Elite researcher makes it easier to understand complex systems

Uncertainties play a major role in the research for which 36-year-old Radu Mardare of Aalborg University's Department of Computer Science has been granted DKK 2.7 million from the Danish Council for Independent Research. The project will make it easier to predict occurances in highly complex systems.

The research project on the logical analysis of complex systems is titled "Modular Markovian Logics for Analysis of Stochastic Concurrent Systems". The slightly complex name covers an attempt to make models of systems (e.g. IT systems or social, financial, biological and ecological systems) more useable.

 -It is a bit of a challenge, because for instance biologial systems are enormously complex. Even with today's fast computers, it may take 24 hours to complete the calculations of a biological process that in reality only takes a few seconds. Therefore, I am attempting to split up the systems into constituent parts, Radu Mardare explains.

The grant for the Romanian-born expert takes the shape of a special elite-researcher grant for talented  young researchers. The grant is a part of the Danish Council for Independent Research's special careers programme for researchers, Sapere Aude ("Dare to know"), and in the case of Radu Mardare, this expression takes on a special meaning.

-It encourages me to continue with my unorthodox research. I am not following any predictable path, and that is exactly where the value of my project lies. Often, good ideas get turned down because not everyone can see where they will lead. Luckily, this is not the case with this project, Radu Mardare says.

At first, the result of the project will be a logical system that is to be tested on concrete and challenging examples within embedded systems. The examples will be provided by CISS through Professor Kim Guldstrand Larsen and Associate professor Arne Skou. Also participating in the project is Professor Luca Cardelli of Microsoft Research Cambridge, Great Britain.

Radu Mardare has a PhD in computer scinece from University of Trento in Italiy. Before joining Aalborg University in 2010, he held a position as researcher at Microsoft Research CoSBi Centre in Trento, where he did work on biological models.

Further information:
• Radu Mardare, tel. +45 9940 9875, mobile +45 5032 2393, e-mail mardare[at]cs.aau.dk.
• Professor Kim Guldstrand Larsen, CISS, mobile +45 2217 1159.
• Science journalist Carsten Nielsen, Aalborg Universitu, mobile +45 2340 6554.

Source: AAU news