We are excited to announce that Anela Lolić’s project “Skolemization and Equality” has been selected for the prestigious Elise Richter Program!

The Elise Richter Program is a highly competitive program by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), supporting outstanding women researchers across all areas of basic research in Austria. Targeted at women in the advanced postdoctoral stage of their careers, it provides essential support to help them achieve the qualifications needed for top academic positions at leading national and international research institutions. Also part of the project, which is endowed with over 400,000 Euros, are Laura Kovacs, Professor and Head of the Research Unit Formal Methods in Systems Engineering and Matthias Baaz, Head of the Research Unit Computational Logic at the Faculty of Mathematics and Geometry.

About the Project

Equality is a fundamental concept in mathematics, logic, and everyday life - whether we use different terms to represent the same number (such as ‘two plus two’ and ‘four’) or different names for the same person. In research, equality is particularly important in proofs and automated theorem proving. A key method in logic is Skolemization, where specific variables in formulas are replaced by new function symbols (Skolem functions) to simplify proofs. While Skolemization is well-studied, the reverse process, called de-Skolemization, poses challenges, especially when equality is part of the proofs. This reversal is however essential to transform machine-generated proofs into clear, human-readable formats. Our research project aims to develop methods for efficiently removing Skolem functions in proofs involving equality. This will not only provide new theoretical insights into the complexity of de-Skolemization but also advance practical applications in automated reasoning. The results could contribute to making computer-based proof systems more understandable and effective.

About Anela Lolić

Anela Lolić received her master’s degree in Logic and Computation as well as her PhD at TU Wien Informatics. She is affiliated with the Kurt Gödel Society and TU Wien Informatics, working in the field of logic and (computational) proof theory. She has received several fellowships and prizes, and has served as a publicity chair of the Kurt Gödel Society. Since 2022, she is the treasurer of the Kurt Gödel Society. Other than doing science, she organizes summer schools, conferences, and workshops. The little free time she finds, she usually spends under water.

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