Ankita Sarkar

I am an Assistant Professor (on tenure track) in the Department of Computer Science at Ashoka University. My interests lie broadly in Theoretical Computer Science, especially in algorithm design. My work so far addresses clustering problems, matchings under preferences, and a few different transdisciplinary directions.

I am actively looking for new collaborators---in particular, I seek to advise PhD scholars and other researchers-in-training. If you are interested in working on graduate research with me, then consider applying to our PhD and MSc-PhD programmes; or email me if you are already in a PhD, Master's, or similar programme. If you are interested in undergraduate research instead, then read my undergraduate advising policy first. I am also open to supporting aligned applications to our postdoctoral programme.

My work on clustering problems is my most recent, and before that I worked on matchings under preferences. I plan to contribute further in theoretical directions, and also to expand my transdisciplinary collaborations to incorporate my varied interests---these include robotics, natural language processing, music, and mass transit. Generally, I enjoy optimizing and puzzle-solving, so if you have a question that evokes these then my expertise will be of use to you.

Due to the recent surge of LLM-generated proofs, I have gained an interest in the "meta-science" of how and when GenAI proofs are of human interest. Alongside, I have come to consider it essential that modern proof-based work draw from experimentalist practices for how the usage of a major but commonplace tool---in this case, GenAI---is described, logged, reported, recorded, taught, attributed, and replicated.

Before Ashoka, I was a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at Dartmouth College, where I was advised by Deeparnab Chakrabarty towards my doctoral dissertation. Before that, I earned an MSc in Computer Science at Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI), with a Master's thesis supervised by Prajakta Nimbhorkar. My undergraduate years were also spent at CMI, studying Mathematics and Computer Science.