I am currently a researcher at MBZUAI in Abu Dhabi. Originally from the Slovak Republic, I lived there until completing my Bachelor’s degree in Informatics at Comenius University. With a strong background in both Mathematics and Computer Science, I was eager to pursue research early in my career, which led me to enroll in a joint MSc./Ph.D. program at KAUST.

My research centers on advancing the understanding of basic optimization techniques. Recently, I have been particularly focused on Newton-type methods, while in the past, I worked across a range of topics, including distributed optimization, federated learning, and stochastic optimization.

Outside of research, I enjoy playing team sports, especially ultimate frisbee. I appreciate the game for its emphasis on fair play and spirit of the game. Back in Slovakia, I represented the Slovak youth national team.

• Mohamed bin Zayed University of AI, Abu Dhabi
  2024 – present: Postdoctoral researcher
  Research topics: Distributed optimization, higher-order optimization
  Management roles: grant coordinator, student supervisor

2022, Jun-Aug: Research assistant
Developed second-order algorithms that are fast, practical, and provably convergent

• Flatiron Institute, Simons Foundation, New York
  2022, Jun-Aug: Research associate
  Investigated machine learning loss reformulations and designed fast variance-reduced algorithms

• Wincent (crypto trading company), Slovakia
  2020, Jun–Aug: Research intern/software engineer
  Analyzed and modeled the company's resource allocation. Designed and implemented the resource optimization algorithms under various constraints

• Iuventa (Mathematical Olympiad)
  2017 – 2019: Organizer of the national selection camp for the International Mathematical Olympiad
  Created problem sets, marked the solutions
  Restructured the format of the camp (team of 4 people)

• Researcher
  Topics: federated learning, higher-order algorithms, stochastic optimization
  Reviewer at journals JOTA, TMLR, and conferences NeurIPS, ICML, AISTATS

• Programming
  Python, PyTorch, C/C++, SQL, Bash, Julia
  Flexibility: experience with Java, Javascript, Matlab, R, Mathematica, Haskell
  Real-life time saving: automatization of recurring tasks (sending emails, filling forms, etc.)

• Cross-cultural communication
  Studied, worked, and lived in various international communities