Biography

I am a researcher in mathematical optimization with interests in nonlinear and discrete problems, and an emphasis on formulations and computational approaches.

TL;DR: I write mathematical models that represent decision-making processes or technical systems. I design algorithms that find the optimal decision for that model and often come with performance guarantees, which I implement in efficient computer programs.

Interests
  • Convex Optimization
  • Mixed-Integer (Non-)Linear Optimization
  • Power Systems
  • Optimization in Engineering
  • Computational Software
  • Algorithm Design
  • Optimization in Statistics & Learning
Education

  • Joint PhD, Applied Mathematics & Computer Science, 2017-2020

    Polytechnique Montreal, Inria, Centrale Lille, GERAD

  • Joint Bachelor & Master of Science in Process Engineering, 2011-2016

    University of Technology of Compiègne (UTC), France

  • Exchange program, applied mathematics, computer science & industrial engineering, 2015

    Polytechnique Montréal, Canada

  • Exchange semester, Process & Energy Engineering (Bachelor), 2013

    Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Associate Researcher
Inria Grenoble
January 2024 – Present Grenoble, France
Research in optimization.
 
 
 
 
 
Postdoctoral Researcher
Zuse Institute Berlin
January 2021 – December 2023 Berlin, Germany
Research in optimization methods and computation.
 
 
 
 
 
Doctoral Researcher
Polytechnique Montréal, Inria Lille
September 2017 – December 2020 Montréal, Canada & Lille, France
Double PhD program in mathematical optimization for pricing of demand response programs in smart grids.
 
 
 
 
 
Research Engineer, Data Scientist
Equisense SAS
July 2016 – August 2017 Lille, France
Research and development for a startup building connected devices and associated products for horse-riders.
 
 
 
 
 
Master’s Thesis
Siemens AG, Digital Industries
February 2016 – July 2016 Karslruhe, Germany
Stochastic models for event monitoring in automated systems.
 
 
 
 
 
Junior Engineer Placement
ArcelorMittal Hamburg GmbH
August 2014 – January 2015 Hamburg, Germany
Quantification and analysis of material losses in a steel rolling mill.

Publications

Filter publications here.

Gioni Mexi, Deborah Hendrych, Sébastien Designolle, Mathieu Besançon, Sebastian Pokutta (2025). A Frank-Wolfe-based primal heuristic for quadratic mixed-integer optimization.

Cite arXiv URL

Wenjie Xiao, Deborah Hendrych, Mathieu Besançon, Sebastian Pokutta (2025). Boscia.jl: a review and tutorial.

Cite arXiv URL

Deborah Hendrych, Hannah Troppens, Mathieu Besançon, Sebastian Pokutta (2025). Convex mixed-integer optimization with Frank-Wolfe algorithms. Mathematical Programming Computation.

Cite arXiv URL

Jannis Halbey, Seta Rakotomandimby, Mathieu Besançon, Sébastien Designolle, Sebastian Pokutta (2025). Efficient Quadratic Corrections for Frank-Wolfe Algorithms. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems.

Cite arXiv URL

Mathieu Besançon (2025). Efficient Sparse Flow Decomposition Methods for RNA Multi-Assembly. ECAI 2025.

Cite arXiv URL

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Blog Posts

See all posts here.

Interfacing in Julia with extensions
The Julia package manager introduced in v1.9 the package extension and weak dependency mechanisms, offering more ways to use external packages without adding dependencies directly to a project when not used.
Last updated on 2026-01-05 5 min read
A year of research between mountains, summary of a recent faculty
A bit more than a year ago, I travelled to Grenoble for a first faculty informal meeting / retreat with the Polaris group I was joining as an Inria Associate Researcher (Chargé de Recherche).
Last updated on 2025-01-22 2 min read
Branch-And-Bound Models and Strong Branching
An informal recap of our recent paper.
Last updated on 2024-07-11 7 min read
Obsidian for research
A one-month impression.
Last updated on 2023-10-24 4 min read
I am joining Inria Grenoble in 2024 as a researcher
In January 2024, I will be joining Inria Grenoble1 as an Associate Researcher (my home-brewed translation of Chargé de Recherche) in the POLARIS team and wanted to make a quick note about it after exchanging about several points and clearing out confusions from several people.
Last updated on 2023-10-24 6 min read
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Contact

The most reliable way to reach me is per email.