Postdoctoral scholarship (2 years) in Discrete Mathematics

The Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics at Umeå University is offering a postdoctoral scholarship within the project “Bridg-it revisited: Maker-Breaker connection and percolation games”. The scholarship is full-time for two years with a suggested starting date of September the 1st, 2025.

Project description
The purpose of the project is to pursue research in discrete mathematics, with a particular emphasis on combinatorial game theory, and on extremal and probabilistic combinatorics. The specific research questions will be determined based on the candidate’s interests and expertise, as well as the ongoing projects of the research group. One of the main goals will be to investigate the Maker-Breaker percolation games introduced by Day and Falgas-Ravry, as well as generalisations of the Shannon switching game. This investigation may include probabilistic variants involving random boards, imperfect information, random failure of moves or random strategies.

The scholarship holder will be based at the Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics in Umeå. The postdoctoral scholarship is funded and administered by the Kempe Foundation (grant JCSMK24-556). The tax-free stipend will be 750 000  SEK for two years.

Research environment
The project will be carried out in close collaboration with Docent Victor Falgas-Ravry. Beyond this, the postdoctoral scholar will be encouraged to interact with other members of the Discrete Mathematics group, that currently consists of 23 individual researchers. The Discrete Mathematics research group is highly active; it holds a weekly seminar, hosts yearly workshops and receives a frequent flow of visitors and international collaborators. The group's interests cover a wide range of areas including extremal, probabilistic, algorithmic, game theoretic, computational, topological, geometric, and algebraic combinatorics. There is an especially strong concentration within extremal and probabilistic combinatorics, and a successful applicant will join two PhD students, six postdocs and four permanent members of staff working in the area.

Beyond Discrete Mathematics, the Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics carries out research in computational mathematics, financial mathematics, mathematical modeling, analysis, machine learning and optimisation, mathematical ecology and mathematical statistics. We offer courses and programmes from basic level all the way through to PhD studies in mathematics, mathematical statistics and computational science.

Qualifications
To qualify as a postdoctoral scholarship holder, the postdoctoral fellow is required to have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree. This qualification requirements must be fulfilled no later than at the time a decision is taken about the scholarship recipient.

Priority should be given to candidates who completed their doctoral degree, according to what is stipulated in the paragraph above, no later than three years prior. If there are special reasons, candidates who completed their doctoral degree prior to that may also be eligible. Special reasons include absence due to illness, parental leave, appointments of trust in trade union organizations, military service, or similar circumstances, as well as clinical practice or other forms of appointment/assignment relevant to the subject area.

For this particular project, a successful candidate should have a strong background in discrete mathematics, broadly understood, or a closely related area. A further requirement is the ability to perform research independently and as part of a team. Good knowledge of oral and written English is required. Expertise in combinational game theory or in extremal and probabilistic combinatorics will be deemed highly meritorious.

Application
A full application should include:

• A brief cover letter (max 2 pages) in which you motivate your choice to apply for this position and your suitability for the project.
• A curriculum vitae (CV) with a list of publications.
• A verified copy of a doctoral degree certificate, or documentation that clarifies when the degree of doctor is expected to be obtained.
• A short (at most 5 lines) description of maximum 5 publications most relevant to this project.
• Contact information of at least two people willing to act as references.

The application should be written in English (preferably) or Swedish, with all attached documents in PDF format. Applications must be submitted via Umeå University’s e-recruitment system, Varbi, no later than February 5, 2025.

Further information
Applicants are welcome to contact Victor Falgas-Ravry (victor.falgas-ravry@umu.se) if they have questions about the project.

A list of the current Discrete Group members can be found here:
https://www.umu.se/en/research/groups/discrete-mathematics/

More information about the department can be found at the following address:
https://www.umu.se/en/department-of-mathematics-and-mathematical-statistics/

We look forward to receiving your application!