500th Doctorate at the Department of Computer Science

A special milestone for the Department of Computer Science at TU Dortmund University: On July 31, 2026, Antonia Kalb successfully defended her dissertation “Oriented Spanners: Constructions and Structural Properties” with honors (summa cum laude)—thereby completing the department’s 500th doctoral degree. Her thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr. Kevin Buchin at the Chair of Algorithm Engineering.

In her dissertation, Antonia Kalb explored how to construct networks in which connections can be used in only one direction yet still enable short paths between their nodes. She presented her research findings at internationally renowned conferences such as the European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA) and the Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG).

She gained international experience during several research stays in Sydney, Barcelona, Ottawa, Copenhagen, and Mumbai. She funded part of these stays through DAAD fellowships she secured herself.

Beyond her research, Antonia Kalb was also deeply involved in department activities during her doctoral studies. She coordinated the exercises for the course “Data Structures, Algorithms, and Programming 2” (DAP2), served on the department council, and organized the university open house for high school students.

The fact that Antonia Kalb—a computer scientist and the first woman to earn a doctorate at the department—is the department’s 500th doctoral graduate is a special cause for celebration. Her journey demonstrates the opportunities that computer science opens up—and is intended to encourage other young people to pursue this path as well.

Antonia Kalb will now continue her work in Sydney: As a postdoctoral researcher, she is conducting research at the University of Sydney, supported by a DAAD fellowship.

The department of Computer Science extends its warmest congratulations to Antonia Kalb on this special milestone and wishes her all the best for her future academic career!