As of 1 January CWI researcher Bert Zwart is appointed full professor Applied Stochastic Processes at the VU University Amsterdam. He will carry out research, give lectures and supervise graduate students.
A stochastic process is a mathematical view on a chance process developing in time. These processes occur in many situations like mobile networks, factories, call centres and in the financial world. Another societal relevant research area in which Zwart will play a part is Revenue Management. This rising research area also involves stochastic processes. A major application is in the area of societal logistics, for instance determining the optimal chair prices in an aeroplane. The challenge is to combine techniques from stochastic processes, statistics and operations research effectively.
Bert Zwart carried out his doctoral research at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) and the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), where he received his doctorate in 1997. After one year of postdoctoral research at INRIA (France), Zwart worked as senior lecturer at TU/e, and associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Last year he received a Vidi grant of 600,000 euros and the Erlang Prize from The Applied Probability Society for best researcher under the age of 36 in the field of Applied Probability.
