On transport in the ocean and pathogens

Prof. Dr. Peter Koltai comes from the Free University of Berlin, where he was a professor for data-based modelling of complex systems. He studied and did his doctorate at the Technical University of Munich.

"In the last 10-15 years, there have been an increasing number of links between the content of my research and colleagues at UBT. I am looking forward to having many discussion partners here, with whom we can jointly tackle exciting current issues," Koltai explains his motives for moving to the University of Bayreuth.

Koltai has already worked on several projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the past. Among them were three projects of the DFG Excellence Cluster MATH+. 

"My research is very much about data-driven modelling of complex systems, such as currents in oceans and in the atmosphere, movement of particle systems, or spread of pathogens or opinions in a society," he says. "The core of my work is at the interface of data science and dynamical systems. The latter is the field of mathematics that deals with the description of changes of state."

Koltai will teach in a variety of degree programmes. "My teaching includes some fields of pure and applied mathematics, but also courses in interdisciplinary programmes that have something to do with modelling, artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science," he says.