Interested in being my student?

The primary objective of my research is to produce new algorithms and software that can dramatically improve phylogenetic analysis (whether in linguistics or in biology), as tested in simulation or on real data. Theoretical research is often done at the same time, using probability theory to predict performance under Markov models of evolution, but then testing these predictions in simulation. Mathematical modelling is also part of the work. If you are a student who loves to design algorithms, likes the challenge of trying to solve NP-hard optimization problems, loves to program, and enjoys collaborations (especially with scientists!), please contact me! No background in biology or linguistics is required. Please see Introduction to Computational Phylogenetics, which presents the mathematical and computational foundations of phylogenetics. This is a work in progress, so please let me know if you find typos or have suggestions for additional topics.

Other resources include:

"Large-scale multiple sequence alignment and phylogeny estimation" (PDF), T. Warnow, 2013, in Models and Algorithms for Genome Evolution, Springer Computational Biology Series, C. Chauge, N. El-Mabrouk, and E. Tannier, Editors; see this (PDF).
Disk Covering Methods: improving the accuracy and speed of large-scale phylogenetic analyses by T. Warnow.
Tutorial on Phylogenetic Tree Estimation by J. Kim and T. Warnow. ISMB 1999.

For the linguistics work, see the Computational Phylogenetics in Historical Linguistics page.

Make an appointment with me to talk about joining my group: My group currently consists of two PhD students (still at the University of Texas), Siavash Mirar and Md. S. Bayzid, and Ruth Davidson, a postdoctoral researcher. I have several ongoing research projects, and would be glad to have up to four new students. Please email me (warnow@illinois.edu) if you'd like to talk about joining my group.