Jan Hidders

Jan Hidders is a Lecturer in the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at Birkbeck, University of London. He joined Birkbeck in 2020 after holding academic positions at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Associate Professor, 2016–2020), Delft University of Technology (Assistant Professor, 2008–2016), and the University of Antwerp (Postdoctoral Researcher, 2001–2008). He holds a PhD from Eindhoven University of Technology (2001) and has industry teaching experience at Avans Hogeschool (1996–2001).

Research Focus

Hidders' research centers on three interconnected domains:

• Graph Data Management: Design of graph query languages, schema definition systems (PG-Schema), and theoretical properties like expressive power and optimization. He contributes to ISO standardization for SQL/GQL graph extensions.
• Workflow Modelling: Hierarchical decomposition of Petri nets for workflow correctness verification and orchestration of multi-actor systems.
• Conceptual Data Models: Formal semantics of ORM2 and its relationship to graph data models, including ORM-native DBMS design.

His recent publications emphasize graph database schemas, threshold query optimization, and scalable data processing, reflecting his involvement in LDBC benchmarks and ISO standards. No awards are documented.

Academic Roles

• Programme Director for MSc Computer Science at Birkbeck.
• Researcher at Birkbeck Knowledge Lab and Birkbeck Institute for Data Analytics.
• ACM and IEEE member since 2003 and 2006, respectively.

He teaches Software Engineering II and Computer Systems, with 1 recorded PhD supervision.