I am a Lecturer in Algorithms and Complexity in the School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow. I earned my PhD in Computing Science here in 2020, following an MSc with Distinction from the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Ghana, and a BSc with First Class Honours in Mathematics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. My path here took an unusual detour; I applied to study Computer Science three times and failed three times. I only discovered programming years later during a two-week Python block at AIMS.

My research focuses on designing efficient algorithms for complex matching problems — the kind of maths that decides how students are matched to dissertation projects, or how junior doctors are allocated to medical residency programs. I've published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at international conferences, and contributed to open-source software along the way. In 2023, I was endorsed as an Exceptional Promise under the UK Global Talent scheme by the Royal Academy of Engineering, a full-circle moment for someone who once couldn't get into the field at all.

I am also the founder of Computer Science Academy (CSA) Africa , an international outreach initiative backed by the University of Glasgow. CSA Africa's mission is to accelerate the potential of young people in tech by equipping them with computing skills. Since 2018, my team and I have raised over £200,000 and trained more than 700 young Africans from 13 countries in Python programming, in partnership with universities across Nigeria, Rwanda, and Kenya. We provide travel, accommodation, and childcare support, which has enabled 50% female participation since 2022. Our alumni have gone on to secure scholarships, fellowships, and careers in technology.

This work has been recognised with a University of Glasgow Future World Changer Award, a Highly Commended Finalist place for the Top 50 Women in Engineering (WE50), and features in the BBC and other UK media. I'm also one of 23 Elevate Africa Fellows, selected from over 4,000 applicants across Africa.

Recent News

• Selected as one of 23 Elevate Africa Fellows, chosen from over 4,000 applicants from 40+ African countries, for the 2026 cohort of the Elevate Africa Fellowship — co-founded by His Royal Majesty Ogiamè Atúwatse III and Her Royal Majesty Olori Atúwàtse III of the Warri Kingdom to spotlight leaders driving impact across the continent.
• New journal paper published: Structural aspects of the Student Project Allocation problem. Discrete Applied Mathematics, 379, pp. 748-767. (doi: 10.1016/j.dam.2025.10.034), with Peace Ayegba and David Manlove.
• "Elsevier selected one of my papers for their International Women in Mathematics Day showcase, after it ranked among the top 15 most-downloaded papers published since 2022 across their Pure and Applied Mathematics portfolio."

Research videos

Other videos

Research

Interests: algorithms design using graph theory; matching theory; combinatorial optimisation; computational complexity; algorithm engineering; experimentation.

I am a member of the Formal Analysis, Theory and Algorithms (FATA) research group. My motivation for research is fuelled by my passion for using tools from mathematics and computer science to solve real-world problems. My PhD work titled "The Student-Project Allocation problem: Structure and Algorithms" was on the design of efficient algorithms for a class of matching problems. Matching problems arise when we seek to match a set of agents to a set of objects (e.g., pairing donor kidneys with transplant patients, allocating junior doctors to hospitals, and assigning students to projects).

In addition to my research on matching problems, I have worked with researchers in the School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow, on the design of efficient algorithms for future wireless communications. Moreover, I am also currently working on bridging the gap between AI/ML and matching theory.

Publications

Journal papers

1. Structural aspects of the Student Project Allocation problem.
   Ayegba, P., Olaosebikan S., and Manlove D.
   Discrete Applied Mathematics, 379 (2026), pp. 748-767.
   [DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dam.2025.10.034 | Postprint | arXiv version ]


2. Antenna selection based on matching theory for uplink cell-free millimetre wave massive multiple input multiple output systems.
   Al Ayidh A., Sambo Y., Olaosebikan S., Ansari S. and Imran M.
   Telecom (2022). [DOI: 10.3390/telecom3030024 ]


3. Super-stability in the Student-Project Allocation Problem with Ties.
   Olaosebikan S., and Manlove D.
   Journal of Combinatorial Optimization (2020) -- a special issue dedicated to selected papers from COCOA 2018.
   [DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10878-020-00632-x | Postprint | arXiv version ]


4. Student-Project Allocation with Preferences over Projects: Algorithmic and Experimental Results
   Manlove D., Duncan M., and Olaosebikan S.
   Discrete Applied Mathematics (2020) -- a special issue dedicated to selected papers from ISCO 2018.
   [DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dam.2020.08.015 | Postprint]


5. Strong stability in the Student-Project Allocation problem with Ties.
   Olaosebikan S., and Manlove D.
   Submitted to Discrete Applied Mathematics -- a special issue dedicated to selected papers from CALDAM 2020.

Conference papers

1. The Meta-rotation Poset for Student-Project Allocation.
   Ayegba, P., and Olaosebikan S.
   Accepted for the 9th International Symposium on Combinatorial Optimization (ISCO 2026), Kuşadası, Turkey, 6-8 May 2026.
   [ arXiv version ]


2. Broadening Participation in Computing: Experiences of an online programming workshop for African Students.
   Tshukudu E., Olaosebikan S. , Omeke K., Pancheva A., McQuistin S., Jilantikiri L. J., and Al-anqoudi M.
   Accepted for publication in ITiCSE 2022: 27th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Dublin, Ireland, 8-13 July 2022.


3. An algorithm for Strong Stability in the Student-Project Allocation Problem with Ties.
   Olaosebikan S., and Manlove D.
   Accepted for MATCH-UP 2019 (no proceedings). In proceedings of CALDAM 2020: International Conference on Algorithms and Discrete Applied Mathematics, volume 12016 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 384 - 399, Springer, 2020.
   [DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39219-2_31 | Postprint | arXiv version ]


4. Super-stability in the Student-Project Allocation Problem with Ties.
   Olaosebikan S., and Manlove D.
   In proceedings of COCOA 2018: the 12th Annual International Conference on Combinatorial Optimization and Applications, volume 11346 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 357 - 371, Springer, 2018.
   [DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04651-4_24 | Postprint ]


5. An Integer Programming Approach to the Student-Project Allocation Problem with Preferences over Projects.
   Manlove D., Duncan M., and Olaosebikan S.
   In proceedings of ISCO 2018: the 5th International Symposium on Combinatorial Optimization, volume 10856 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 313 - 325, Springer, 2018.
   [DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96151-4_27 | Postprint | arXiv version ]

Other

1. Microthesis: The Student-Project Allocation Problem. In London Mathematical Society Newsletter, issue 497, pages 38-39, 2021. [PDF]

Supervision

I am open to taking on new PhD students. Please feel free to reach out to me, if you are interested in my research and in studying at the University of Glasgow. In your email please make sure to clearly tell me your motivation for wanting to do a PhD, why with me, and how does our research interests align. Also, include your CV, university transcripts, and any dissertations or papers you may have written (it is okay if you do not have any publications at this stage).

Funding is available, but competitive. Some internal funding opportunities:

• UofG School of Computing Science PhD Funding . The deadline for applications is 31 January each year, for an October start date.
• James McCune Smith PhD Scholarships for black UK domiciled students.
• DiveIn CDT PhD Scholarships for diversity-led mission-driven research (open to UK, EU, and international students).

Current PhD students

Fabricio Mendoza Granada (second supervisor)

Frederik Glitzner (second supervisor)

Past (selected)

• Peace Ayegba (PhD, 2025, first supervisor) -- my first-supervised PhD student. Thesis: "Structure and complexity of the student-project allocation problem".
• Shruthi Prusty (Visiting research student from IISER Pune, India, 2022). Research output: https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.14186
• Fatma Alsayegh (Undergraduate, 2023). Visualization of Classical Graph Theory Problems.
• Callum Ormond (Undergraduate, 2023). A web application for visualising matching algorithms (built on Liam's project).
• Wei Lim (Undergraduate, 2022). A web application for visualising bipartite graph edge partitioning algorithm.
• Ian Brown (Undergraduate, 2022). A web application for visualising minimum spanning tree algorithms.
• Liam Lau (Undergraduate, 2021). A web application for visualising matching algorithms.
• Ting Ting van Abbema (MSc IT+, 2020). A java application that can be used to find all stable matchings, given an instance of the student-project allocation problem with lecturer preferences over students. This application also visualised the lattice structure representing the dominance relation between the stable matchings. She won the Best MSc IT+ Project Prize in the School.

Teaching

Current

• Course instructor, since 2020/21: Introductory Programming in Python (Level 1, Semester 2).
• Adviser of studies to over 45 students.

Past

• Graduate Teaching Assistant at the School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow (2016 - 2020). The following are courses I was involved in:
  - Algorithmics Foundations: Level 2 (2017/18, 2019/20);
  - Algorithms and Data Structures: Level 2 (2018/19, 2019/20);
  - Introductory Programming in Python: Level 1 (2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20);
  - Java Programming: Level 2 (2017/18, 2018/19);
  - Object-Oriented Software Engineering: Level 2 (2017/18, 2018/19);
• Tutor at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Ghana (2015/16).

Activities

Selected Committees

• London Mathematical Society (LMS) Newsletter -- Editorial Board Member (2026 - present).
• Matching Under Preferences conference (MATCH-UP 2024) -- Organising Committee Co-Chair.
• Mathematical Association of America (MAA) MathFest 2024 (Invited Paper Session on Matchings in Graphs) -- Organising Committee Co-Chair.
• British Colloquium for Theoretical Computer Science (BCTCS 2023) -- Member of the Organising Committee.
• International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming ( ICALP 2021) --- Member of the Organising Committee.
• SICSA PhD Conference 2019. --- Member of the Organising Committee. I chaired the workshop on "Mental Health and Wellbeing".
• Nigerian Students' Society, University of Glasgow (NSSUofG) [Twitter | Facebook] -- Founder and President (2017 - 2019).
• British Colloquium for Theoretical Computer Science (BCTCS) -- Postgraduate student representative (2018/19).

External Reviewer

Since 2020, I have acted as external reviewer for: Artificial Intelligence; Annals of Operations Research; Asia-Pacific Journal of Operational Research; Computational Management Science; Computers and Operations Research; Constraints; and European Journal of Operational Research.

Selected research talks

• Invited speaker at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) MathFest 2024, Indianapolis, USA [7-10 August 2024 | YouTube Recording].
• Invited speaker at the Discrete Mathematics seminar series , Simon Fraser University, Canada. [Talk recording | 02 December 2020]
• Special invitation to attend the Dagstuhl Seminar on Matching Under Preferences: Theory and Practice, Schloss Dagstuhl, Germany. [July 2020]
• Paper presentation at CALDAM 2020 in IIT Hyderabad, India. [February 2020]. [Won Springer Best Student Presentation Award]
• Invited speaker at the Numerical analysis & scientific computing seminar series, University of Strathclyde, UK. [24 September 2019]
• Invited speaker at the African Women in Discrete Mathematics Workshop (organised by Nancy Neudauer and AIMS South Africa) - Muizenberg, South Africa. [January 2018]
• Presented papers and talks at COCOA 2018 (Atlanta, USA), ISCO 2018 (Marrakech, Morocco), BCTCS 2018 (Royal Holloway, London), the OR60 Conference (Lancaster), MATCH-UP 2019 (Ascona, Switzerland), SCM 2019 (Edinburgh), and BCTCS & AlgoUK 2019 (Durham).
• Presented posters at SICSA PhD Conferences 2017 (Dundee), 2018 (Aberdeen), and 2019 (Stirling), winning Best Poster in 2017 (first year) and 2019 (third year).

CSA Africa

I am founder and lead of Computer Science Academy Africa ( CSA Africa ), an international outreach supported by the School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow. This initiative is focused on empowering young Africans with computer programming skills. Since its inception, CSA Africa has trained over 700 young people across 13 African countries, with 50%+ female participation enabled by wraparound support such as childcare, accommodation, and travel assistance. Corporate partners include Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Tata Consultancy Services, TriLite, and RS Components. Through these initiatives, participants have transitioned into successful careers in data science, software engineering, research, and teaching. The initiative's efforts have garnered significant media attention in the UK, with coverage from reputable outlets like the BBC, Metro, Evening Times, the National, the Herald, and the Scotsman. CSA Africa is now being spun out as an independent entity and submitted as a REF 2029 impact case study. For more information, check out our website .

Selected public engagements

• Invited speaker at Francis W. Parker School, Chicago, USA, [March 2025 | Recording 1 | Recording 2].
  Testimonial from Mr Sven Carlson, Director of Studies at Francis W. Parker School: "I've had several teachers mention how wonderful they felt your presentation was. Yesterday as well as today were so wonderful — you clearly have a gift for teaching and for explaining mathematics in an accessible and engaging way for mixed audiences."
• Invited speaker at DIGIT Expo West 2024, Scotland’s Largest Technology Showcase, Glasgow [29 May 2024].
• Invited speaker at the Outreach and widening participation in mathematical sciences workshop, University of Glasgow [21 June 2023].
• Invited guest on Jambo Radio Scotland. I gave a live interview on my work as a computer scientist with the aim of educating the audience on what an algorithm is [October 2022, Link to interview].
• Invited speaker at the special session on women in computing in Europe, organised by ACM-Women at the ITiCSE 2022 conference, Dublin, Ireland. [July 2022].
• Invited speaker at the Early Career Researcher panel session, as part of the SICSA PhD Conference 2022, Glasgow. [June 2022].
• Invited speaker at the Good Growth event for female entrepreneurs, organised by Tata Consultancy Services, London. [June 2022].
• Invited speaker at the Society of Black Academics event on "Entering the academic market and progressing on the job". [Online | November 2021].
• Invited panelist on the "Picture a Scientist" panel discussion, celebrating International Women's Day at the University of Glasgow. [Online | March 2021].
• Invited speaker at the Joint Mathematics Meeting, USA. I gave a talk during the MAA Session: Supporting Mathematics in the Developing World. [Online | January 2021].
• Invited panelist at the Standing up for Science workshop, University of Edinburgh, UK. [20 September 2019]. My talk was centred around the CSA Africa initiative and why it is important for early career researchers to engage with the public, media and policy makers.
• Invited speaker at Glasgow Pint of Science Festival, 22 May 2019.
• My slides at the Science Slam event, which took place in July 2017. Second runner up (won a prize of £200).

Blogs

• From UofG Future Wold Changer to UofG Lecturer
• From the Diary of a UofG Future World Changer
• CSA Africa (previously PWSAfrica): How it all started!

Portfolio

Projects

algmatch: A Python library implementing stable matching algorithms for the Stable Marriage, Hospitals-Residents, Student-Project Allocation, and Stable Roommates problems (with V. Kulkarni and B. Whitehead).
hopcroftkarp 1.2.4: A Python library that finds a maximum matching in bipartite graphs.

Education & Training

• Postgraduate Certificate of Academic Practice (2020-2022, with distinction). University of Glasgow.
• Ph.D. in Computing Science (2020). University of Glasgow.
• M.Sc. in Mathematical Sciences (2015, with distinction). African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Ghana.
• B.Sc. in Mathematics (2012, first class honours). University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Honours, Scholarships, & Awards

• Showcased by Elsevier for International Women in Mathematics Day.
• Endorsed as an Exceptional Promise under the UK Global Talent by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
• Travel grant to attend workshop on Mathematics and Computer Science of Market and Mechanism Design, Berkeley, California (value 2,500 USD). Awarded by Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute, USA.
• Research reboot grant (value 500 GBP). Awarded by the London Mathematical Society, 2022.
• Highly Commended Finalist, Top 50 Women in Engineering (WE50) 2022: Inventors and Innovators category. Awarded by Women's Engineering Society.
• University of Glasgow Rewarding Contribution Award, 2021 (1,000 GBP). In recognition of my exceptional contribution to the university throughout the pandemic.
• Springer Best Student Presentation Award at CALDAM 2020, India: (cash prize 5,000 INR).
• Future World Changer Award , University of Glasgow. In recognition of the transformational change engineered by the CSA Africa initiative.
• Second runner-up at the Science Slam competition, University of Glasgow: (cash prize 200 GBP).
• 3.5 years Doctoral Research Scholarship, University of Glasgow: (value 122,000 GBP).
• F.K.A Allotey Meritorious Award - Best Graduating Student (2015). African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, AIMS-Ghana.
• Fully Funded Masters Scholarship (2014). African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, AIMS-Ghana: (value 10,000 USD).
• Multiple academic merit scholarships and awards during undergraduate studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria (2010 - 2012): Total E & P Scholarship (300,000 NGN), Lagos State Government Scholarship (200,000 NGN), Crescent Bearers Scholarship (50,000 NGN), Dean's Roll of Honour (Faculty of Science), and Bronze Medallist at the National Mathematical Competition for University Students, Abuja.

Contact

Office address (also mailing address):
Room 407A,
Sir Alwyn Williams Building,
School of Computing Science,
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow, G12 8RZ,
United Kingdom.

Email:
FirstName [dot] LastName [at] glasgow [dot] ac [dot] uk