Malwina J. Luczak is a mathematician specializing in

probability theory Probability theory or probability calculus is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expre ...

and the theory of

random graph In mathematics, random graph is the general term to refer to probability distributions over graphs. Random graphs may be described simply by a probability distribution, or by a random process which generates them. The theory of random graphs l ...

s. She is Professor of Applied Probability and Leverhulme International Professor at the Department of Mathematics at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

Education and research

Luczak grew up in Poland, and began her university studies at age 16 at the

Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń or NCU (, UMK) is located in Toruń, Poland. It is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born in Toruń in 1473. History The beginnings of higher education in Toruń The first institution of higher ...

, where she took

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

of the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

. However, after her second year studying philology at

Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...

in the UK, she decided to switch to mathematics, and enrolled at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

. After her first year's examinations, she was able to obtain scholarship support, continue her studies and remain at Oxford for doctoral work. She completed her D.Phil. in 2001 with a dissertation, ''Probability, algorithms and telecommunication systems'', supervised by Colin McDiarmid and

Dominic Welsh James Anthony Dominic Welsh (known professionally as D.J.A. Welsh, 29 August 1938 – 30 November 2023) was an English mathematician and emeritus professor of Oxford University's Mathematical Institute. He was an expert in matroid theory, the c ...

. She became an assistant lecturer at the Statistical Laboratory at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and then a reader in mathematics at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. However, in 2010, after failing to receive an expected promotion to professor, she took a professorial chair position at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

and a five-year

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British UK Research Councils, Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical scienc ...

Leadership Fellowship. She moved again to

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

before taking a Professorship in Melbourne in 2017. Most recently, in 2023 she joined the University of Manchester.

Research

Luczak's publications include research on the supermarket model in

queueing theory Queueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting lines, or queues. A queueing model is constructed so that queue lengths and waiting time can be predicted. Queueing theory is generally considered a branch of operations research because th ...

, cores of

random graphs In mathematics, random graph is the general term to refer to probability distributions over Graph (discrete mathematics), graphs. Random graphs may be described simply by a probability distribution, or by a random process which generates them. ...

, the

giant component In network theory, a giant component is a connected component of a given random graph that contains a significant fraction of the entire graph's vertices. More precisely, in graphs drawn randomly from a probability distribution over arbitrarily ...

in random graphs with specified

degree distribution In the study of graphs and networks, the degree of a node in a network is the number of connections it has to other nodes and the degree distribution is the probability distribution of these degrees over the whole network. Definition The degr ...

s, and the

Glauber dynamics In statistical physics, Glauber dynamics is a way to simulate the Ising model (a model of magnetism) on a computer. The algorithm is named after Roy J. Glauber. The algorithm The Ising model is an abstract model for the magnetic interaction of n ...

of the

Ising model The Ising model (or Lenz–Ising model), named after the physicists Ernst Ising and Wilhelm Lenz, is a mathematical models in physics, mathematical model of ferromagnetism in statistical mechanics. The model consists of discrete variables that r ...

. They include:See MR links for reviews of each of these papers.

References

External links

Department of Mathematics, University of Manchester
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luczak, Malwina Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Polish women mathematicians 20th-century Polish mathematicians 21st-century Polish mathematicians Australian mathematicians Women mathematicians Probability theorists Graph theorists Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Academics of the University of Cambridge Academics of the London School of Economics Academics of the University of Sheffield Academics of Queen Mary University of London Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Academics of the University of Manchester