Vienna Graduate School on Computational Optimization

Modern optimization methods are a key issue in successful decision making in many areas such as energy production and trading, financial and insurance management, transportation and communication, network design and bioinformatics. The goal of this Graduate School is to give the PhD candidates a comprehensive training in optimization with special emphasis on algorithmic and computational aspects. The composition of the members makes sure that practically all aspects of optimization are covered and will allow the collegiate assistants to work on topics touching more than one of these aspects. By working in the Graduate School, they will get an integrated view of the different streams of optimization theory and applications and their implementation in modern computational environments. The different areas of optimization covered by the proposed members of the program are: Combinatorial Optimization (Henzinger, Ljubic, Raidl), Global Optimization (Bomze, Neumaier, Schichl), Heuristic Optimization (Neumaier, Schichl, Raidl), Nonlinear Optimization (Bomze, Neumaier, Uhler), Stochastic Optimization (Pflug, Uhler), Dynamic Optimization (Pflug, Uhler) Algorithmic Game Theory (Bomze, Henzinger), Optimization for intelligent Data Analysis (Bomze, Henzinger, Ljubic, Uhler). Each field is represented by more than one member, enabling productive cooperation and co- supervision of the PhD students. A special emphasis is put on algorithmic aspects. It is intended to encourage the collegiate assistants to implement and compare algorithms on a practical basis.

Vienna Graduate School on Computational Optimization (VGSCO) started in March 2016 and has become a successful and internationally renowned FWF DK programme in the area of optimization. Its main goal has been to give the PhD candidates a comprehensive training in different areas of mathematical optimization with special emphasis on algorithmic and numerical aspects, to conduct research that equally focuses on theoretical and computational methods, and to prepare them for both a career in academia and in the industry. With 39 regular and associated PhD students, 2 PostDocs and 12 faculty members involved, the DK programme has brought together all four institutions in the Vienna area at which doctoral education in optimization is offered, namely University of Vienna, TU Wien, Vienna University of Economics and Business and Institute of Science and Technology Austria. Due to this, the PhD students have come into contact with a large spectrum of optimization areas, ranging from continuous to discrete and heuristic optimization and their applications to fields like computer science, machine learning and artificial intelligence, engineering and finance, but also with the different cultures prevailing at the involved institutions. Under the lead of the Speaker Univ.-Prof. Dr. Radu Ioan Bo (University of Vienna) - succeeding in the second funding period Univ.-Prof. Dr. Georg Pflug (University of Vienna) - and of the Deputy Speaker Prof. Dr. Monika Henzinger (ISTA), the Vienna Graduate School on Computational Optimization has developed a very modern training programme that went beyond traditional PhD education. This has consisted of 21 lecture series on different optimization topics offered by visiting professors with high scientific reputation, 2 international workshops organized in Vienna, joint research seminars, scientific retreats, soft and transferable skills courses, research stays abroad for the regular PhD students, and interaction with doctoral students and researchers from other doctoral programmes in mathematics and computer science. The scientific output of the DK programme encompasses approximately 140 publications (and further 50 to be expected in the next years), hundreds of scientific presentations given at international conferences, numerous patents and collaborations with industrial partners. The graduates of the VGSCO have either pursued an academic career in Europe or North America, some of them already having a permanent position, or worked for major companies in the private sector. The Vienna Graduate School on Computational Optimization has had a tremendous impact on the scientific landscape in Austria and contributed to Vienna becoming centre with international academic reputation in mathematical optimization. More information can be found on the website of the DK at https://vgsco.univie.ac.at.