Alain Bertrand Zemkoho

About

Alain is a professor of mathematical optimization at the School of Mathematical Sciences and is affiliated to the OR Group and CORMSIS. Prior to joining Southampton, he was a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham and had previously worked as a Research Associate at the Technical University of Freiberg.

Alain is also an Alexander von Humboldt Experienced Fellow 2024-2026, a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence 2019-2023, a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics & Its Applications, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Research

Research groups

Member of:

Research interests

Bilevel and hierarchical optimization
First and second order numerical methods for continuous optimization
Nonsmooth and nonconvex optimization
Stability/sensitivity analysis in optimization
Variational analysis and applications

Current research

Alain's research interests are in continuous optimization, with special focus on bilevel optimization and its applications to transportation (toll setting, network design, demand estimation), data analysis, forecasting, trust topology, and phase retrieval.

In addition to research involving machine learning problems with a hierarchical structure and applications of optimization (pricing, network design, medicine, etc.), he has developed optimality conditions and stability/sensitivity analysis results for such problems and is currently developing numerical algorithms that can capture the optimistic and pessimistic feature of bilevel optimization problems.

Research projects

Completed projects

Approximation theory for two-level value functions with application

Researchers:

Professor Alain Zemkoho

Sponsor: EPSRC

Zemkoho - EPSRC First Grant

Researchers:

Professor Alain Zemkoho

Sponsor: EPSRC

The Mathematics Of Stackelberg Games In Machine Learning: Constructing Categories Towards Powerful Algorithms

Researchers:

Professor Alain Zemkoho

Sponsor: EPSRC

HEIF 2022/23 Carisbrooke Shipping – Optimisation of operations to minimise the cost of biofouling

Researchers:

Professor Julian Wharton

Professor Alain Zemkoho

Publications

36 publications

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The bilevel programming problem: reformulations, constraint qualifications and optimality conditions

Stephan Dempe & Alain B. Zemkoho, 2013, Mathematical Programming, 138(1-2), 447-473

DOI: 10.1007/s10107-011-0508-5

Type: article

New optimality conditions for the semivectorial bilevel optimization problem

Stephan Dempe, Nazih Gadhi & Alain B. Zemkoho, 2013, Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, 157(1), 54-74

DOI: 10.1007/s10957-012-0161-z

Type: article

Sensitivity analysis for two-level value functions with applications to bilevel programming

Stephan Dempe, Boris S. Mordukhovich & Alain B. Zemkoho, 2012, SIAM Journal on Optimization, 22(4), 1309-1343

DOI: 10.1137/110845197

Type: article

Bilevel road pricing: theoretical analysis and optimality conditions

Stephan Dempe & Alain B. Zemkoho, 2012, Annals of Operations Research, 196(1), 223-240

DOI: 10.1007/s10479-011-1023-z

Type: article

On the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker reformulation of the bilevel optimization problem

Stephan Dempe & Alain B. Zemkoho, 2012, Nonlinear Analysis Theory Methods & Applications, 75(3), 1202-1218

DOI: 10.1016/j.na.2011.05.097

Type: article

The generalized Mangasarian-Fromowitz constraint qualification and optimality conditions for bilevel programs

Stephan Dempe & Alain B. Zemkoho, 2011, Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, 148(1), 46-68

DOI: 10.1007/s10957-010-9744-8

Type: article

Teaching

Alain has taught on a number of modules, including:

MATH3017 Mathematical Programming

MATH6011 Forecasting

External roles and responsibilities

Name: Non-linear support vector machines

Role: Invited speaker

Year: 2023

Biography

Prior to joining the University of Southampton, Alain was a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham and had previously worked as a Research Associate at the Technical University of Freiberg.