Fahimeh Ziaei awarded the Springer Best Student Paper at GDN 2022

Fahimeh Ziaei, second-year PhD student in Wilfrid Laurier University's Mathematics program, and a member of the MS2Discovery Institute was recently awarded the Springer Best Student Paper Award at the 22nd International Conference on Group Decision and Negotiation (GDN 2022).

The GDN conference is held annually to provide an opportunity for participants to share knowledge and perspectives about the interdisciplinary field of group decision and negotiation.

In Ziaei’s paper, which was written in partnership with Laurier Mathematics Professor Marc Kilgour, she compares algorithms for the fair distribution of indivisible items based on feasibility, fairness, equity and transparency. Because indivisible items cannot be divided, a fair way to allocate these items is required.

“We want to address as many real-world applications as we can,” says Ziaei. “Like the allocation of portfolios of assets, the drafting of players to sports teams, or the division of assets in a divorce. But we need to allocate the indivisible items as fairly and efficiently as possible.”