Mgr. Jan Volec, Ph.D., a researcher at the Faculty of Information Technologies at CTU (FIT CTU), has received the prestigious Neuron Prize 2024 for young scientists in the field of mathematics. This award is granted by the Neuron Foundation for outstanding scientific achievements and support for young, talented scientists.
"The award means a great deal to me. It is a wonderful recognition of my scientific work, and the work of all my colleagues. At the same time, it is a great motivation for me to continue solving open problems in discrete mathematics," says Jan Volec.
Jan Volec is a recognized expert in graph theory and combinatorics. In collaboration with colleagues, he has solved several famous open problems that had long troubled mathematicians worldwide, such as the Lovász-Szegedy conjecture, Erdős-Sós conjecture, and Heckman-Thomas conjecture.
Since January 2025, he has been working at FIT CTU at the Department of Theoretical Computer Science and is a member of the G²OAT research group. For the third year, he has been working on solving the JuniorStar grant, which focuses on extremal and probabilistic combinatorics. The goal of this project is to create new mathematical methods for understanding the properties of large networks. These networks can be found in many situations in today's life, such as internet router connections, social network connections, or describing interactions between proteins within molecules.
The mission of the Neuron Foundation is to highlight Czech science, develop modern patronage, and connect science with business. The Neuron Prizes are awarded in seven categories, with laureates selected by the Czech scientific community.
