Erzsebet Dombi

After finishing an MSc Mathematics with Teaching degree at Bolyai Institute, University of Szeged (Hungary), I started doing research in semigroup theory under the supervsion of Prof Maria Szendrei which led me to complete a PhD degree at the University of St Andrews in 2005 under the supervision of Prof Nik Ruskuc.  Subsequently, I was a visiting researcher at Heriot-Watt University and at the University of Glasgow before securing a Research Associate position in the Management Science Department at the University of Strathcylde, where I taught undergraduate and postgraduae classes and started doing research in the area of combinatorial optimization. 

I joined the Department of Mathematics and Statistics as a Teaching Associate in 2013. I teach a wide range of undergraduate classes and supervise fourth year projects. My current responsibilities include convening the Athena SWAN self-assessment team, second year co-ordination, MM117 class co-ordination and supporting students in the organisation of the Department's Alumni networking event. As a STEM Ambassador, I am also very keen to promote mathematics in primary and secondary schools and deliver outreach activities.

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

I am teaching the following classes in 2019/20:

First semester

MM302 Differential Equations

MM201 Linear Algebra and Differential Equations 

MM117 Mathematics 1M

Second semester

MM117 Mathematics 1M

MM211/MM213  Mathematics 3B/Engineering Mathematics 3E

Project supervision

In recent years, I supervised fourth year projects in the following areas:

• Cryptography
• Shortest Path Algorithms
• Automata and Formal Language Theory
• Conformal Mappings
• Riemann zeta function
• Inverse semigroup theory

Research problems I have worked on relate to the following areas:

• inverse semigroups, automata and formal language theory
• combinatorial optimization

Pedagogical research interests include:

• Learning environments that foster deep approaches to learning
• Polya's work on teaching mathematics
• Gert Biesta The beautiful risk of education