{"id":10,"date":"2015-06-15T10:23:49","date_gmt":"2015-06-15T08:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/members.loria.fr\/thierrygartiser\/?page_id=10"},"modified":"2026-01-20T13:47:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T11:47:47","slug":"cv","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/members.loria.fr\/MBackens\/cv\/","title":{"rendered":"CV"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 class=\"cv\">Previous affiliations<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">2019-2023 : Lecturer in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cs.bham.ac.uk\/research\/groupings\/theory\/\">Theory of Computation Group<\/a>, School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li>2019 : Career Development Fellow at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.balliol.ox.ac.uk\/\">Balliol College<\/a>, University of Oxford<\/li>\n<li>2017-2019 : Postdoc in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/research\/algorithms\/\">Algorithms and Complexity Theory Group<\/a>, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford<\/li>\n<li>2015-2017 : Postdoc in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolmathsresearch.org\/qitgroup\/\">Quantum Information Theory Group<\/a>, School of Mathematics, University of Bristol<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"s1\">2011-2015 : DPhil in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/research\/fls\/\">Quantum Group<\/a>, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"cv\">Academic service (selected)<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Co-organiser of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dagstuhl.de\/25382\">Dagstuhl Seminar 25382: Quantum Error Correction Meets ZX-Calculus<\/a>, Dagstuhl, Germany, September 2025.<\/li>\n<li>Member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gdr-ifm.fr\/pedi\/pedicommittee\">Comit&eacute; P&Eacute;DI (Parit&eacute;, &Eacute;quit&eacute;, Diversit&eacute;, Inclusion)<\/a> of the GDR IFM since its founding in 2025.<\/li>\n<li>Member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/tva.kastel.kit.edu\/english\/activities\/IFIP_Working_Group_on_Foundations_of_Quantum_Computation.php\">IFIP Working Group on Foundations of Quantum Computation<\/a> (WG 1.11 \/ 2.17) since its founding in 2023.<\/li>\n<li>Programme committee co-chair of the <a href=\"http:\/\/qpl2021.eu\/\">18th International Conference on Quantum Physics and Logic (QPL 2021)<\/a>, June 2021. Proceedings available as <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4204\/EPTCS.343\">EPTCS vol. 343<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Co-founder and administrator of the ZX-calculus Discord server since 2020. (Join link available via the <a href=\"https:\/\/zxcalculus.com\/\">ZX-calculus website<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"cv\">Talks<\/h4>\n<ol reversed=\"true\">\n<li>October 2025: \u00ab\u00a0Computational counting problems and quantum information theory\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colorado.edu\/cs-theory\/theory-seminar\">Theory Seminar<\/a>, Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder (invited, online).\n<li>October 2025: \u00ab\u00a0Introduction to Quantum Computing\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0Reasoning about quantum computations using the ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irif.fr\/gt-scalp\/journees-2025\">Journ\u00e9es 2025 du GT Scalp<\/a>, Vitry-sur-Seine, France (invited).<\/li>\n<li>October 2025: \u00ab\u00a0Introduction to Quantum Computing\u00a0\u00bb. Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies, Dublin, Ireland (invited).<\/li>\n<li>September 2025: \u00ab\u00a0An algebraic formulation of Pauli flow, leading to faster flow-finding algorithms\u00a0\u00bb. Department of Physics, University College, London, UK.<\/li>\n<li>September 2025: \u00ab\u00a0Inserting Planar-Measured Qubits into MBQC Patterns while Preserving Flow\u00a0\u00bb. Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, UK.<\/li>\n<li>June 2025: \u00ab\u00a0An algebraic formulation of Pauli flow, leading to faster flow-finding algorithms\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foqacia.org\/foqacia-workshop-2025\">2nd Foundations of Quantum Computational Advantage (FoQaCiA) workshop<\/a>, Braga, Portugal (invited).<\/li>\n<li>May 2025: \u00ab\u00a0Quantum computing and the classical computational complexity of counting\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfu.ca\/~ndesilva\/mfoqa\/\">Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Advantage<\/a>, Vancouver, Canada (invited).<\/li>\n<li>April 2025: \u00ab\u00a0An algebraic formulation of Pauli flow, leading to faster flow-finding algorithms\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/qctip2025.com\/\">QCTiP<\/a>, Berlin, Germany.<\/li>\n<li>November 2024: \u00ab\u00a0The circuit model, the one-way model, and the ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/qat.inria.fr\/2024-11-graphix_workshop\/\">Graphix Workshop<\/a>, Paris, France (invited).<\/li>\n<li>September 2024: \u00ab\u00a0Measurement-based quantum computing and the ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb (<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/2tLtrBJhPkI\">video recording available<\/a>). <a href=\"https:\/\/zxcalculus.com\/zxseminar.html\">The State of ZX Calculus, ZX-calculus seminar (online)<\/a> (invited).<\/li>\n<li>April 2024: \u00ab\u00a0The how and why of translating between the circuit model and the one-way model of quantum computing\u00a0\u00bb (<a href=\"https:\/\/pirsa.org\/24050004\">video recording available<\/a>). <a href=\"https:\/\/events.perimeterinstitute.ca\/event\/71\/\">Foundations of Quantum Computational Advantage (FoQaCiA) Workshop<\/a>, Perimeter Institute, Canada (invited).<\/li>\n<li>April 2024: \u00ab\u00a0Flow-preserving rewriting in the ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cl.cam.ac.uk\/events\/syco\/12\/\">SYCO 12<\/a>, University of Birmingham, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>May 2023: \u00ab\u00a0Using graphical languages for quantum computing to think about classical counting complexity\u00a0\u00bb, MOCQUA seminar, LORIA, France (invited).<\/li>\n<li>March 2023: \u00ab\u00a0Co-creating an &lsquo;EDI in computer science teaching&rsquo; toolkit\u00a0\u00bb, lightning talk at the <a href=\"https:\/\/sigcse2023.sigcse.org\/\">SIGCSE 2023 Technical Symposium<\/a> (online).<\/li>\n<li>November 2022: \u00ab\u00a0Holant clones and approximation of holant problems\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dagstuhl.de\/22482\">Dagstuhl Seminar 22482, Counting and Sampling: Algorithms and Complexity<\/a>, Germany (invited).<\/li>\n<li>March 2022: \u00ab\u00a0Optimisation of quantum computations using the graphical ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/jnim2022.sciencesconf.org\/\">Journ\u00e9es Nationales de l&rsquo;Informatique Math\u00e9matique<\/a>, Universit\u00e9 de Lille, France (invited).<\/li>\n<li>January 2022: \u00ab\u00a0Quantum computing and the classical complexity of computational counting\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/talks.cam.ac.uk\/talk\/index\/168026\">CQIF Seminar<\/a>, University of Cambridge, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>May 2021: \u00ab\u00a0Counting complexity and quantum information theory\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/web.mat.bham.ac.uk\/combinatorics\/seminar\/index.html\">Combinatorics Seminar<\/a>, University of Birmingham, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>November 2020: \u00ab\u00a0There and back again: A circuit extraction tale\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.q-turn.org\/program\/\">Q-Turn: changing paradigms in quantum science<\/a> (online).<\/li>\n<li>October 2020: \u00ab\u00a0Classical complexity of counting problems via quantum computing\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcs.org\/events\/2020\/october\/webinar-london-hopper-colloquium-2020-1\/\">London Hopper Colloquium<\/a>, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>April 2020: \u00ab\u00a0Counting complexity and quantum information theory\u00a0\u00bb. DIMAP seminar, University of Warwick, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>November 2019: \u00ab\u00a0Categorical quantum computing using the ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/view\/pgr-ct-leics19\">Postgraduate Conference in Category Theory and its Applications<\/a>, Leicester, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>September 2019: \u00ab\u00a0Optimising quantum computations using the ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb. Symposium on Quantum Computing and AI: Technology, Techniques and Ethics, Birmingham, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>September 2019: \u00ab\u00a0Holant problems and quantum information theory\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/itcs.shufe.edu.cn\/holant-problems-and-quantum-information-theory-miriam-backens\/\">Theoretical Computer Science Seminar<\/a>, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, China (invited).<\/li>\n<li>May 2019: \u00ab\u00a0Using the completeness of the ZX-calculus to classify the complexity of computational counting problems\u00a0\u00bb. Quantum Group Workshop, University of Oxford, UK.<\/li>\n<li>November 2018: \u00ab\u00a0Quantum computing and holant problems\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/qturnworkshop.wixsite.com\/2018\">Q-Turn: changing paradigms in quantum science<\/a>, Florian\u00f3polis, Brazil (invited).<\/li>\n<li>November 2018, \u00ab\u00a0Classifying the computational complexity of counting problems\u00a0\u00bb. Seminar at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nuigalway.ie\/science\/school-of-maths\/\">School of Mathematics, Statistics, and Applied Mathematics<\/a>, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland (invited).<\/li>\n<li>October 2018, \u00ab\u00a0Quantum computing and holant problems\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/uwaterloo.ca\/institute-for-quantum-computing\/programs\/quantum-innovators\/quantum-innovators-computer-science-and-mathematics\">Quantum Innovators in computer science and mathematics<\/a>, Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, Canada (invited).<\/li>\n<li>October 2018, \u00ab\u00a0Completing the ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb. Theoretical computer science seminar, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cs.bham.ac.uk\/\">School of Computer Science<\/a>, University of Birmingham, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>July 2018, \u00ab\u00a0Holant problems and quantum information theory\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.maths.qmul.ac.uk\/~mj\/DyerQMAD\/\">Queen Mary Algorithms Day<\/a>, Queen Mary University of London, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>July 2018, \u00ab\u00a0A complete dichotomy for complex-valued Holant<sup>c<\/sup>\u00ab\u00a0, <a href=\"https:\/\/iuuk.mff.cuni.cz\/~icalp2018\/\">45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018)<\/a>, Prague, Czech Republic.<\/li>\n<li>May 2018, \u00ab\u00a0The future of the ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/seminars\/oasis\/\">Oxford Advanced Seminar on Informatic Structures<\/a>, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>May 2018, \u00ab\u00a0The ZH-calculus\u00a0\u00bb. Workshop Celebrating 10 Years of the ZX-calculus, University of Oxford, UK.<\/li>\n<li>January 2018, \u00ab\u00a0Quantum computing and holant problems\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/qutech.nl\/qip2018\/\">21st Annual Conference on Quantum Information Processing (QIP 2018)<\/a>, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.<\/li>\n<li>October 2017, \u00ab\u00a0Holant problems and quantum information theory\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/seminars\/Algorithms\/\">Algorithms and Complexity Theory Seminar<\/a>, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>August 2017, \u00ab\u00a0Holant problems and quantum information theory\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dagstuhl.de\/en\/program\/calendar\/semhp\/?semnr=17341\">Dagstuhl Seminar 17341 \u00ab\u00a0Computational Counting\u00a0\u00bb<\/a>, Schloss Dagstuhl \u2014 Leibniz-Zentrum f\u00fcr Informatik, Dagstuhl, Germany (invited).<\/li>\n<li>July 2017, \u00ab\u00a0The ZX-calculus and completeness\u00a0\u00bb. Joint talk at the <a href=\"http:\/\/qpl.science.ru.nl\/\">14th Workshop on Quantum Physics and Logic (QPL 2017) and the Workshop on Quantum Structures organised by the International Quantum Structures Association (IQSA)<\/a>, Nijmegen, the Netherlands (invited).<\/li>\n<li>July 2017, \u00ab\u00a0A new holant dichotomy inspired by quantum computation\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/icalp17.mimuw.edu.pl\/\">44th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2017)<\/a>, University of Warsaw, Poland.<\/li>\n<li>June 2017, \u00ab\u00a0A new holant dichotomy inspired by quantum computation\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/tqc2017.lip6.fr\/\">12th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2017)<\/a>, Universit\u00e9 Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.<\/li>\n<li>May 2017, \u00ab\u00a0A new holant dichotomy inspired by quantum computation\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/ceqip.eu\/2017\/\">14th Central European Quantum Information Processing Workshop (CEQIP 2017)<\/a>, Smolenice, Slovakia.<\/li>\n<li>April 2017, \u00ab\u00a0The holant problem and classical simulation of quantum computations\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bristolmathsresearch.org\/qitgroup\/\">Quantum Information Theory Group Seminar<\/a>, University of Bristol, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>November 2016, \u00ab\u00a0The holant problem and classical simulation of quantum computations\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/seminars\/oasis\/\">Oxford Advanced Seminar on Informatic Structures<\/a>, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>June 2016, \u00ab\u00a0A simplified stabilizer ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/qpl2016.cis.strath.ac.uk\/\">13th Workshop on Quantum Physics and Logic (QPL 2016)<\/a>, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.<\/li>\n<li>October 2015, \u00ab\u00a0Completeness Results for Graphical Quantum Process Languages\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/talks.cam.ac.uk\/show\/index\/8279\">Centre for Quantum Information and Foundations Seminar<\/a>, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, UK (invited).<\/li>\n<li>July 2015, \u00ab\u00a0Making the stabilizer ZX-calculus complete for scalars\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/qpl2015\/\">12th Workshop on Quantum Physics and Logic (QPL 2015)<\/a>, University of Oxford, UK.<\/li>\n<li>December 2014, \u00ab\u00a0Completeness Results for Graphical Quantum Process Languages\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.perimeterinstitute.ca\/video-library\/collection\/perimeter-institute-quantum-discussions\">Perimeter Institute Quantum Discussions<\/a>, Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (invited).<\/li>\n<li>October 2014, \u00ab\u00a0(In)Completeness results for the ZX-calculus\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/CQM2014\/\">Workshop Celebrating 10 Years of Categorical Quantum Mechanics<\/a>, University of Oxford, UK.<\/li>\n<li>June 2014, \u00ab\u00a0Completeness results for the ZX-calculus for quantum computation\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/conferences\/OXFORD-CS-2014\/index.html\">Department of Computer Science Student Conference<\/a>, University of Oxford, UK (joint winner of prize for best talk).<\/li>\n<li>June 2014, \u00ab\u00a0The ZX-calculus is approximately complete for single qubits\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/group-mmm.org\/qpl2014\/\">11th Workshop on Quantum Physics and Logic (QPL 2014)<\/a>, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.<\/li>\n<li>April 2013, \u00ab\u00a0The ZX-calculus is complete for stabilizer quantum mechanics\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"https:\/\/qfgi2013.weebly.com\/\">Postgraduate Conference on Quantum Fields, Gravity and Information<\/a>, University of Nottingham, UK.<\/li>\n<li>March 2013, \u00ab\u00a0The ZX-calculus is complete for stabilizer quantum mechanics\u00a0\u00bb. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/quantum\/bellairs2013\/\">Second Workshop on Quantum Foundations<\/a>, Bellairs Research Centre, McGill University, Holetown, Barbados (invited).<\/li>\n<li>October 2012, \u00ab\u00a0The ZX-calculus is complete for stabilizer quantum mechanics\u00a0\u00bb. 9th Workshop on Quantum Physics and Logic (QPL 2012), Universit\u00e9 Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Previous affiliations<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\">2019-2023 : Lecturer in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cs.bham.ac.uk\/research\/groupings\/theory\/\">Theory of Computation Group<\/a>, School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham\n<\/li>\n<li>2019 : Career Development Fellow at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.balliol.ox.ac.uk\/\">Balliol College<\/a>, University of Oxford<\/li>\n<li>2017-2019 : Postdoc in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/research\/algorithms\/\">Algorithms and Complexity Theory Group<\/a>, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford<\/li>\n<li>2015-2017 : Postdoc in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolmathsresearch.org\/qitgroup\/\">Quantum Information Theory Group<\/a>, School of Mathematics, University of Bristol<\/li>\n<li>2011-2015 : DPhil in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.ox.ac.uk\/research\/fls\/\">Quantum Group<\/a>, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Academic service (selected)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Co-organiser of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dagstuhl.de\/25382\">Dagstuhl Seminar 25382: Quantum Error Correction Meets ZX-Calculus<\/a>,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/members.loria.fr\/MBackens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/members.loria.fr\/MBackens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/members.loria.fr\/MBackens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/members.loria.fr\/MBackens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/members.loria.fr\/MBackens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":91,"href":"https:\/\/members.loria.fr\/MBackens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":444,"href":"https:\/\/members.loria.fr\/MBackens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions\/444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/members.loria.fr\/MBackens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}