Michał Pilipczuk

Mathematics / Computer science

When a navigation system calculates the fastest route, when social networks analyse billions of connections or biologists investigate family trees, they are working with so-called graphs – mathematical models composed of nodes and connections. These are the types of structure explored by the Polish computer scientist, Michał Pilipczuk. He works at the intersection of theoretical computer science, graph theory and logic and has produced some of the most important contemporary contributions to modern algorithmic graph theory and so-called parameterized complexity. Pilipczuk studies problems for which there are no known generally efficient algorithms. He analyses the additional conditions required to calculate such problems efficiently, nonetheless. This research field is known as parameterized complexity. What counts is not only the size of a network, but also its structure: for example, how highly branched it is or how complex its connections are. 

Pilipczuk’s research combines deep mathematical structural theory with concrete algorithm design. His works shows that even very complex networks often have a hidden order which can be exploited algorithmically. His methods have solved, or helped address much more efficiently, several problems in theoretical computer science that had remained unanswered for decades. 

By establishing the new centre focusing on the mathematical foundations of computer science (MFCS), which Michał Pilipczuk is invited to head as a Humboldt professor, TU Darmstadt is looking to reinforce synergies between computer science and discrete mathematics as well as to adopt a leading role in Europe in this field.

Brief bio

Michał Pilipczuk has been a professor in the Institute of Informatics at the University of Warsaw since 2015, having completed his doctorate at the University of Bergen, Norway. His research has been recognised at a high level with the award of an ERC Starting Grant (2021) and an ERC Consolidator Grant (2025). He has also been the recipient of the ERCIM Cor Baayen Award that is granted annually to promising young researchers in computer science and applied mathematics as well as the Polish Witold Lipski Award for achievements in theoretical and applied computer science. 

Michał Pilipczuk has been selected for a Humboldt Professorship and is currently conducting appointment negotiations with the German university that nominated him for the award. If the negotiations end successfully, the award will be granted in 2027.