Zdravko Markov

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics - Department of Information Technology
University of Sofia
5 James Bouchier Str., 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria
Phone: (+ 359 2) 6256 861, Fax: (+ 359 2) 656 157
E-mail: markov@fmi.uni-sofia.bg

Research

My research interests are mainly in the field of Artificial Intelligence and more specifically in:

Logic Programming and Prolog

Parallel and distributed implementations of Prolog
New inference mechanisms
Prolog extensions

Machine Learning

Occam and Bayesian learning
Instance-based learning
Conceptual clustering
Medical applications of ML

Inductive Logic Programming

Learning from positive-only examples
Instance-based learning in FOL
Complexity measures for logic programs
Clustering in FOL

KDD and Data Mining

ILP methods for KDD
Intelligent data analysis

Projects

I have participated in the following international projects:

1998-2001. Network of Excellence in Inductive Logic Programming (ILPnet2)
1996-1998. TRACE (INCO-COPERNICUS Project No. 96-0138)
1996-1998. Franco-Bulgarian PECO Project "Extraction and Validation of Knowledge from Cases" (INRIA Rhone-Alpes and IIT-Sofia)
1991-1998. ESPRIT Network of Excellence in Computational Logic (COMPULOG)
1995-1997. ESPRIT Network of Excellence in Machine Learning (MLnet)
1993-1996. PECO Pan-European Scientific Network on Inductive Logic Programming (ILPNET)
1992-1995. Joint European Project "University education in AI" (TEMPUS - JEP 1728)
1992-1995. Joint European Project "Transfer of Knowledge-Based System Skills to Bulgaria" (TEMPUS - JEP 1497)

Courses

Artificial Intelligence
Logic Programming
Programming in Prolog
Prolog programming for Artificial Intelligence
Lisp programming for Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Programming in Pascal

Software

Two of the systems I have developed are currently available:

Net-Clause Language (NCL) - a language for distributed logic programming based on term unification. Available by FTP from the CMU Artificial Intelligence Repository.
Lambda Inductive Logic Programming (LILP) - an ILP algorithm for learning from positive-only examples. Available by FTP from the GMD ML-Archive.

Memberships

Bulgarian Artificial Intelligence Association (BAIA) - MB member
AIMSA'98 Conference - PC member

Biography

I received my B.S. in Mathematics in 1979 and M.S. in Computer Science in 1981 at Sofia University. I carried out my Ph.D. research in the area of Distributed Logic Programming at the Intitute of Mathematics - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences where I was awarded a Ph.D. degree in 1991.

I have been working as a Research Scientists at the Institute of Information Technologies - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and as an Associate Professor at Sofia University. I have been teaching various introductory and advanced Computer Science courses, programming languages (Pascal, C, Prolog, Lisp), Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for B.S. and M.S. level programs. My main research interests are in the areas of Logic Programming, Machine Learning, Knowledge Discovery in Databases and Data Mining, where I have published more than 40 papers in conference proceedings and journals.

I have been serving as a management board member of the Bulgarian AI Association and as a PC member of the AIMSA-98 international conference. I have been involved in national and international research projects in the areas of University Education in AI, Medical Knowledge Acquisition, Machine Learning, Inductive Logic Programming and Decision Support Systems.

Bibliography

Books:

Dochev, D., Ch. Dichev, Z. Markov, G. Agre. Programming in Prolog - principles and applications, Nauka i Iskustvo, Sofia, 1989 (in Bulgarian).
Markov, Z. Inductive Methods for Machine Learning, TEMPUS JEN 1497 & SOFTEX, 1996 (in Bulgarian).

More important papers