RESEARCH
Understanding complexity. Recognising structures. Finding solutions that can be justified.
DirkPraetorius
Professor of Numerical Analysis of PDEs.
Communicator. Developer. Handball referee.
Complex Problems.
For more than 25 years, I have worked in mathematics, research and teaching. Today, I head a university institute, develop software and spend weekends refereeing handball matches.
Different worlds – with surprisingly similar questions: What really matters? How do we make good decisions? And how can complexity become manageable?
DIFFERENT FIELDS.
SIMILAR PROBLEMS.
Understand. Decide. Create.
LEADERSHIP
Bringing people, ideas and organisations together. Taking responsibility and making decisions – even when not all information is available.
TECHNOLOGY
Not just using tools, but building them. Turning a concrete problem into a working solution.
COMMUNICATION
Making complex ideas clear and concise. Reaching people. Creating understanding where different perspectives meet or issues become complicated.
MATHEMATICS
University Professor of Numerical Analysis of PDEs at TU Wien.
My research asks what mathematics computers can do – and how complex mathematical problems can be made reliably computable. It focuses on numerical analysis, adaptive methods, scientific computing and computer simulations for partial differential equations.
Ref7
Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to build the right tool yourself.
As a handball referee, I wanted a simple way to manage a match directly from my wrist.
That became Ref7 – a handball referee companion for iPhone and Apple Watch.
Discover Ref7 →MY WAY.
2000
First State Examination in Mathematics and Classical Philology (Latin)
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Supervisors: Prof. Hermann König · Prof. Konrad Heldmann
Diploma in Mathematics (Dipl.-Math.)
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Supervisor: Prof. Hermann König
2003
PhD · Applied Mathematics
TU Wien
Supervisor: Prof. Carsten Carstensen
2005
Habilitation in Numerical Mathematics
TU Wien
Associate Professor of Numerical Mathematics
2014—2016
NLP training · NLP Master
Coaching · Hypnosis · Communication
2016—2017
Calls to professorships in Applied and Numerical Mathematics in Germany
2017
PROFESSOR
Appointment as University Professor of Numerical Analysis of PDEs · TU Wien
2018—PRESENT
TUForMath ↗
Co-founder · Director 2018–2026 · Member of the leadership team
Science communication for school students and the interested public
2020—PRESENT
HEAD OF THE INSTITUTE
Head of the Institute of Analysis and Scientific Computing · TU Wien ↗
2024—PRESENT
HANDBALL REFEREE
Lower Austrian Handball Federation
2025—PRESENT