Research Associate

Fixed-term, Full time (35 hours) 

Available for 3 years

We are looking for a 3-year postdoctoral research position is available at the School of Informatics of the University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom), with anticipated starting date of March 2024 or soon thereafter. The position is associated with the EPSRC Grant “Algorithms and Complexity for Economic Environments (ACEE)” led by Aris Filos-Ratsikas.

The Opportunity:

The project is centred around the study of algorithms and the computational complexity of finding stable outcomes for major economic environments, such as Nash equilibria for auctions, market equilibria for competitive markets, and fair division outcomes for divisible or indivisible resources, and falls broadly within the general area of economics and computation. 

For some of these problems, the existence of stable solutions is guaranteed by fundamental existence theorems (e.g., Nash equilibria in auctions or envy-free divisions of a cake), but their computational complexity is generally not known. For others (such as the existence of EFX fair allocations and their approximations), even their existence is not guaranteed. The goal of the project will be to study the existence of those stable outcomes, and the computational complexity of finding them, via the design of efficient algorithms, or by means of the appropriate computational complexity classes for total search problems (e.g., PPAD, PLS, or CLS). 

Your skills and attributes for success:

Essential:

• A PhD (or to be close to completion of a PhD) in computer science, or some other discipline related to the topics of the proposal (e.g., mathematics, economics, operations research etc), with a focus on theory. 
• A proven track record of research in the area, ideally attested by publications in top venues in theoretical computer science, economics, operations research, or the intersection of economics and computation.
• A solid understanding of algorithms and computational complexity.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. 

   Desirable:

• Research experience with one or multiple of the topics of the proposal, namely auctions, competitive markets of fair division. 
• A good understanding of algorithms and complexity for total search problems.
• Familiarity with mathematical techniques for proving existence theorems (e.g., fixed points, topological lemmas, or potential arguments).

Advert information