About me

My name is Niels Holtgrefe and I am a PhD candidate at the Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics at the TU Delft in the Netherlands. I work in the Discrete Mathematics & Optimization group under the supervision of Dr. Leo van Iersel.

My research is focused on algorithms and mathematical theory of phylogenetics: the study of evolutionary history of organisms. I also work on parameterized complexity, specifically structural parameters of phylogenetic networks that govern algorithmic tractability. I develop open-source software tools and apply these methods to real biological datasets — see the Software page.

In the fall semester of 2024 I was a visiting researcher at ICERM, Brown University (Providence, RI, USA) as part of the research semester program on Theory, Methods, and Applications of Quantitative Phylogenomics. Previously, I obtained my MSc and BSc degrees in Applied Mathematics at TU Delft, both with cum laude distinction.

On this website, you can view my publications and software, as well as conferences you might have seen me present or attend.