We are pleased to announce that Laura Ciobanu Radomirovic has joined the Institute of Mathematics at Technische Universität Berlin as a MATH+ Professor in the field of Applied Algebra, starting January 2025. Congratulations and a warm welcome to the MATH+ community!

Laura Ciobanu officially joined TU Berlin and the MATH+ community in January 2025, and has already made her mark by delivering an engaging MATH+ Friday talk at the Kovalevskaya Colloquium on 29 November 2024, titled “Undecidable Problems in Group Theory.”

Reflecting on her new role, she shared, “I am excited to join TU Berlin as a MATH+ Professor. This position comes with the benefit of being part of a vibrant mathematics research community in Berlin, with a wide international reach. I am looking forward to connecting with the colleagues that make up this varied and impactful cluster of excellence, and to taking advantage of all the opportunities MATH+ has to offer.“

Early Academic Foundations and Career Development

Laura Ciobanu’s journey in mathematics began during her high school years in Romania, where her passion was fueled by her participation in mathematics olympiads and rigorous training. This early enthusiasm inspired her to pursue both mathematics and computer science at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the United States. She earned her PhD in group theory from Rutgers University, New Jersey, in 2005.

After completing her doctoral studies, Ciobanu held postdoctoral positions at the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica in Barcelona and the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Academic Contributions and Career Milestones

From 2007 to 2016, she advanced her academic career in Switzerland, working at the Universities of Fribourg and Neuchâtel. During this time, she first served as a lecturer (Oberassistentin), and subsequently held prestigious Swiss National Science Foundation positions: a research Professorship and an Ambizione Fellowship.

In 2016, Laura Ciobanu joined Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, where she became a professor and co-director of the Maxwell Institute—a collaborative hub for mathematical research between Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt Universities.

Research Focus and Future Plans at MATH+

Looking ahead to her plans as a MATH+ Professor, she stated, “At heart, I’m an algebraist, but I use tools from many different areas, and I am particularly inspired by problems coming from computer science. Through the MATH+ professorship, I will develop my main area of research, algorithmic and geometric group theory, in Berlin, and foster connections with the computer science community in Berlin and across Germany. In particular, I intend to use the MATH+ support to lead several projects that are at the confluence of algebra, combinatorics and computer science, to organize events that bring together different groups of scientists, and to mentor and promote young mathematicians.“

With her impressive background and vibrant research contributions, Laura Ciobanu Radomirovic brings a valuable expertise to TU Berlin and the MATH+ community. We look forward to the promising work and collaborations ahead!

LINKS:

• Press Release of TU Berlin on Laura Ciobanu’s start at TU
• Laura Ciobanu at TU Berlin
• Personal homepage of Laura Ciobanu