Kundan Kumar, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Bergen, Norway, is currently spending the first part of a longer research visit at the Institute of Applied Analysis and Numerical Simulation (IANS), the Stuttgart Center for Simulation Science (SimTech), and the Collaborative Research Center 1313. He is hosted by Professors Dominik Göddeke and Christian Rohde.
The research stay is funded through a prestigious Humboldt Research Fellowship. Between May 2026 and April 2028, Kumar will visit Stuttgart three times, spending a total of twelve months at the University. The extended format will enable the researchers involved to develop joint projects over a sustained period and further strengthen the strategic collaboration between the universities of Bergen and Stuttgart.
Kumar is internationally recognized for his research on upscaling techniques and numerical methods for coupled problems, particularly those arising in porous-media applications. His work covers topics such as flow through fractured and unsaturated porous media, model and dimensionality reduction, and the poroelastic behaviour of fractured materials.
New collaborative research projects
During his visits, Kumar will work with researchers from several groups in Stuttgart and with international partners. Planned collaborations include research on unsaturated poroelasticity with Matthias Hörl and Christian Rohde.
Another project will investigate chemo-hydro-mechanical processes at the pore scale and the development of suitable upscaling methods. This collaboration involves Carolin Riethmüller, Sorin Pop from Hasselt University, Tushar Ghosh and Christian Rohde.
Together with Dominik Göddeke, Kumar will also explore how randomized linear algebra can be used to develop efficient, porosity-tailored preconditioners. Such methods have the potential to improve the computational performance of large-scale simulations involving complex porous structures.
By bringing together expertise in mathematical modelling, numerical analysis, multiscale methods and scientific computing, the research visits are expected to create new links between existing activities at IANS, SimTech and CRC 1313 and to provide a foundation for long-term joint research between Bergen and Stuttgart.
About Kundan Kumar
Kundan Kumar is Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Bergen. He received his PhD from Eindhoven University of Technology in 2012 and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin from 2012 to 2014. Before joining the University of Bergen, he also held a position at Karlstad University in Sweden.
His research achievements have been recognized with several awards, including the 2017 SIAM Geosciences Early Career Prize and the University of Bergen’s 2017 Meltzer Prize for Young Researchers. Kumar has previously been affiliated with the University of Stuttgart as a Mercator Fellow.