plugins>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <executable>java</executable>
-                            <classpathScope>compile</classpathScope>
-                            <arguments>
-                                <argument>-classpath</argument>
-                                <classpath/>
-                                <argument>-Xms2g</argument>
-                                <argument>-Xmx8g</argument>
-                                <argument>com.scienceminer.nerd.embeddings.EntityDescription</argument>
-                                <argument>data/wikipedia/embeddings/en/</argument>
-                                <argument>en</argument>
-                            </arguments>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </plugin>
-                </plugins>
-            </build>
-        </profile>
-
-        <profile>
-            <id>tomcat</id>
-            <activation>
-                <property>
-                    <name>tomcat</name>
-                </property>
-                <activeByDefault>false</activeByDefault>
-            </activation>
-            <build>
-                <plugins>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <version>3.0.2</version>
-                        <executions>
-                            <execution>
-                                <id>copy-resources-source</id>
-                                <phase>package</phase>
-                                <goals>
-                                    <goal>copy-resources</goal>
-                                </goals>
-                                <configuration>
-                                    <outputDirectory>${basedir}/target/classes</outputDirectory>
-                                    <resources>
-                                        <resource>
-                                            <directory>${basedir}/src/main/resources</directory>
-                                            <excludes>
-                                                <exclude>jetty.xml</exclude>
-                                                <exclude>log4j-jetty.xml</exclude>
-                                                <exclude>log4j.xml</exclude>
-                                                <exclude>log4j.test.xml</exclude>
-                                            </excludes>
-                                            <includes>
-                                                <include>log4j-tomcat.xml</include>
-                                                <include>*.properties</include>
-                                            </includes>
-                                            <filtering>true</filtering>
-                                        </resource>
-                                    </resources>
-                                </configuration>
-                            </execution>
-                            <execution>
-                                <id>copy-resources-test</id>
-                                <phase>package</phase>
-                                <goals>
-                                    <goal>testResources</goal>
-                                </goals>
-                                <configuration>
-                                    <outputDirectory>${basedir}/target/test-classes</outputDirectory>
-                                    <resources>
-                                        <resource>
-                                            <directory>${basedir}/src/test/resources</directory>
-                                            <excludes>
-                                                <exclude>query.json</exclude>
-                                            </excludes>
-                                        </resource>
-                                    </resources>
-                                </configuration>
-                            </execution>
-                        </executions>
-                    </plugin>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <version>3.1.0</version>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <packagingExcludes>**/**jetty*.xml, **/log4j.xml</packagingExcludes>
-                            <webResources>
-                                <resource>
-                                    <directory>${basedir}/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/</directory>
-                                    <includes>
-                                        <include>web.xml</include>
-                                    </includes>
-                                    <filtering>true</filtering>
-                                    <targetPath>WEB-INF</targetPath>
-                                </resource>
-                                <!--<resource>
-                                    <directory>${basedir}/src/main/resources</directory>
-                                    <excludes>
-                                        <exclude>log4j.xml</exclude>
-                                        <exclude>jetty.xml</exclude>
-                                        <exclude>log4j-jetty.xml</exclude>
-                                    </excludes>
-                                </resource>-->
-                                <!--<resource>
-                                    <directory>${basedir}/src/test/resources</directory>
-                                    <excludes>
-                                        <exclude>log4j.test.xml</exclude>
-                                    </excludes>
-                                </resource>-->
-                                <resource>
-                                    <excludes>
-                                        <exclude>**/db-de/**</exclude>
-                                        <exclude>**/db-en/**</exclude>
-                                        <exclude>**/db-kb/**</exclude>
-                                        <exclude>**/db-fr/**</exclude>
-                                        <exclude>**/db-it/**</exclude>
-                                        <exclude>**/db-es/**</exclude>
-                                    </excludes>
-                                    <directory>data</directory>
-                                    <targetPath>data</targetPath>
-                                </resource>
-                                <resource>
-                                    <directory>doc</directory>
-                                    <targetPath>doc</targetPath>
-                                </resource>
-                            </webResources>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </plugin>
-                    <plugin>
-                        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-                        <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <version>2.6</version>
-
-                        <!--<executions>
-                            <execution>
-                                <id>assembly-data</id>
-                                <phase>package</phase>
-                                <goals>
-                                    <goal>assembly</goal>
-                                </goals>
-                            </execution>
-                        </executions>-->
-                        <configuration>
-                            <finalName>${project.artifactId}_${project.version}-data</finalName>
-                            <descriptors>
-                                <descriptor>src/main/assembly/resources.xml</descriptor>
-                            </descriptors>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </plugin>
-                </plugins>
-            </build>
-        </profile>
-
-    </profiles>
-
-    <repositories>
-        <repository>
-            <id>3rd-party-local-repo</id>
-            <name>This is a local repository included in the project, to access 3rd party libs.</name>
-            <url>file:///${basedir}/lib/</url>
-            <layout>default</layout>
-        </repository>
-        <repository>
-            <id>maven2-repository.dev.java.net</id>
-            <name>Java.net Repository for Maven</name>
-            <url>http://download.java.net/maven/2/</url>
-            <layout>default</layout>
-        </repository>
-        <repository>
-            <id>sonatype-oss-public</id>
-            <url>https://oss.sonatype.org/content/groups/public/</url>
-            <releases>
-                <enabled>true</enabled>
-            </releases>
-            <snapshots>
-                <enabled>true</enabled>
-            </snapshots>
-        </repository>
-        <repository>
-            <snapshots>
-                <enabled>false</enabled>
-            </snapshots>
-            <id>bintray-rookies-maven</id>
-            <name>bintray</name>
-            <url>https://dl.bintray.com/rookies/maven</url>
-        </repository>
-    </repositories>
-
-    <dependencies>
-        <!--maven model library -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.maven</groupId>
-            <artifactId>maven-model</artifactId>
-            <version>3.5.3</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!--Apache commons -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
-            <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
-            <version>2.5</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
-            <artifactId>httpclient</artifactId>
-            <version>4.5.3</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
-            <artifactId>httpmime</artifactId>
-            <version>4.5.3</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
-            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
-            <version>3.6</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
-            <artifactId>commons-collections4</artifactId>
-            <version>4.1</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
-            <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
-            <version>1.1</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- logging -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-            <artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>
-            <version>1.7.25</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>log4j</groupId>
-            <artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
-            <version>1.2.17</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- for test only -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>junit</groupId>
-            <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
-            <version>4.12</version>
-            <scope>test</scope>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.hamcrest</groupId>
-            <artifactId>hamcrest-all</artifactId>
-            <version>1.3</version>
-            <scope>test</scope>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- Jersey and dependencies -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.sun.jersey</groupId>
-            <artifactId>jersey-client</artifactId>
-            <version>1.8</version>
-            <scope>compile</scope>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.sun.jersey</groupId>
-            <artifactId>jersey-server</artifactId>
-            <version>1.8</version>
-            <scope>compile</scope>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.sun.jersey.contribs</groupId>
-            <artifactId>jersey-multipart</artifactId>
-            <version>1.8</version>
-            <scope>compile</scope>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- Language recognition -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.cybozu</groupId>
-            <artifactId>language-detection</artifactId>
-            <version>09-13-2011</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- machine learning library -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.github.haifengl</groupId>
-            <artifactId>smile-core</artifactId>
-            <version>1.3.1</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- libraries for embeddings -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>it.unimi.dsi</groupId>
-            <artifactId>sux4j</artifactId>
-            <version>3.1.2</version>
-            <exclusions>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>log4j-over-slf4j</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>it.unimi.dsi</groupId>
-            <artifactId>fastutil</artifactId>
-            <version>6.5.12</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>it.unimi.dsi</groupId>
-            <artifactId>dsiutils</artifactId>
-            <version>2.1.9</version>
-            <exclusions>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- Wikimedia markup parser -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.sweble.wikitext</groupId>
-            <artifactId>swc-parser-lazy</artifactId>
-            <version>3.1.5</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.sweble.wikitext</groupId>
-            <artifactId>swc-engine</artifactId>
-            <version>3.1.5</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- Serialization -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.thoughtworks.xstream</groupId>
-            <artifactId>xstream</artifactId>
-            <version>1.4.10</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>de.ruedigermoeller</groupId>
-            <artifactId>fst</artifactId>
-            <version>2.50</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
-            <artifactId>jackson-core</artifactId>
-            <version>${jackson.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
-            <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
-            <version>${jackson.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
-            <artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
-            <version>${jackson.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
-            <artifactId>jackson-dataformat-yaml</artifactId>
-            <version>${jackson.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <!-- it's handy for parsing JSON but it's used only for tests, so for the moment its scope is limited -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.googlecode.json-simple</groupId>
-            <artifactId>json-simple</artifactId>
-            <version>1.1.1</version>
-            <scope>test</scope>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- avro hadoop serialization - to be removed at some point! -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
-            <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
-            <version>${avro.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- for GROBID NER -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.grobid</groupId>
-            <artifactId>grobid-core</artifactId>
-            <version>0.5.1</version>
-            <exclusions>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>slf4j-jdk14</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.grobid</groupId>
-            <artifactId>grobid-ner</artifactId>
-            <version>0.5.1</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.grobid</groupId>
-            <artifactId>grobid-trainer</artifactId>
-            <version>0.5.1</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>directory-naming</groupId>
-            <artifactId>naming-java</artifactId>
-            <version>0.8</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>fr.limsi.wapiti</groupId>
-            <artifactId>wapiti</artifactId>
-            <version>1.5.0</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.wipo.analysers</groupId>
-            <artifactId>wipo-analysers</artifactId>
-            <version>0.0.1</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!--dependency>
-            <groupId>linnaeus</groupId>
-            <artifactId>linnaeus</artifactId>
-            <version>2.0</version>
-        </dependency-->
-
-        <!-- utilities -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>net.arnx</groupId>
-            <artifactId>jsonic</artifactId>
-            <version>1.3.10</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
-            <artifactId>guava</artifactId>
-            <version>25.1-jre</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- LMDB -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.deephacks.lmdbjni</groupId>
-            <artifactId>lmdbjni</artifactId>
-            <version>${lmdbjni.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.deephacks.lmdbjni</groupId>
-            <artifactId>lmdbjni-linux64</artifactId>
-            <version>${lmdbjni.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.deephacks.lmdbjni</groupId>
-            <artifactId>lmdbjni-osx64</artifactId>
-            <version>${lmdbjni.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.deephacks.lmdbjni</groupId>
-            <artifactId>lmdbjni-win64</artifactId>
-            <version>${lmdbjni.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- TBD: update to the latest version! -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>com.googlecode.clearnlp</groupId>
-            <artifactId>clearnlp</artifactId>
-            <version>1.3.1</version>
-        </dependency>
-
-        <!-- to be removed !-->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
-            <artifactId>hadoop-core</artifactId>
-            <version>1.2.1</version>
-            <!--<exclusions>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>com.sun.jersey</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jersey-core</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>com.sun.jersey</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jersey-server</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>com.sun.jersey</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jersey-json</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.mortbay.jetty</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jetty</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.mortbay.jetty</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jetty-util</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.mortbay.jetty</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jsp-2.1</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.mortbay.jetty</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jsp-api-2.1</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>-->
-        </dependency>
-
-    </dependencies>
-</project>
diff --git a/settings.gradle b/settings.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1ada4e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/settings.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+rootProject.name = 'entity-fishing'
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml b/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
index ff6ae6a1..08e5a594 100755
--- a/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
+++ b/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
-<!DOCTYPE web-app PUBLIC
-        "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 2.3//EN"
-        "http://java.sun.com/dtd/web-app_2_3.dtd" >
-
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <web-app>
     <display-name>NERD service - a RESTful service for the (Named) Entity Recognition and Disambiguation</display-name>
     <servlet>