A graduate of the doctoral programme at the Faculty of Information Technology of the Czech Technical University in Prague (FIT CTU), Ing. Šimon Schierreich, Ph.D., has received the prestigious Antonín Svoboda Award for the best dissertation thesis, awarded by the Czech Society for Cybernetics and Informatics (ČSKI).
The award is presented annually for outstanding dissertation theses in the fields of computer science, cybernetics, and related disciplines defended at Czech universities. The winner is selected by an expert committee appointed by the ČSKI Council, based on the quality and originality of the thesis, its theoretical or practical contribution, and the professional profile of the author.
Šimon Schierreich received the award for his dissertation thesis Multivariate Complexity and Structural Parameters in Collective Computational Choice, which focuses on computational aspects of collective decision-making. The field of computational social choice combines computer science, mathematics, economics, and social sciences, and examines how to design fair, efficient, and practically applicable mechanisms for decision-making by groups of people.
In his thesis, he focused on how to address computationally highly demanding problems related to collective decision-making in situations where it is necessary to consider the preferences of many individuals while simultaneously meeting requirements for fairness, efficiency, and stability of the resulting decisions. He applied the approach of parameterized complexity, which makes it possible to identify conditions under which otherwise difficult problems can be solved efficiently.
The dissertation presents new results in several important areas of computational social choice. It addresses topics such as participatory budgeting, fair allocation of contracts in the digital economy, coalition formation, fair resource distribution, and the allocation of housing for refugees while taking into account the preferences of both newcomers and local communities. In addition to its theoretical contributions, the thesis also demonstrates possibilities for the practical application of the developed models and algorithms in real-world decision-making processes.
“Algorithmic decisions are becoming an increasingly common part of everyday life. To ensure that these decisions are fair, transparent, and trustworthy, it is essential to understand not only their social impacts but also the computational limits and possibilities of their implementation,” says Šimon Schierreich.
“Šimon was my first PhD student, and through his dedication and commitment he never stopped surprising me every day. I believe he has a very promising scientific career ahead of him,” says his supervisor, Associate Professor RNDr. Dušan Knop, Ph.D.
This award follows another significant achievement by Šimon Schierreich. In 2025, he received the Josef Hlávka Award, which is presented to talented students and young researchers for outstanding academic and scientific achievements.
