Stefan Szeider

Stefan Szeider is a full professor and chair of the Algorithms and Complexity Group at the Faculty of Informatics, Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien). He also serves as a visiting scientist at UC Berkeley's Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing. His academic journey includes positions at the University of Durham (UK) and the University of Toronto (Canada), and he earned his Mathematics PhD from the University of Vienna in 2001.

Dr. Szeider's research focuses on designing efficient algorithms for problems in Artificial Intelligence, automated reasoning, and combinatorial optimization. He leads several initiatives, including the Vienna Center for Logic and Algorithms (VCLA), and has secured funding from the ERC, EPSRC, FWF, and others. His Erdős number is 2, reflecting his collaborative network in mathematics and computer science.

Key achievements include the first ERC Starting Grant awarded to an Austrian computer scientist (2009), and awards such as the Highlighted Paper Award at SAT 2023 and Best Paper at CP 2020. He advises numerous PhD students and postdocs, fostering the next generation of researchers in algorithms and complexity.

Notable contributions extend beyond academia to public outreach, including initiatives like the 'Algorithms Think Differently' educational program and the 'Algorithms in 60 Seconds' video competition. His work bridges theoretical foundations and practical applications, influencing both academic and real-world computational challenges.