Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Schultz | Discrete Mathematics and Optimisation

Personal Details

Professor Ruediger Schultz studied mathematics at Humboldt-University Berlin. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from this university in 1985 with a thesis on sensitivity analysis in convex programming under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Bernd Kummer, and he earned his postdoctoral lecturer qualification from the same university in 1995 with a thesis on stability in stochastic programming. From 1993 to 1997 he was with the Konrad Zuse Center for Information Technology Berlin as a research assistant. In 1997, he became associate professor in discrete mathematics at the University of Leipzig. After one year he was appointed full professor to the Chair of Discrete Mathematics and Optimization at the Gerhard-Mercator University Duisburg, today University of Duisburg-Essen.

Teaching

Mathematical optimization provides a solid basis for decision making in various applied disciplines of which traffic and logistics is a prominent example. Students are introduced into the different branches of optimization, starting from linear, integer, and nonlinear programming, and leading to integrated topics like stochastic programming and pde-constrained optimization. Accent is placed both on profound mathematical underpinning and motivation by real-life applications, partly resulting from projects with industry.

Research

The research focus of Professor Schultz is on theory, methodology, and application of stochastic programming. The latter provides a powerful framework for optimization with incomplete information which is becoming more and more relevant to decision making in a world with growing importance of uncertainty and risk.
Selected recent research projects:

  • Algorithms for Optimization in Energy Networks under Uncertainty
  • Machine Scheduling in a Shipyard
  • Optimization of Gas Transport in Pipeline Systems
  • Stochastic Optimization in Energy Systems with Dispersed Generation
  • Risk Aversion in Optimization under Uncertainty
  • Shape Optimization under Uncertainty

The research of Professor Schultz is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), or by partners from industry including EON-Ruhrgas, Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG, MAN Turbo and others.
Professor Schultz repeatedly reviews on behalf of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Austrian Research Fund (FWF). He serves on the editorial boards of Operations Research Letters, Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, and the Stochastic Programming E-Prints Series. His numerous scientific publications appeared in refereed research journals including Mathematical Programming, Mathematics of Operations Research, SIAM Journal on Optimization, Operations Research Letters, Annals of Operations Research, Revista de Investigacion Operacional, Optimization and Engineering, Computers & Chemical Engineering, International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems.
Professor Schultz has served on various committees of scientific organizations (including the Mathematical Programming Society, the German Mathematicians Association and the European Mathematical Society), and he frequently is a member in program committees of international conferences (including the Society for Operations Research, International Conference on Stochastic Programming, International Symposium on Mathematical Programming).