István Z. Kiss is a Professor of Applied Mathematics. His research is at the interface of network sciences, dynamical systems and stochastic processes. In particular, he focuses on dynamical processes on static and dynamic networks, using mainly epidemic models. He is working on developing theoretical models that capture complexities arising in real networks, such as heterogeneity in the characteristics, behaviour and interaction of individuals, as well as higher-order network structure. He contributed significantly to: (a) identifying links between approximate models and their rigorous mathematical counterpart, (b) proving the exactness of certain epidemic models on tree-like networks, (c) highlighting linkages between various modern epidemic models, and (d) extending modelling to more realistic networks exhibiting clustering and motifs. He has also worked on applications of network science to areas such as the spread of innovations, livestock diseases, neuronal networks, network inference, spread of COVID19 involving vulnerable people such as single household parents and those receiving domiciliary care, with more recent work focusing on power and shipping networks.
Following a PhD in Applied Mathematics from University of Leeds, Prof Kiss has completed a four year position as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Oxford where he used network science to develop data-driven models of the spread of foot and mouth disease and other livestock diseases, such as scrapie and bovine TB.
Prof Kiss has also fulfilled a few important administrative roles at University of Sussex; namely he was the Director of Research and Knowledge in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (Aug 2019 – July 2022) and was heavily involved in an extremely successful REF2021 (Research Excellence Framework 2021, UK) for both Mathematics and Physics Departments. Previously, he was the Impact and Knowledge Exchange Lead in Mathematics and was responsible for identifying and managing the completion of a suite of impact case studies which are an integral part of the REF submission. More recently, he acted as the Director of Research in Mathematics (September 2022 - May 2023). He is also a Fellow of HEA (Higher Education Academy, 2010 - present) and in recognition of the quality of his teaching he has won Teaching Awards at Sussex in 2010, 2014 and 2022.
He has published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed conferences and journals, four book chapters, and a monograph titled “Mathematics of network epidemics: from exact to approximate models” in the Interdisciplinary Applied Mathematics series of Springer (2017).