Centre for Discrete Mathematics

Organizational Activities

Since the establishment of the centre, members of CDM UL PEF have been actively involved in organizing numerous high-profile international conferences, workshops, and summer schools in the field of discrete mathematics. Among others, they have organized or co-organized the following events:

• Co-organization of the international conference “7th Slovenian International Conference on Graph Theory” in Bled, with more than 250 participants from over 40 countries across all continents (link).
• Co-organization of the summer doctoral school “Algebraic Graph Theory Summer School 2011” at Rogla, with more than 80 PhD students and established researchers from around the world (link).
• Organization of the “International Workshop on Discrete Mathematics” at UL PEF in 2015.
• Co-organization of the “8th European Congress of Mathematics” in Portorož in 2021, with over 1,700 participants from around the globe (link). This is one of the largest scientific events in mathematics worldwide and received significant media attention (RTV Slovenija, Regional Obala).
• Co-organization of the “PhD Summer School in Discrete Mathematics” at Rogla, with international participation from PhD students and established researchers (ongoing since 2012) (link).

Research Activities

Members of the CDM UL PEF are actively engaged in research in the field of discrete mathematics, with a particular focus on algebraic graph theory. Throughout the years of the centre’s operation, they have participated in numerous fundamental research projects funded by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS), in which the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana (UL PEF), has taken part as a partner institution:

• J1-4010 Bipartite Distance-Regular Graphs (2011–2014)
• J1-4021 Algebraic Graph Theory and Applications (2011–2014)
• J1-5433 Application of Semiregular Group Actions in Some Open Problems in Algebraic Graph Theory (2013–2016)
• J1-6720 Algebraic Graph Theory with Applications (2014–2017)
• J1-7051 Independence and Domination in Structured Graph Classes (2016–2019)
• J1-9108 Semiregular Elements in 2-Closures of Solvable Groups (2018–2021)
• J1-9110 Transitivity in Vertex-Transitive Graphs (2018–2021)
• J1-1694 Designing Certain Complete Discrete Combinatorial Objects in the Spectral Domain (2019–2022)
• J1-1695 Distance-Regular Graphs: Irreducible T-Modules with Endpoint 1 and the Action of the Automorphism Group (2019–2022)
• J1-2451 Symmetry on Graphs Through Rigid Cells (2020–2023)
• J1-3001 The Terwilliger Algebra of a Graph (2021–2024)

Members of the CDM UL PEF have also secured several bilateral scientific projects (e.g., with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the USA). Their research findings are published in internationally recognized journals listed in the Science Citation Index, and they regularly present their work at international scientific conferences.

One of their most notable achievements is the recent publication of the scientific monograph Symmetry in Graphs by Cambridge University Press
🔗 Symmetry in Graphs – Cambridge University Press

Two of the three authors, Prof. Dr. Aleksander Malnič and Prof. Dr. Dragan Marušič, are members of the CDM UL PEF.

Professional Activities

Members of CDM UL PEF have organized several professional training programmes (PPU), including:

• “Working with Mathematically Gifted Students”, UL PEF, 2016
• “Working with Mathematically Gifted Primary School Students”, UL PEF, 2017
• “Working with Mathematically Gifted Students: Combinatorial Challenges”, UL PEF, 2018

They have also participated in projects such as NIO9 (University of Ljubljana), NaMa Poti (National Education Institute Slovenia), and PROGA (CRSN UL PEF). Members are actively involved in the DMFA of Slovenia (Society of Mathematicians, Physicists and Astronomers of Slovenia) and serve as editors in the following scientific and professional mathematical journals:

• Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics – springer.com/journal/10801
• Ars Mathematica Contemporanea – amc-journal.eu
• Presek – presek.si

Membership

The centre currently has three members who are full-time employees at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana (UL PEF), and three members employed elsewhere. The head of CDM UL PEF is Prof. Dr. Primož Šparl.