Title: From Task Scheduling to DNA Sequencing and Backward

Speaker: Prof. Jacek Błażewicz

Date: October 28, 2026

Time: 15:00 – 18:00

Venue: Room 702, CEM Building, Jiangjun Road Campus

Abstract:

This lecture explores the underlying mathematical connections between two seemingly distinct fields: task scheduling in operations research and DNA sequencing in computational molecular biology. Beginning with classical scheduling problems, it examines how the structure of precedence constraints affects computational complexity. Using DNA sequence reconstruction as an example, it then discusses different modeling approaches based on Hamiltonian and Eulerian paths, drawing on graph theory to reveal their underlying connections. Building on these insights, the lecture explains how advances in DNA sequencing have, in turn, contributed to the development of scheduling theory and algorithms. It illustrates how mathematical methods inspire advances across disciplines, highlighting the value of interdisciplinary research in theoretical innovation and algorithm design.

About the Speaker:

Jacek Błażewicz is a professor at the Institute of Computing Science, Poznań University of Technology, and at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Academia Europaea, and an IEEE Fellow. His research focuses on scheduling theory and practice, algorithm design, computational complexity, and bioinformatics, with significant contributions to DNA sequencing and genome assembly. He has published more than 400 research papers and authored or co-authored over 20 monographs.

His honors include the EURO Gold Medal (1991), awarded by the Association of European Operational Research Societies, and the Copernicus Prize (2012), awarded by the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) and the German Research Foundation (DFG). In 2021, he was recognized as a Distinguished Scientist under the Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI). He also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Siegen in 2006 and was named a PIFI Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2024.