Citation for Assoc Prof Matthew Tam

Assoc Prof Tam has a sustained track record of research excellence and is recognised, both nationally and internationally, as an emerging leader in the field of Mathematical Optimisation. Relative to career stage, Assoc Prof Tam’s publication record is outstanding: 70% of his publications appear in Q1 journals and among them are numerous outputs in the most prestigious optimisation journals such as Mathematical Programming, SIAM Journal on Optimisation and Mathematics of Operations Research.

Assoc Prof Tam’s specific expertise lies in the development, analysis and application of iterative algorithms for solving optimisation problems, particularly those which use gradient information. His work straddles the interplay between provable algorithmic guarantees, efficient computation and exploiting problem structure. A striking aspect of Assoc Prof Tam’s research is the number of genuinely new optimisation techniques he has been responsible for (as opposed to modifications or new analyses of existing algorithms).

The quality of Assoc Prof Tam’s work has been repeatedly recognised by numerous awards with excellence-based criteria including the 2021 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, the 2018 Mahony–Neumann–Room Prize for best publication in the ANZIAM Journal, and the 2015 B.H. Neumann Prize from the AustMS.

Assoc Prof Tam has received significant competitive funding from multiple major funding bodies in Australia and Germany including from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2 year fellowship), the German Research Foundation (RTG scheme) and the Australian Research Council (DECRA and DP). Altogether, Assoc Prof Tam has been awarded grants totalling around $A10.4 million, of which approximately $A900k represents grants where he was the sole or lead applicant. Assoc Prof Tam has supervised 10 postgraduate students to completion (3 PhD, 7 MSc), and currently supervises another 5 students (4 PhD, 1 MSc) in addition to a postdoc.

Assoc Prof Tam has made significant contributions to ANZIAM, most notably through service on the national executive (2018 to present) and as the current elected chair of its optimisation special interest group SigmaOpt. In the past he has held the roles of Web Editor, Victorian Representative, and (interim) Early Career Representative. As the latter, he was responsible for the 2020 Early Career Workshop in the Hunter Valley. In his role as SigmaOpt chair, he established the SigmaOpt/MoCaO Student Prize as well as the SigmaOpt Workshop (an annual event held immediately after ANZIAM). He has also been active member of the Victorian Branch of ANZIAM, having been on the organising committee for VicANZIAM One Day Meeting in 2023 and 2024. Throughout his career, Assoc Prof Tam supported the ANZIAM Journal — he is a current associate editor, has published two papers in the journal, and has acted as referee on multiple occasions. He is part of the Invited Speakers Committee for ANZIAM 2026.