Paul C. Bell

Dr Paul C. Bell is a Reader in Computability and Automata Theory at the School of Computer Science and Mathematics, Liverpool John Moores University, UK. He has held academic positions at Keele University (Reader), Loughborough University (Lecturer), and the University of Liverpool (University Teacher). He completed his PhD at the University of Liverpool in 2007 and held postdoctoral positions at Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium) and the University of Turku (Finland).

• Current Affiliation: Liverpool John Moores University, School of Computer Science and Mathematics
• Previous Positions: Keele University (Reader), Loughborough University (Lecturer), University of Liverpool (University Teacher)
• Postdoctoral Experience: UCLouvain (Belgium), University of Turku (Finland)
• PhD: University of Liverpool, 2007

Paul C. Bell's research lies at the intersection of theoretical computer science and mathematics. His work focuses on foundational problems in computability, automata, and formal systems. Key areas include reachability in dynamical and hybrid systems, matrix semigroups, linear recurrence sequences, and algorithmic verification. He also explores quantum and probabilistic automata, Markov chains, Petri nets, and complexity in algebraic and logical systems. Additional interests span online algorithms, GPU computing, energy-aware scheduling, and computational geometry.

His research is supported by grants from the Royal Society and London Mathematical Society, and he has received an NVIDIA hardware grant. He is an active supervisor, having guided four PhD students to completion and currently mentoring two more. He serves on the editorial board of The Computer Journal and is involved in numerous programme committees, including STACS and ICTCS-FAW.

• Royal Society International Exchange Grant
• Two London Mathematical Society travel grants
• NVIDIA hardware grant (2015)

Dr Bell has supervised four PhD students to completion and is currently supervising two PhD candidates in Theoretical Computer Science and Pure Mathematics. He has served as an external examiner for MEng programmes at the University of Liverpool and for PhD theses at Loughborough, Liverpool, and Turku universities. He has received research grants and collaborates internationally, particularly with institutions in Belgium and Germany. He has organized major conferences such as RP 2021 and BCTCS 2014.

Dr Bell has been involved in organizing significant academic events, including serving as co-chair of the 15th International Conference on Reachability Problems (RP 2021) in Liverpool, co-chair of BCTCS 2014, and organizer of a special session on Reachability Problems at Computability in Europe 2022. He has also served on multiple programme committees and as an organizing chair for ICIDM 2018 at LJMU.