I am a Professor (Hoogleraar) at the Departments of Computer Science and Mathematics at KU Leuven. Prior to joining KU Leuven, I was a tenured BOFZAP Professor (Hoogleraar) at Ghent University, and before that, a Reader at the University of Bristol and an EPSRC Early Career Fellow. I also have an affiliation with the University of Tromsø, as a Professor II. Since 2018, I have been an EPSRC Full College Member and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

My research is currently supported by the FWO (Flanders Research Foundation). Previously, it was partially supported by Ghent University's BOF, the UK EPSRC and the London Mathematical Society (LMS).

My research lies in Applied Algebraic Geometry. In particular, I am interested in developing computational tools to study problems in statistics and probability theory, theoretical computer science, industrial engineering and quantum physics. On the theoretical side, I work on toric degenerations, combinatorial divisor theory, matroid and determinantal varieties, tensors, conditional probabilities, graphical models, and system reliability theory.

News:

• 4 PhD positions available (for outstanding students) in my research group at KU Leuven. Link

• A UiT Aurora Center for Mathematical Structures in Computations (MASCOT)

• Lie-Størmer Center for Fundamental Structures in Computational and Pure Mathematics

• Several PhD and postdoctoral research positions available in my group. See here and also Mathjobs.

• I will be teaching a course on "Foundations of Combinatorial Algebraic Geometry" starting February 2023.

Upcoming and Recent Organised Conferences and Workshops:

• 2023.09: Invitation to Algebraic Statistics and Applications, Workshop, part of the Algebraic Statistics and Our Changing World, the IMSI, USA

• 2022.12: Toric Degenerations, Workshop, co-organised with Lara Bossinger, Alessio Corti and Megumi Harada at Banff Research Station, Canada

• 2022.11: Tensors in statistics, optimization and machine learning, Workshop, co-organised with Francesco Galuppi, Luca Sodomaco at IMPAN, Poland

• 2021.06: MEGA Conference: Effective Methods in Algebraic Geometry at University of Tromsø, Norway

• 2020.09: Mathematics and Data, Research School, Tromsø, Norway (postponed to 2022-2023)

Upcoming and Recent Talks:

• 2022.10: Workshop on Solving Polynomial Equations and Applications, CWI, Amsterdam, Netherlands

• 2022.08: Lie-Størmer Days, Tromsø University, Norway

• 2022.08: Guest Lecture, Enrichment Programme for Young Mathematics Talent, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

• 2022.05: Bridges between representation theory and algebraic geometry: Singularities, friezes and cluster categories, U. Leeds, UK

• 2022.05: CMSA Interdisciplinary Science Seminar, Harvard's Center for Mathematical Sciences and Applications, Cambridge, USA

• 2022.04: Nonlinear Algebra and Combinatorics from Physics, Harvard's Center for Mathematical Sciences and Applications, Cambridge, USA

• 2022.03: Combinatorial Coworkspace, Austria

• 2022.03: Brown Combinatorics Seminar, Brown University, USA

• 2022.03: Selected Topics in Mathematics, Liverpool, UK

• 2022.02: Representation and Number Theory Seminars, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

• 2022.02: Seminar on Pure Mathematics, HKUST, Hong Kong

• 2022.01: Virtual Commutative Algebra Seminars, IIT Bombay, India

• 2021.12: Canadian Mathematical Society Winter Meeting (virtual), Canada

• 2021.11: Algebra and Geometry Seminar, Queen's University, Canada

• 2021.11: Facets of CACAAG: Seminar on Combinatorial Aspects of Commutative Algebra and Algebraic Geometry, IIT Bombay, India

• 2021.11: Online Algebraic Geometry Seminar, Nottingham, UK

• 2021.10: Combinatorics Study Group at QMUL, London, UK

• 2021.10: Conference on Newton-Okounkov bodies and Fanosearch, Levico Terme, Trento, Italy

• 2021.09: MFO-RIMS Tandem Workshop: Symmetries on Polynomial Ideals and Varieties, Oberwolfach, Germany

• 2021.06: Virtual Workshop Positive geometries for scattering amplitudes and beyond, MITP, Mainz, Germany

• 2021.05: Virtual Special Session on Algebraic and Combinatorial Aspects of Polytopes, Western AMS Sectional Meeting, USA

• 2021.05: Colloquium Talk, Faculty of Mathematical Sciences and Computer, Kharazmi University, Iran

• 2021.04: Seminar Talk on Introduction to Tropical Algebra, Quantum Group at UGent, Belgium

• 2021.02: The Geometry of Conditional Independence Models, Algebraic Statistics Online Seminar, Germany

• 2021.01: The Amplituhedron and Positive Geometries, Algebraic and Combinatorial Perspectives in the Mathematical Sciences (ACPMS), Norway

• 2021.01: Mini-course on Tropical Geometry: Theory and Applications, Winter School on Geometric Constraint Systems, The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, Canada

• 2020.11: Tropical Geometry and Data Science, Tropical Geometry Reading Seminar, UK

• 2020.11: The Amplituhedron and Positive Geometries, Nonlinear Algebra Seminar Online (NASO), MPI Leipzig, Germany

Selected one-week Research Meetings:

• 2023.05: Computations and Data in Algebraic Statistics, Oaxaca, Mexico

• 2023.02: Workshop on Algebraic Geometry in Spectral Theory, ICERM, USA

• 2022.12: Research Fellows (OWRF) Program, 3-weeks, Oberwolfach, Germany

• 2022.03: Toric Geometry Workshop, Oberwolfach Research Institute for Mathematics, Germany

• 2021.09: MFO-RIMS Tandem Workshop: Symmetries on Polynomial Ideals and Varieties, Oberwolfach Research Institute for Mathematics, Germany

• 2021.06: Virtual Workshop for Women in Shape Analysis (WiSH3), Casa Matemática Oaxaca (CMO), Mexico

Recent Weekly Seminars:

• Reading Seminars: Toric Geometry at Ghent University, 2021-2022

• Ghent Junior Algebra and Geometry Seminars at Ghent University, 2021-2022

• Weakly Research Seminars: Ghent Algebra and Geometry at Ghent University, 2020-2022

Past Employments:

• 2021.09 - 2022.07: BOFZAP Full Professor (Hoogleraar), tenured at Ghent University

• 2020.03 - 2021.08: BOFZAP Associate Professor (Hoofddocent), tenured at Ghent University

• 2019.08 - 2020.02: Reader (Associate Professor) in Pure Mathematics, University of Bristol

• 2017.01 - 2019.08: Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Pure Mathematics, University of Bristol

• 2015.10 - 2017.01: Postdoctoral Researcher within the Einstein project in Bernd Sturmfels group at Technical University Berlin

• 2014.11 - 2015.10: IST Fellow working with Caroline Uhler

• 2013.11 - 2014.08: Alexander von Humboldt research fellow at Osnabrück University with Winfried Bruns

• 2012.07 - 2013.10: Alexander von Humboldt research fellow at the Philipps University Marburg working with Volkmar Welker

• 2011.09 - 2012.06: Postdoctoral Researcher at MSRI, Berkeley, under the supervision of Hélène Barcelo

Editorial Boards:

• Since 2022.05: Associate Editor, Journal of Symbolic Computation

• Since 2022.01: Associate Editor, SIAM Journal on Applied Algebra and Geometry (SIAGA)

• Since 2021: Guest Editor, Special Issue of the Journal of Symbolic Computation on the occasion of MEGA 2021

• Since 2020.01: Associate Editor, Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics

Scientific Committees:

• Since 2022.02: Program committee member, The 17th MEGA Conference on Effective Methods in Algebraic Geometry: MEGA 2022

• Since 2022.01: Scientific committee member, Combinatorial Commutative Algebra Summer School, Gebze Technical University, Turkey

• 2021.06: Committee member, The 16th MEGA Conference on Effective Methods in Algebraic Geometry: MEGA 2021

• 2018.07: Committee member, The 30th International Conference on Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics: FPSAC 2018

Academic Service:

• Since 2021: FWO project panel member in Mathematical Sciences, Belgium

• Since 2018: Reviewer for proposals submitted to EPSRC (UK), ICMS (UK), and DFG (Germany)