Friday, 31 July 2020 UP has acquired two new ARRS projects in the field of mathematics

We are pleased to announce that two research groups were successful with their application for the open call for proposals of the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS). Both secured their funding on the basis of the Grade B of the ERC Advanced Grant application.

The project principal investigator of the Customized Project N1-0159 - Designing certain discrete mathematical objects in spectral domain is prof. Enes Pasalic.

The main objective of this project is to investigate the existence, design and classification of certain discrete combinatorial objects that correspond to a special class of polynomials over finite fields which play an important role in cryptography. Namely, the main interest is the analysis of the so-called APN (almost perfect nonlinear) and AB (almost bent) functions. Their main intention is to provide an efficient classification and design of these two classes of functions since the known classes of these functions are obtained in non-generic and non-systematic manner.

(Prof. Enes Pasalic)

The second program group, P1-0285, whose principal investigator is Prof. Dragan Marušič, was successful in obtaining funds for the Customized project N1-0160 - Topological and Algebraic Combinatorics. The TAC project (Topological and Algebraic Combinatorics), which was successfully obtained by Assoc. Prof. Russ Woodroofe, will study problems at the intersection of topology, algebra, and combinatorics.

(Assoc. Prof. Russ Woodroofe)

There are two main themes, both motivated by posets and simplicial complexes arising in group theory. The first theme concerns the topology and combinatorics of the lattice of cosets of a finite group. These questions are intimately related to questions about generation and invariable generation of groups, and connect with a large number of seemingly unconnected fields. The second theme is loosely around shellable and sequentially Cohen-Macaulay simplicial complexes, particularly those arising from algebraic objects. One main goal is a unified and minimally classification-dependent proof that the subgroup lattices of nonabelian finite simple groups are not sequentially Cohen-Macaulay. Progress on these problems is likely to yield better techniques for demarcating between complexes that are sequentially Cohen-Macaulay and those that are not, as will be useful elsewhere in algebra and combinatorics.  

The Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) co-finances Customized research projects that have been successful in the international evaluation process in order to provide applicants with the conditions to further their own scientific excellence and the original idea of the research project.

The above-mentioned ERC Advanced Grant supports excellent, already established researchers at career level who have made recognizable scientific achievements over the last ten years. In addition to the other two scholarships awarded by the European Research Council (ERC Starting Grant and ERC Consolidator Grant), these are highly prestigious scholarships. The high B grades awarded to the two projects are also important because the University of Primorska is aiming to receive at least one of the ERC grants (A grade) in the coming years.

We extend our sincere congratulations to both researchers!