Rate My Professor Matthew Tam

Associate Professor Matthew Tam holds the position of Associate Professor in Operations Research in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Melbourne. He obtained his PhD in 2016 from the University of Newcastle, Australia, as a member of the Centre for Computer-assisted Research Mathematics and its Applications (CARMA), under the supervision of Jonathan Borwein. His doctoral thesis, titled 'Iterative projection and reflection methods: theory and practice,' contributed to advancements in iterative methods. Prior to joining the University of Melbourne in 2020, Tam served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Göttingen, Germany, supported by the Research Training Group (RTG) 2088 'Discovering structure in complex data: Statistics meets Optimization and Inverse Problems' and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He then advanced to Junior Professor for Mathematical Optimisation in the Institute for Numerical and Applied Mathematics at the same university, and was a member of the Continuous Optimisation, Variational Analysis and Inverse Problems workgroup. Currently, he is an investigator in the Melbourne Centre for Data Science and an associate investigator in the ARC Training Centre in Optimisation Technologies, Integrated Methodologies, and Applications (OPTIMA).

Tam's research specializations encompass continuous optimisation and its applications, monotone operator theory, variational and convex analysis, and nonsmooth analysis. His work centers on the development, analysis, and application of iterative algorithms for optimisation problems, especially those leveraging gradient information. This includes establishing provable algorithmic guarantees, enhancing computational efficiency, and utilizing problem structure, with a notable record of introducing new optimisation techniques rather than mere modifications. Relative to his career stage, he maintains an exceptional publication profile, with 70% of outputs in Q1 journals, including leading venues such as Mathematical Programming, SIAM Journal on Optimisation, and Mathematics of Operations Research. Tam has supervised 10 postgraduate students to completion and presently oversees five additional students alongside a postdoctoral researcher. His contributions extend to professional service, including membership on the ANZIAM national executive since 2018, current chair of the optimisation special interest group SigmaOpt, and prior roles as Web Editor, Victorian Representative, and interim Early Career Representative. Tam has received major awards including the 2025 JH Michell Medal and 2025 Peter Schwerdtfeger Award from the Australian Mathematical Society, the 2021 University of Melbourne Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, the 2018 Mahony–Neumann–Room Prize for the best publication in the ANZIAM Journal, and the 2015 B.H. Neumann Prize from the Australian Mathematical Society. He has obtained competitive funding from the Australian Research Council, German Research Foundation, and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.