PhD in Theoretical Computer Science

This position focuses on fundamental open problems in algorithm design and computational complexity. The main theme will be a unifying theory of algorithmic power of combinatorial decompositions (such as tree decompositions) and algebraic decompositions (such as matrix-rank–based methods), combining elegant fundamental mathematics with computer science. There is also freedom to explore related topics in Parameterized/Fine-grained complexity or Theoretical Computer Science at large./nIn the 5-year ERC project COALESCE we aim for new fundamental insights on this paradigm, especially in the context of Parameterized Complexity and Fine-grained complexity of NP-hard problems./nYou will join the Algorithms and Complexity group at Utrecht University with Jesper Nederlof as daily supervisor. The starting date is negotiable, but should not be later than October 2026.