Young researchers at the UWr – Bartłomiej Dudek

At the University of Wrocław, we are exceptionally appreciative not only of finalists and laureates of Olympiads and candidates who have passed their school-leaving exams, but above all of those who want to develop their interests and become ‘Young Researchers’.

Bartłomiej Dudek, a doctoral student from the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Wrocław, first applied for the Young Researcher grant with a view to going to a summer school and conference in Paris.

– I had no other funding options, so I applied for the grant, happily received it and was thus able to attend both events – says Bartłomiej Dudek.

Thanks to the programme, he presented his research results abroad, met other scientists at conferences in France and the United States, and is about to go to Japan, where he will also present his research.

What does he do?

– It is difficult for me to answer this question in a few sentences, but I am happy to talk about one issue that I have recently dealt with. Imagine having two gene sequences from two different species and wondering how similar they are to each other, where by similarity we mean the minimum number of mutations needed to transform one genome into the other – he describes. – I don’t want to define the mutations exactly, but for example: to get cabbage from kohlrabi – you only need five mutations! This is not surprising, as they are vegetables after all, and quite similar. But what if we wanted to turn a human into a mouse? It turns out that here about 100 mutations are needed, but it is still possible.

– We have succeeded in presenting an algorithm for calculating this minimum number of mutations that is faster than the best known solutions to date – describes our doctoral student.

Already in middle school he had contact with staff and students of the University of Wrocław.

– Since junior high school I had the opportunity to learn algorithms in classes taught by the UWr staff, and I remember how much they helped me in my preparation for the Informatics Olympiad – says Bartłomiej. – It was also then that I met Paweł Gawrychowski, who 10 years later agreed to become my supervisor for my doctoral studies.

– At the end of high school I no longer had any doubts that I wanted to pursue computer science and start studying at the UWr Institute of Computer Science. In hindsight, I think it was a very good decision and I feel that these studies have prepared me very well both for a scientific career and for work in industry – Bartłomiej argues.

When asked about his future, he replies:

– I would certainly like to continue to be associated with the University of Wrocław. At the moment I am finishing my PhD, teaching and doing research work and helping students prepare to compete in team programming competitions. Besides, it has always been my dream to use my academic knowledge and skills in industry and I can already see that there is a huge scope here.

Read more about the scholarship programme here: https://uwr.edu.pl/en/young-researcher-or-scholarships-for-the-best/

Meet other young researchers:

Young researchers at the UWr – Daria Wojtala

Young researchers at the UWr – Kacper Rosner-Leszczyński

Young researchers at the UWr – Bartosz Rusin

Young Researchers at the UWr – Kacper Prokop

Complied by Katarzyna Górowicz-Maćkiewicz