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Department of Computer Science

Prof. Dr. Dr. Klaus-Tycho Förster

Address
Prof. Dr. Dr. Klaus-Tycho Förster
Computer Science IV
TU Dortmund University
D-44221 Dortmund

Phone and E-Mail
Tel.: +49 (0)231 755 2117/2596 [Sekretariat]
Fax: +49 (0)231 755 4730
E-Mail: klaus-tycho.foerster (at) tu-dortmund.de

Office
Room 219, 2. Floor
Otto-Hahn-Str. 16
D-44227 Dortmund

Office hours
Due to the current situation, the office hours are only virtual at the moment, please contact me by e-mail.

Portrait Klaus-Tycho Förster © LS4​/​TU Dortmund

Lehrstuhl Informatik 4
TU Dortmund
Otto-Hahn-Straße 16
44227 Dortmund
Deutschland

Open positions for employees

At the moment we have an opening [TVL-13, 100%] for a PhD student (m/f/d), please contact me via email. Ideally, you have #1) (soon) a very good Master's degree in Computer Science or related subject, #2) interest in research in computer networks and distributed systems, and #3) enjoy contributing to teaching.

 

Education

  • 2002
     High School Diploma in Wolfsburg
  • 2005
     
    Intermediate diploma in mathematics at the TU Braunschweig
     Intermediate diploma in computer science at the TU Braunschweig
  • 2007 
    Diploma in Mathematics at the TUBraunschweig [Diplom-Mathematiker].
     Thesis on routing in wireless sensor networks (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Sándor Fekete)
  • 2010  
    Second state examination for the grammar school teaching profession in computer science and mathematics [Assessor of Teacher Education].
    Thesis on the didactic reduction of technical aspects of computer networks (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Eckart Modrow)
  • 2011  
     Diploma in Computer Science at the Technical University of Braunschweig [Diplom-Informatiker].Thesis on the approximation of fault-tolerant domination (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jirí Adámek)
  • 2016  
     Doctorate in Computer Science at the ETH Zurich [Dr. sc.]
     Dissertation on Consistent Network Updates in Software Defined Networks (Supervisor: Prof.   Dr. Roger Wattenhofer)
  • 2020   
    Doctorate in Didactics of Mathematics at the University of Hildesheim [Dr. phil.]
    Dissertation on algorithms and programming in geometry teaching (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Barara Schmidt-Thieme)

Professional stations

  • 2002 - 2003
     Military service
  • 2006 - 2008
    Student assistant at the Institute for Theoretical Computer Science at the TU Braunschweig (Head: Prof. Dr. Jirí Adámek)
  • 2008 - 2010
    Student teacher at the Max-Planck-Gymnasium Göttingen
  • 2010 - 2011
    Research Assistant at the Institute for Mathematics and Applied Computer Science at the University of Hildesheim (Head: Prof. Dr. Barbara Schmidt-Thieme)
  • 2011 - 2016
    Research associate in the Distributed Computing Group at ETH Zurich (Head: Prof. Dr. Roger Wattenhofer)
  • 2016
    Visiting Researcher in der Mobility and Networking Research Group bei Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA, USA
  • 2017 - 2018
    PostDoc at Aalborg University (Head: Prof. Dr. Stefan Schmid)
  • 2017 - 2019
    Lectureships at the University of Hildesheim for the entire didactics of computer science
  • 2018 - 2021
     PostDoc at the University of Vienna (Director: Prof. Dr. Stefan Schmid)
    Teaching Award of the University of Vienna [UNIVIE Teaching Award 2020].
  • since October 2021
     Professor for Computer Networks and Distributed Systems at TU Dortmund University

 

Teaching WS 22/23

  • Proseminar Failsafe Routing
  • Seminar Demand-Aware Networks
  • Computer Networks and Distributed Systems
  • Modeling and Analysis of Embedded and Distributed Systems

Teaching SS 22

Teaching WS 21/22

 

 

  • Resilience and consistency of computer networks and distributed systems
  • Dynamic distributed systems 
  • Reconfigurable computer networks (e.g. in the area of optical networks)

Free topics

  • Your own suggestions for topics in the RvS area are always welcome, we look forward to your ideas.
  • If you are particularly interested in an article from our publications, you could also write a thesis in this area.

Contact

  • Please write an e-mail to klaus-tycho.foerster (at) tu-dortmund.de .
  • You are also welcome to drop by for office hours or make a virtual appointment, we will be happy to advise you.

Actual

  • Master thesis in Summer semester 2023:
    • There are still free places available.
  • Bachelor thesis in Summer semester 2023:
    • There is already a large demand. However, we are happy to make new contact when one of the following is met:
      • You have already attended an event with Prof. Förster, or are currently attending one. 
      • You need secondary supervision and already have primary supervision with another professor:in.
      • You want to write a thesis with the IRB and have already made contact there.
      • You would like to write a thesis in cooperation with industry and have already established the industry contact (see below).

More topics

In the following, several topics are roughly listed. A more detailed definition of the contents is done after consultation with the contact person/supervisor. In most cases it is possible to dynamically align this work to theory or practice (e.g. with Python, Mininet, real hardware).

  • Failsafe routing
  • Consistent routing updates
  • Segment routing with IPv6
  • Optical Networks
  • Graph Exploration
  • Distributed Evidence
  • Programmable Matter
  • Didactics of Computer Networks and Distributed Systems (prior knowledge in the area of didactics is desired)

Work in cooperation with industry

A thesis in cooperation with industry is possible in principle. This has the advantage, for example, that you can work with real instead of synthetic data or can carry out measurements on a larger scale with current production hardware. However, just like any other thesis, this work must meet scientific standards. In particular, the research question must be scientific and the work must advance the current state of research.

Misc

The TU Dortmund offers various free services to support students in writing their theses. It is recommended to take advantage of this offer.