Algorithms are at the core of Computer Science, so in addition to offering expertise in concrete application areas, a solid background in algorithms makes it easy to enter other subareas of Computer Science; also after graduation. In a fast moving field such as Computer Science, the ability to adapt to ever-changing circumstances is important for a successful career.

Our algorithms students get interesting jobs immediately after graduating; most also choose to work part-time during their studies. They accept employment at universities from the University of Calgary in the west to the Indian Institute of Technology in the east. Most go to industry and start up their own business or join smaller companies or large, established enterprises in software houses, robotics, toys & games, finance, etc.

Most of our algorithms courses relate to the organization of large datasets, facilitating fast searching and computation, resource optimization, and area-specific algorithms and applications.

With regards to research, the current main focus of the group is cheminformatics, graph theory, and online algorithms, but we have also had significant impact in cryptology, data structures for external memory and distributed systems, and fixed parameter tractability. Our work gets published in top journals and conference proceedings.

The group is consulted by industry in the region, primarily via former students working for a company and acting as a liaison between the parties. International companies are involved in more large-scale grant applications in which the group participates.

See our research areas for more detail.