Robert Brignall
Senior Lecturer in Combinatorics
WELCOME!
I am a Senior Lecturer in Combinatorics in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at The Open University. My research interests primarily focus on the study of infinite antichains, well-quasi-ordering, permutation patterns, and the interplay between permutation patterns and similar concepts in graph theory. You may read more about my research, view my list of publications or my list of talks.
I organise our Seminar Series. From 2013-2019 I was the School's Director of Research. I am a member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society and the European Mathematical Society.
Previously, I was a research fellow in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Bristol, and before that I was a PhD student in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St Andrews.
In the past, I founded the Bristol Combinatorics Seminar, I was on the organising committees for Techniques and Problems in Graph Theory, Permutation Patterns 2010, Permutation Patterns 2011, I chaired the local organising committee for Permutation Patterns 2015, and I was on the program committee for Permutation Patterns 2019.
Beyond mathematics, I occasionally sing. I have also created a number of online games, including the somewhat-popular Byrdle.
RESEARCH
My research interests broadly lie in the study of combinatorial and relational structures, in a blend of structural, extremal and enumerative combinatorics. My background is in the study of permutation containment and avoidance, where enumeration is the main game. However, the structural study of permutations can often be translated to other combinatorial objects, most notably graphs, where the consequences can be wide-ranging. Currently, I am especially investigating the question of well-quasi-ordering in combinatorial objects and the corresponding construction of infinite antichains, but I also have ongoing projects in permutation enumeration, structural graph theory, and graph parameters.
I submitted my PhD Thesis, entitled "Simplicity in Relational Structures and its Application to Permutation Classes", in July 2007, and successfully defended it in October 2007. My external examiner was Einar Steingrímsson (Strathclyde University), my internal Steve Linton. My PhD was written whilst in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St Andrews, was supervised by Prof Nikola Ruškuc, and was funded by EPSRC.
Research students
- Ben Jarvis (2021-)
- Dan Cocks (2020-2024) [Thesis]
- Kirstie Asciak (2018-2024) [second supervisor, part time]
- Olivia Jeans (2017-2023) [second supervisor, part time]
- James Tuite (2015-2021) [second supervisor]
- David Marchant (2016-2020) [part time] [Thesis]
- James Fraser (2016-2019) [second supervisor]
- Jakub Sliacan (2015-2018). [Thesis]
- David Bevan (2012-2015). [Thesis]
Grants
In Opinion 117, Doron Zeilberger (my academic grandfather!) suggested more people should upload grant bids, so here are some older ones of mine.- [FUNDED] EPSRC First Grant, EP/J006130/1, £91,797, 1st October 2012 -- 30th September 2013. Infinite Antichains of Combinatorial Structures.
[Proposal] [GoW] - [FUNDED] LMS Conference Grants (Scheme 1), £560, 30th January 2013. Winter Combinatorics Meeting, held at The Open University.
[Proposal]. - [NOT FUNDED] ERC Starting Grant, 2014. [Part B2]
- [FUNDED] LMS Conference Grants (Scheme 1), £2,000, 11th--12th September 2014. Valediction to Jeremy Gray, held at Mercure Parkside Hotel, Milton Keynes.
[Proposal]. - [FUNDED] LMS Conference Grants (Scheme 1), £1,908, 15th--19th June 2015. Permutation Patterns 2015, held at De Morgan House, London.
[Proposal]. - [NOT FUNDED] EPSRC Standard Grant, 2015. [Proposal]
Conference Organisation
- Program Committee, Permutation Patterns 2019, Universität Zürich, Switzerland, 17-21 June 2019.
- Local organising committee, Winter Combinatorics Meeting, Open University, annually 2011-2016.
- Chair of Local Organising Committee, Permutation Patterns 2015, De Morgan House, London, 15-19 June 2015.
- Organising Committee, Permutation Patterns 2011, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, USA, 20-24 June 2011.
- Organising Committee, Permutation Patterns 2010, Dartmouth College, USA, 9-13 August 2010.
- Local organising committee, Techniques and Problems in Graph Theory, University of Bristol, 1-3 July 2009.
Editing
- 2015-, Australasian Journal of Combinatorics (AJC): Managing Editor.
- 2015-16: Guest editor for the special issue for Permutation Patterns 2015. Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, Volume 18 No. 2 (2016).
- 2010-11: Guest editor for the proceedings of Permutation Patterns 2010. Pure Mathematics and Applications, Volume 22 No. 2 (2011).
Other Activities
- Review for the LMS Newsletter of Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos.
[PDF]
[Newsletter]
A version also appeared in Plus Magazine. [Plus] - Read my MathSciNet Reviews.
- Referee for: Annals of Combinatorics, Discrete Applied Mathematics, Discrete Mathematics, Electronic Journal of Combinatorics, Graphs and Combinatorics, Journal of Combinatorial Theory Series A, Journal of Combinatorics, LMS Lecture Note Series, Mathematika, Pure Mathematics and Applications.
List of Coauthors
PUBLICATIONS
Submitted Papers
Journal articles
Conference paper
Theses
TALKS
Invited Talks
- M500 Revision Weekend 2024, Kent's Hill, Milton Keynes, UK, 10th May 2024. [PDF]
- Scottish Combinatorics Meeting 2023, University of Strathclyde, UK, 22nd-23rd May 2023. [PDF]
- 25th Ontario Combinatorics Workshop, Queen's University, ON, Canada, 5th-6th June 2021. [PDF] [Video]
- Combinatorics Seminar, University of Florida, FL, USA, 9th February 2021. [PDF]
- Logic Seminar, University of Maryland, MD, USA, 5th November 2020. [PDF]
- Permutation Patterns 2018, Dartmouth College, NH, USA, 9th-13th July 2018. [PDF]
- Scottish Combinatorics Meeting, St Andrews, Scotland, 25th April 2017. [PDF]
- Pure Mathematics Colloquium, St Andrews, Scotland, 13th January 2016. [PDF]
- Discrete Math Seminar, KAIST, Daejeon, South Korea, 11th November 2015. [PDF] [Video]
- Combinatorics Seminar, University of Bristol, UK, 27th October 2015. [PDF]
- Combinatorics Seminar, University of Florida, FL, USA, 21st April 2015.
- Combinatorics Workshop, South West and South Wales Regional Meeting of the London Mathematical Society, Plymouth, Thursday 18th December 2014. [PDF]
- Mathematics Seminar, Derby, UK, 9th December 2014. [PDF]
- Combinatorics Seminar, Warwick, UK, 28th November 2014. [PDF]
- Pure Mathematics Seminar, Royal Holloway, UK, 11th March 2014. [PDF]
- Combinatorics Seminar, University of Florida, FL, USA, 20th March 2012.
- Mathematics Seminar, Birkbeck College, UK, 29th February 2012. [PDF]
- Computer Science Seminar, Strathclyde, UK, 3rd February 2012. [PDF]
- DIMAP Seminar, Warwick, UK, 22nd November 2011. [PDF]
- Pure Mathematics Seminar, Royal Holloway, UK, 15th November 2011. [PDF]
- Combinatorics Seminar, University of Bristol, UK, 9th June 2011. [PDF]
- Mathematics Seminar, The Open University, UK, 8th February 2011. [PDF]
- Pure Mathematics Colloquium, St Andrews, Scotland, 13th May 2010. [PDF]
- Combinatorics Seminar, Dartmouth College, NH, USA, 8th February 2010. [PDF]
- DIMAP Seminar, Warwick, UK, 3rd November 2009. [PDF]
- Algebra and Geometry Seminar, Bristol, UK, 13th February 2008 [PDF]
Contributed Talks
- Genomics, Pattern Avoidance, and Statistical Mechanics, Schloss Dagstuhl Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik, Germany, 8th November 2018. [PDF]
- European Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Applications (EUROCOMB'17), Vienna, Austria, 28th August 2017. [PDF]
- 15th International Conference on Permutation Patterns, Reykjavik, Iceland, 29th June 2017. [PDF]
- 22nd British Combinatorial Conference, Royal Holloway, UK, 2nd July 2013. [PDF]
- 9th International Conference on Permutation Patterns, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA, 24th June 2011. [PDF]
- Workshop on Combinatorics and Graph Theory, DIMAP, Warwick, UK, 4th April 2011. [PDF]
- 8th International Conference on Permutation Patterns, Dartmouth College, NH, USA, 10th August 2010. [Notes - 1.2MB]
- From A=B to Z=60, Conference in Honor of Doron Zeilberger's 60th Birthday, Rutgers University, NJ, USA, 28th May 2010. [Abstract] [Video]
- 7th International Conference on Permutation Patterns, Florence, Italy, 15th July 2009. [PDF]
- 22nd British Combinatorial Conference, St Andrews, Scotland, 7th July 2009. [PDF]
- 6th International Conference on Permutation Patterns, Dunedin, New Zealand, 17th June 2008. [PDF]
- 32nd Australasian Conference on Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing, Dunedin, New Zealand, 7th December 2007 [PDF]
- 5th International Conference on Permutation Patterns, St Andrews, Scotland, 13th June 2007. [PDF]
- 18th Postgraduate Combinatorial Conference, St Andrews, Scotland, 6th June 2007. [PDF]
- 4th International Conference on Permutation Patterns, Reykjavik, Iceland, 15th June 2006. [PDF]
- EMS Postgraduate Students' Meeting, The Burn, Edzell, 11th May 2005. [PDF]
- 3rd International Conference on Permutation Patterns, Gainesville, Florida, USA, 10th March 2005. [PDF]
CONTACT
Address
School of Mathematics and Statistics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
Before "rbrignall.org.uk", add "robert"