Welcome Dr. Mohsen Nafar

Here are some words from Mohsen to introduce himself:

I am originally from Iran, where I completed my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Computer Science at Tabriz and Mazandaran Universities. I then pursued a second Master's degree in Applied Mathematics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, where I lived for around two years in an area of Moscow called Dolgoprudny. Since 2021, I have been based in Germany, completing a Ph.D. at the Bielefeld Graduate School of Economics and Management.

My research focuses on combinatorial optimization, decision diagrams, dynamic programming, and approximation algorithms. I am currently expanding my work into using machine learning—particularly reinforcement learning, for solving combinatorial optimization problems.

So far, I’ve lived in four different countries (Iran, Russia, Canada, and Germany) and eight cities, soon to be nine with a move to Cottbus. Although I have not yet learned Russian or German, learning German is one of my short-term goals.

I consider myself an open-minded and approachable person, and I always enjoy conversations, especially when there's an idea for solving an optimization problem. Outside of research, I like to explore new interests such as archery, going on road trips, and playing billiards.