(please be aware that I am moderately face-blind; this means that from time to time by brain fails the task of recognising faces, even of people I know very well; please don't take it personally)
I work in mathematics and theoretical computer science. This activity is quite similar to contemporary art, where you are an artist and a critic at the same time. It's also the most solid kind of castles in the air.
Research (and other) interests: I like to think about unambiguous automata in my working time, and about ambiguous novels in my free time (though the line between the two is somewhat blurry). More generally, I am interested in the interactions between algebra, combinatorics and algorithms, motivated by problems in automata theory, computer algebra and program analysis. My main focus is on matrix semigroups, weighted automata, and algorithms and complexity of algebraic problems. I'm also interested in the theory of codes and semigroup theory--please check out the excellent book "Codes and Automata" on this topic.
Research philosophy: I am a very social kind of researcher. I really enjoy collaborating (especially face to face), I think better when I'm discussing things with others, and I really like learning about what other people are doing. I am driven by the idea of understanding things more than of solving particular problems, and I definitely hoot more than I croak. I try to build bridges as much as possible. I appreciate good applications, but my passion is theory.
Positions:
2025--present: Postdoc (adiunkt) at MIMUW, University of Warsaw, working with Filip Mazowiecki on whatever we find interesting (weighted automata, matrix semigroups, etc.).
2022--2024: Postdoc at the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, working with Christoph Haase on arithmetic theories and infinite-state systems.
2020--2022: Postdoc at City, University of London, working with Laure Daviaud on decision problems for weighted automata and cost register automata.
2017--2020: PhD student at Laboratoire d'Informatique Gaspard-Monge at Université Paris-Est (currently Université Gustave Eiffel; don't ask), under the supervision of Dominique Perrin. The topic of my thesis was "Synchronizing automata and coding theory".
2016--2017: M.Sc. student at Université Grenoble Alpes. The advisor of my thesis there was András Sebő.
2015--2016: Research assistant at the Laboratory of Mathematical Cybernetics, United Institute of Informatics Problems, National Academy of Sciences, Belarus. My supervisor there was Mikhail Y. Kovalyov.
2010--2015: B.Sc. student at Belarusian State University. The advisors of my thesis there were Mikhail Y. Kovalyov and Yury L. Orlovich.