معرفی
PD Dr. Florian Frank is Privatdozent (senior lecturer with full teaching licence) for Applied Mathematics at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and heads the Bavarian research project „Parallel mesh loading and partitioning for large-scale simulation“. His expertise spans high-performance computing, phase-field and discontinuous Galerkin methods, digital-rock physics, and reactive transport in porous media.
Education & career
- 2022 – Venia legendi (private lecturer), Mathematics, FAU
- 2019 – Dr. habil., Mathematics, FAU
- 2013 – Dr. rer. nat., Applied Mathematics, FAU
- 2008 – Graduate Mathematician, University of Frankfurt
- 2021-2022 (acting) W2 Professor Scientific Computing, FAU
- 2018-2021 (acting) W2 Professor Mathematical Modelling, FAU
- 2017-2018 Senior Postdoc, CAAM, Rice University, USA
- 2014-2017 Postdoc, CAAM, Rice University, USA
Research interests
Frank focuses on the development and analysis of numerical schemes for partial differential equations that govern multiphase, multicomponent and reactive processes in porous or biological media. Key themes include discontinuous Galerkin and finite-volume methods, physics-preserving discretizations, high-performance computing, and digital-rock-based pore-scale simulations. He couples phase-field approaches with (Navier–)Stokes, Cahn–Hilliard, Nernst–Planck and density-gradient equations to quantify flow, transport, colloid dynamics and interfacial phenomena.
Recent publications reveal a clear trend toward data-driven modelling: convolutional neural networks are trained with direct numerical simulation data to predict permeability and diffusion coefficients from 3-D micro-CT images, while advanced preconditioners and regularization techniques accelerate multiphase thermodynamic computations.
Awards & recognition
- 2020 – Emmy-Noether-Prize der Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät, FAU
- 2017 – Promotion to Senior Postdoctoral Research Associate, George R. Brown School of Engineering, Rice University
Projects, tools & supervision
Frank currently leads a Bavarian state-funded project on parallel mesh handling for large-scale simulations. Together with collaborators he maintains the open-source MATLAB/GNU Octave toolbox FESTUNG for discontinuous Galerkin methods. Since 2018 he has (co-)supervised ten BSc and MSc theses on topics ranging from Stokes preconditioning to enriched Galerkin shallow-water solvers, regularly serves as reviewer for more than a dozen international journals, and is guest editor of special issues in Computational Geosciences and Oil & Gas Science and Technology.
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