Zahra Parsaeian

I am a Ph.D. student in the Algorithms and Complexity group at the University of Freiburg, advised by Prof. Fabian Kuhn. My research focuses on distributed and parallel algorithms, with particular interests in graph algorithms, massively parallel computation, fault-tolerant distributed computing, and approximation algorithms.

Before joining Freiburg, I earned my M.Sc. in Computer Science from Saarland University and was affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Saarbrücken, Germany. I received my B.Sc. in Software Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology in Isfahan, Iran.

• Local Distributed Computation under Crash Failures
  Diana Ghinea, Fabian Kuhn, Chen-Da Liu-Zhang, and Zahra Parsaeian
  arXiv:2611.04898, 2026. Preprint; under review.

• Round and Resilience-Optimal Approximate Agreement on Trees and Block Graphs
  Marc Fuchs, Diana Ghinea, Zahra Parsaeian, and Joel Rybicki
  ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC 2026)
• An Efficient Massively Parallel Constant-Factor Approximation Algorithm for the K-Means Problem
  Vincent Cohen-Addad, Fabian Kuhn, and Zahra Parsaeian
  ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA 2026)
• On the Complexity of Distributed Edge Coloring and Orientation
  Sebastian Brandt, Fabian Kuhn, and Zahra Parsaeian
  Conference on Principles of Distributed Systems (OPODIS 2025)
• Brief Announcement: Towards Round-Optimal Approximate Agreement on Trees
  Marc Fuchs, Diana Ghinea, and Zahra Parsaeian
  ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC 2025)
• Massively Parallel Ruling Set Made Deterministic
  Jeff Giliberti and Zahra Parsaeian
  International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2024)
• Laminar Matroid Secretary: Greedy Strikes Back
  Zhiyi Huang, Zahra Parsaeian, and Zixuan Zhu
  European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2024)
  🏆 Best Paper Award (Track S)
• Brief Announcement: Massively Parallel Ruling Set Made Deterministic
  Jeff Giliberti and Zahra Parsaeian
  ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC 2024)
• Towards Sub-Quadratic Diameter Computation in Geometric Intersection Graphs
  Karl Bringmann, Sándor Kisfaludi-Bak, Marvin Künnemann, André Nusser, and Zahra Parsaeian
  Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2022)

• Shadow Program Committee: SPAA (2027, 2026)
• Journal Reviews: TALG (2025)
• Conference Reviews: ITCS (2027), STOC (2027, 2024), DISC (2026), FOCS (2026, 2025), PODC (2026), SoCG (2026), SODA (2026, 2025), ICALP (2024)
• Guest Post: Greedy Strikes Back: A 4.75-Competitive Algorithm for the Laminar Matroid Secretary Problem
  The Matroid Union, May 2025.

• Local Distributed Computation under Crash Failures
  London School of Economics (LSE), London, UK — December, 2026
• Laminar Matroid Secretary: Greedy Strikes Back
  ETH Zürich, Switzerland — October, 2025
  Lucerne University of Applied Sciences (HSLU), Rotkreuz, Switzerland — October, 2025
  London School of Economics (LSE), London, UK — February, 2024
• Towards Sub-Quadratic Diameter Computation in Geometric Intersection Graphs
  University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany — February, 2023

• Graduate Course "Algorithm Theory" (Winter 2026/27)
• Seminar "Algorithms and Complexity" (Winter 2026/27)
• Seminar "Algorithms and Complexity" (Summer 2026)
• Graduate Course "Distributed Graph Algorithms" (Winter 2025/26)
• Graduate Course "(Theory of) Distributed Systems" (Summer 2025)
• Seminar "Distributed Algorithms" (Summer 2025)
• Seminar "Algorithms and Complexity" (Winter 2024/25)
• Graduate Course "Theoretical Computer Science - Bridge Course" (Winter 2024/25)
• Graduate Course "Theoretical Computer Science - Bridge Course" (Summer 2024)
• Graduate Course "Theoretical Computer Science - Bridge Course" (Winter 2023/24)
• Seminar "Distributed Computing Reading Group" (Winter 2023/24)
• Graduate Course "(Theory of) Distributed Systems" (Summer 2023)
• Seminar "Algorithms and Complexity Reading Group" (Summer 2023)