Till Tantau

Prof. Dr. Till Tantau is a Full Professor of Theoretical Computer Science at the University of Lübeck, Germany. He has served as Dean of Studies for the Faculty of Technology and Natural Sciences (MINT sections) since 2008 and chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the German National Computer Science Competition from 2014. His research focuses on computational complexity, parameterized algorithms, and bioinformatics, particularly logspace problems and descriptive complexity theory.

• Born 1975 in Berlin, Germany
• 1994–1999: Studied at TU Berlin
• 1999–2005: Research Assistant at TU Berlin
• 2003: Doctorate in Natural Sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) at TU Berlin
• 2004: Research stay at ICSI, Berkeley with Richard Karp
• 2005: Appointed W2 Professor at University of Lübeck
• 2015: Promoted to W3 Professor (highest professorial rank in Germany)

His research interests include:

• Computational Complexity: Logspace problems, weak cardinality theorems, and structural similarities across computation models
• Parameterized Algorithms: Color coding, kernelization techniques, and parallelization of fixed-parameter tractable problems
• Bioinformatics: Haplotyping problems under perfect phylogeny models
• Descriptive Complexity: Logical characterizations of computational problems
• Graph Algorithms: Shortest/longest paths in series-parallel graphs and smoothed analysis of binary search trees

Publications since 2000 demonstrate expertise across theoretical computer science, with 15 recent works focusing on parameterized complexity, parallel algorithms, and applications in bioinformatics. He contributes to algorithmic metatheorems, color coding techniques, and kernelization for hitting set problems.

Scientific Awards & Scholarships:

• 1992: Federal winner of German computer science competition
• 1993: Silver medal at International Olympiad in Informatics
• 1993: German National Academic Foundation scholarship
• 1994: Dr. Habbena Prize for Abitur excellence
• 1999: Erwin Stephan Prize, TU Berlin
• 2002: Best student paper award at MFCS
• 2003: GI Dissertation Prize nomination
• 2007–2021: Heliprof Teaching Awards (5x recipient)

His teaching includes courses on algorithm design, complexity theory, LaTeX/TikZ, and theoretical computer science. He chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the German National Computer Science Competition and participates in academic governance as Dean of Studies.