Specialized in algorithmic game theory, Jun.-Prof Dr. Polevoy is going to teach a course “Efficiency in games” in this year’s summer semester. Having spent and researched many years in different countries, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Polevoy brings a high amount of knowledge and experience to the table. Therefore, we would like to take a closer look at his scientific career to date.
Originally from Ukraine, he moved to Israel and completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Technion (IIT). He then did his PhD at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, in 2012, which he defended in December 2016. He was a postdoc at the University of Amsterdam and then obtained a scholarship which allowed him to work for a year at the University of Warsaw, Poland. Now, he has been to Germany for almost a year and has been working in the research area of algorithmic game theory.
He is very grateful for the different viewpoints and approaches, which he was able to experience. Those varied perspectives, which he gained over the past few years, have contributed to his development as a researcher. “Over the past few years, I’ve met some very inspiring people. That increased my motivation to continue in the fields of science and research even further. […] Moving from one country to another was not my main intent but it definitely gave me some more viewpoints. […] In general, I think that witnessing various working styles definitely enriches you.”, said Jun.-Prof. Polevoy.
In terms of research, he has dealt primarily with approximation algorithms and non-cooperated game theory in the past. For the upcoming time though, he is going to expand his spectrum to cooperative game theory and mechanism design as well. „I do like understanding people through math. The fact that we can, given some experimental data, predict what people will do and maybe even suggest some improvement, is definitely something that I like a lot about game theory.”
Having spent all his time in Paderborn in home office due to Covid 19, he is now looking forward to the end of the pandemic. He mentions that “It would be nice to be able to meet people in person. I am very open for cooperation and hoping to work with as many people as possible here in Paderborn.”, Jun.-Prof Polevoy stated.
But for now, he focuses on teaching in the summer semester. He is hoping that as many students as possible participate in his lectures and be open minded about game theory in general. “It’s not only for students who are into social science or economics. Being a more theoretical scientist, I’m also going to focus a lot on the theoretical and mathematic aspects of it. It’s basically a mathematical take on social science.”
The Department of Computer Science is very happy to have Jun.-Prof. Dr. Polevoy in its ranks and is looking forward to working with him in the best ways possible.
