WOMBAT 2024

The Discipline of Business Analytics at the University of Sydney is pleased to host WOMBAT (Workshop on Optimisation, Metric Bounds, Approximation and Transversality).

  • Dates: Wednesday 4th – Friday 6th December 2024
  • Venue: The University of Sydney Business School

The event will be entirely in-person.

For the first time, WOMBAT will run a summer school taught by Prof. Fred Roosta (University of Queensland). In addition, a keynote talk will be given by Prof. Melvyn Sim (National University of Singapore).

Registration is free to all participants and open until 25th October. We welcome abstract submissions for talks on all aspects of optimisation (broadly defined). Some travel support for students is available.

For more details (including the registration form), see the event website:

WOMBAT 2024

Organising committee:

Li Chen

Nam Ho-Nguyen

Dmytro Matsypura

events, news

Joint meeting of the NZMS, AustMS and AMS

Call for Abstracts in the Special Session “Optimisation”

Dear friends and colleagues,

The Joint Meeting of the New Zealand, Australian and American Mathematical Societies will take place from the 9th to the 13th of December 2024 at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. A website for the conference is available at:

Home

It is our great pleasure to invite you to participate in the special session “Optimisation” and hope that you will agree to present a 25-minute talk.

This special session will focus on new mathematical and computational developments and their applications in all areas of continuous and discrete optimisation. Submissions related to applications of optimisation in data science, as well as data science applications in optimisation, are also welcome. We are delighted to have Defeng Sun (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) and Christiane Tammer (Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg) as our keynote speakers.

As the session will have a maximum of 25 speakers, please let us know your interest to present by October 18, 2024.

We welcome participation of Early Career Researchers and doctoral students in our special session. Speakers can submit abstracts for each session, and also register for the conference, through the registration link:

Registration

Please be advised that the cheaper Early Bird fees close on October 25, 2024.

We look forward to meeting you at the conference.

Best wishes,

Minh Dao, RMIT University

James Foster, CSIRO

Andrea Raith, University of Auckland

Matthew Tam, University of Melbourne

Golbon Zakeri, University of Massachusetts Amherst

(Session Organisers)

events, news

MOCAO lectures, July, 19

The last talk is tomorrow (11AM, AEST)

Speaker: Bruno F. Lourenço

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Title: Facial reduction and applications

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Abstract:

Conic linear programs (CLPs) are a far-reaching generalization of classical linear programs. However, general CLPs may suffer from certain theoretical illnesses that make them significantly more challenging to solve in comparison to LPs. 

In this context, facial reduction, a technique originally developed by Borwein and Wolkowicz, can be used to improve the theoretical properties of CLPs and make them more manageable.

In this lecture, we will present a basic overview of facial reduction together with a few applications and recent developments. 

Zoom:

https://unsw.zoom.us/j/89239495027?pwd=zMmvAkAmFZVQ4SzBhQkz6CuH4nuxwu.1

Registration for urgent updates: https://forms.gle/CGhNt3bssmqLMXcj6

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Nadia

news

MOCAO lectures: July, 18

Dear MOCAO lectures participants.

All the videos will be available on our YouTube channel later, there will be an additional announcement.

Our next speaker (Thur, July 18, 11AM AEST) is Dr Isabelle Shankar.

Title: The dual of a convex body

Abstract: Duality in convex geometry arises naturally in optimization by asking a simple question: given a maximizer to a convex optimization problem, how can we certify that it is indeed optimal? This leads to the definition of normal cone and quickly after to the dual of a convex body, which is itself a convex body. We’ll discuss examples including polytopes and extend the theory to conic duality.

Zoom:

https://unsw.zoom.us/j/89239495027?pwd=zMmvAkAmFZVQ4SzBhQkz6CuH4nuxwu.1

Registration for urgent updates: https://forms.gle/CGhNt3bssmqLMXcj6

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Nadia

Uncategorized

MOCAO lectures: A/Prof Vera Roshchina, UNSW

Lectures on Convex Geometry

A/Prof Vera Roshchina, UNSW.

Monday, July, 15-Wednesday, July, 17, 11AM each day (AEST)

We go over the basics of facial structure of convex sets, starting with the finite dimensional setting. We review the tools that help study geometric properties of convex sets and to construct convex sets with desirable properties. We then focus on structured convex problems, predominantly those defined algebraically (through matrix and polynomial inequalities and representations). Finally, we review some properties and behaviours of convex sets that are specific to the infinite-dimensional setting. The fundamental mathematical ideas and phenomena will be contextualised in optimisation applications, including conic programming and projection methods.

Zoom:

https://unsw.zoom.us/j/89239495027?pwd=zMmvAkAmFZVQ4SzBhQkz6CuH4nuxwu.1

Registration for urgent updates: https://forms.gle/CGhNt3bssmqLMXcj6

events, news

MOCAO lectures: time and speakers

We are pleased to announce the 2024 MoCaO Lectures in Computation and Optimisation. For 2024 we
are focusing on Geometry and Convexity in Computation. These one-hour lectures will be held each day, and all lectures will be broadcast via Zoom.

July 15-19, 2024, 11am-12 pm AEST (GMT+10) each day

Speakers:

A/Prof Vera Roshchina (University of New South Wales): July 15-17;

Dr Isabelle Shankar (Portland State University): July, 18;

A/Prof Bruno F. Lourenço (Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Japan): July, 19.

The zoom link will be published on our website.

Registration: https://forms.gle/CGhNt3bssmqLMXcj6

events, news

MOCAO list update

Dear MOCAO members. Please note that the list of MOCAO members has been updated (as per 2024).

news

MoCaO Lectures:  Geometry and Convexity in Optimisation

 July 15-19, 2024

We are pleased to announce the 2024 MoCaO Lectures in Computation and Optimisation. For 2024 we
are focusing on Geometry and Convexity in Computation. These one-hour lectures will be held each day, and all lectures will be broadcast via Zoom.

July 15-19, 2024, 11-12 am AEST (GMT+10) each day

This series of lectures will introduce the theoretical tools and notions of convex geometry that stem from or are applicable to the problems of modern convex optimisation. The lectures will cover the facial structure of general and structured convex set in Euclidean spaces, as well as in general vector spaces. These lectures are designed to be accessible to novices to the field who have a mathematics and computational background, such as PhD students, postdoc and/or inquisitive academics who wish to have a better understanding of recent advances in this dynamic field. These lectures will be given online via
Zoom. Please read the notice below regarding the registration to obtain the Zoom link.

Summary: Convex geometry is a fascinating area of simplicity and elegance yet mathematically rich. It is home to many beautiful and surprising theorems with numerous applications ranging from optimisation practical ones such as robotics, economics, and machine learning. In these year’s lectures, we go over the basics of facial structure of convex sets, starting with the finite dimensional setting. We review the tools that help study geometric properties of convex sets and to construct convex sets with desirable properties. We then focus on structured convex problems, predominantly those defined algebraically (through matrix and polynomial inequalities and representations). Finally, we review some properties and behaviours of convex sets that are specific to the infinite-dimensional setting. The fundamental mathematical ideas and phenomena will be contextualised in optimisation applications, including conic programming and projection methods.


MoCaO Lectures 2024:
Vera Roshchina (UNSW, Sydney)
Isabelle Shankar (Portland State University)
Bruno Lourenco (Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Japan)

Biographies:
A/Prof. Vera Roshchina (MoCaO lecturer 2024) is an applied mathematician working on convex and nonsmooth problems that mostly come from optimisation. Vera is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Mathematics and Statistics, UNSW Sydney. Before joining UNSW in 2018 she was an ARC DECRA Research Fellow at RMIT University and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Melbourne, Federation University Australia and University of Évora (in Portugal). In addition to DECRA Vera won 2 ARC grants and in 2021 was awarded Christopher Heyde medal by the Australian Academy of Science.

Dr. Isabelle Shankar: Isabelle Shankar is an Assistant Professor in the Fariborz Maseeh Department of Mathematics + Statistics at Portland State University.  She received her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics in 2021 from the University of California, Berkeley under the supervision of Serkan Hoşten.  She held postdoctoral positions at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig, Germany before joining PSU.  Her research interests include real algebraic geometry, convex optimization, and combinatorics.

Assoc/Prof. Bruno Figueira Lourenço: BSc in Computer Science and MSc in Mathematics by the University of Brası́lia, Brazil, in 2010 and 2012, respectively.  PhD in Mathematical and Computing Sciences from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2016.  Worked as an assistant professor at Seikei University from 2016 to 2018 and at the University of Tokyo from 2018 to 2020. Currently is an associate professor at the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Japan. Likes most things related to convex cones.

We encourage participants to register using the google form the bottom of the webpage (so you may receive the zoom details)

Website
and Registration:

https://forms.gle/CGhNt3bssmqLMXcj6


MoCaO Lectures: 
Mathematics of Computation and Optimisation 2024

If you have any enquiries, please send an email to MoCaO@austms.org.au. Please check the website prior to the lectures for last minute information or announcements.



 



 



 



events, news, Seminars

Position at Academic Level B or C

We are recruiting for one new continuing position in the Dynamics, Modelling and Computation group in the School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences at The University of Adelaide as part of an exciting investment in the future of mathematics. Please would you pass on this information to anyone you think might be interested.

The role is a continuing balanced (teaching and research) position at Academic Level B or C. We’re looking for someone who can contribute to the School’s current research strengths in dynamics, modelling, and computation.

More info here:

https://careers.adelaide.edu.au/en/job/514069/lecturer-b-senior-lecturer-c-dynamics-modelling-computation

You may be aware that The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia are about to merge to create a new Adelaide University. We’re currently developing a new suite of Bachelor, Honours, and Masters programs with a strong stream in applied mathematics. We anticipate that the applied mathematics group in the new School of Mathematical Sciences will have a strong culture in both research and teaching.

Applications close at 11:55pm on Thursday 13 June.

positions
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