Research interests

From March 1, 2010, I am a PostDoc researcher at the Delft Center for Systems and Control (projects "Game-Theoretical and Optimal Control Methods in Systems Biology" and "Game-Theoretical Methods for Control of Large-Scale Systems"). I am also an active member of the Delft Center for Microbial Systems Biology (DCMSB) . Currently I am focusing on predator-prey hybrid problems and solving such problems using Stackelberg game theory. The solutions of such problems are often discontinuous, thus methods using singular characteristics or viscosity solutions of associated Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations have to be used to find the closed-form solution. Regarding these problems, I have been cooperating with dr. A. Abate from the same group and prof. M.W. Sabelis from Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics from University of Amsterdam. Solving these problems numerically is a challenge. Together with internship student A. Doban (TU Eindhoven) we have used level-set methods to solve a special case of the problem, but we are looking for other options.

The main case study is focusing on interactions of phytoseiid mites and their intra-seasonal and inter-seasonal optimal behavior.

Another problem that is interesting me a lot is the question of existence and uniqueness of optimization (pesimization) principles corresponding to (invasive) fitness for invador-resident type of systems. Following research of prof. H. Metz (Mathematical Institute, University of Leiden) I have been dealing with this problem together with Dr. E. Nikerel (Department of Mediamatics, EWI, TU Delft) and dr. A. Abate from my group.

From March 1, 2009 until February 30, 2010, I was working as a researcher at the Networked Controlled System Team, National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA), Grenoble, France. The industrial project that I was working on was a governmental assignment. Main subjects of this research were modeling dynamic macroscopic nonlinear systems and developing methods for state estimation of such systems, using only limited (and biased) measurements of the system performance. I have developed a jump Markov linear model of such systems and Bayesan estimation methods which were used to estimate the traffic densities on a segment of the D383 (Boulevard Laurent Bonnevay) freeway in Lyon. My approach performed very well with respect to the microsimulation-based results and real measurements.

In my PhD research I was focusing on noncooperative game theory, especially on inverse Stackelberg games (in game-theoretic literature also refered to as reverse Stackelberg games or incentives), their properties and applications in traffic control, energy market liberalization problem, and economical theory of contracts. My PhD research was supported TRAIL research school and Next Generation Infrastructures project. While closed-form solutions of the problems were of my main interest, especially for solving the optimal toll design problem on networks of a large scale numerical methods had to be applied. For this purpose I cooperated with Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik of Leibniz Institute in Hannover.

I am always happy to discuss my own and others' research and related topics. Please contact me via email or LinkedIn if you would like to discuss problems related to my work.

Publications

PhD thesis

1. Staňková, K., On Stackelberg and Inverse Stackelberg Games & Their Applications in the Optimal Toll Design Problem, the Energy Markets Liberalization Problem, and in the Theory of Incentives, NGInfra serie, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, 2009.
   
   Two printings: ISBN 978-90-79787-03-6 and ISBN 978-90-5584-111-0. pdf
   

Book chapters

1. Staňková, K., Olsder, G.J., and Bliemer, M.C.J. Optimal toll design problem solved by the inverse Stackelberg games approach. Urban Transport and the Environment in the 21st Century (C.A. Brebbia, V. Dolezel, eds.), Witpress, Southampton, pp. 871-880, 2006. link
   

2. Staňková, K. Dynamic Games in the European Electricity Market. Industrial Engineering: Innovative Networks (S.P. Sethi, M. Bogataj, L. Ros-McDonnell, eds.), Springer, September 2011, chapter 22, 9 pp. (due in February 2012). link
   

Journal publications

1. Staňková, K., Olsder, G.J. and Bliemer, M.C.J. Comparison of Different Toll Policies in the Dynamic Second-best Optimal Toll Design Problem: Case study on a Three-link network. European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research, 9(4), pp. 331-346, 2009. pdf
   

2. Staňková, K., Olsder, G.J. and De Schutter, B. On European Electricity Market Liberalization: A Game-Theoretic Approach. Information Systems and Operational Research (INFOR) journal, 48(4), pp. 267-280, 2010. link
   

3. Staňková, K. (Spel)theoretiseren in Nederland. Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde, 12(3), pp. 196-197, 2011. (in Dutch) link
   

4. Koepsell D.R. and Staňková, K. Non-proliferation regimes: immoral and risky - a game-theoretic approach. Submitted to Journal of Peace Research, 2011 link
   

5. Staňková, K., Bliemer, M.C.J., and Olsder, G.J. Second-best traffic flow-dependent tolling in an inverse Stackelberg road pricing game: Optimization using a neurosimulation approach. Submitted. 2011.

6. Staňková, K., Mettenheim, H.J. and Olsder, G.J. Dynamic optimal toll design problem with second-best-flow-dependent tolling solved using neural networks. Submitted. 2010.

Special item: Accepted for book, which was never published (organizational problems on the side of the organization publishing the book)

1. Staňková, K., Olsder, G.J. and Bliemer, M.C.J. On solving complex problems using Stackelberg dynamic game theory. Accepted for NGINfra Complex Infrastructure Book, TU Delft, the Netherlands. 2009.

Conference proceedings

1. Staňková, K. and Olsder, G.J. Inverse Stackelberg games versus principal-agent model theory. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Dynamic Games and Applications, Sophia Antipolis, France. 2006.

2. Staňková, K., Olsder, G.J. and Bliemer, M.C.J. Stackelberg versus inverse Stackelberg games in the dynamic bilevel optimal toll design problem: Which approach provides more efficient tolling?. In Proceedings of the selected papers of 9th TRAIL Congress, TRAIL in motion, pp. 263-278, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 2006.

3. Staňková, K., Olsder, G.J. and Bliemer, M.C.J. Inverse Stackelberg games and their application to dynamic bilevel optimal toll design problem. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Dynamic Games and Applications, Sophia Antipolis, France. 2006.

4. Staňková, K., Stackelberg and Inverse Stackelberg games applied to the optimal toll design problem with reliability-based user equilibrium. In Proceedings of the Infrastructure Reliability Seminar, Delft, The Netherlands. 2006.

5. Staňková, K., Mettenheim, H.J. and Olsder, G.J. Dynamic optimal toll design problem with second-best-flow-dependent tolling solved using neural networks.In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Application of Advanced Technologies in Transportation, Athens, Greece. 2008.

6. Staňková, K., Bliemer, M.C.J., and Olsder, G.J. Dynamic road pricing with traffic-flow. dependent tolling. In Proceedings of the 87th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., USA, 2008. pdf

7. Staňková, K., Olsder, G.J. and Bliemer, M.C.J. Solving the dynamic optimal toll design problem with second-best-flow-dependent tolling: Neural Networks Approach.In Proceedings of the 10th TRAIL Congress, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 2008.

8. Staňková, K. On Dynamic Optimal Toll Design Problem with Traffic-flow Dependent Tolls and Drivers' Joint Route and Departure Time Choices. In Proceedings of the 19th IEEE International Conference on Control Applications (CCA 2009), St. Petersburg, Russia, 2009. pdf

9. Staňková, K. and De Schutter, B. First steps towards finding a solution of a dynamic investor-bank game. In Proceedings of the 19th IEEE International Conference on Control Applications (CCA 2010), Yokohama, Japan, 2010. pdf

10. Staňková, K. and De Schutter, B. On freeway traffic density estimation for a jump Markov linear model based on Daganzo's cell transmission model. Proceedings of the 13th International IEEE Annual Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Funchal, Portugal, 2010. pdf

11. Staňková, K. and De Schutter, B. Stackelberg equilibria for discrete-time dynamic games - part I: Deterministic games. Proceedings of the 8th IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing & Control (ICNSC 2011), Delft, The Netherlands, 2011. pdf

12. Staňková, K. and De Schutter, B. Stackelberg equilibria for discrete-time dynamic games - part II: Stochastic games with deterministic information structure. Proceedings of the 8th IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing & Control (ICNSC 2011), Delft, The Netherlands, 2011. pdf

13. Valencia F., Espinosa, J., De Schutter, B. and Staňková, K. Feasible-cooperation distributed model predictive control scheme based on game theory. Proceedings of the 8th IFAC World Congress, Milan, Italy, pp. 386-391, 2011. pdf

Abstracts presented at conferences

1. Staňková, K. and Abate, A. On predator-prey continuous time games, Eight International ISDG Workshop, Padova, Italy, 2011.

2. Staňková, K. and Olsder, G.J. (Inverse) Stackelberg Game in an Energy Market Problem, 13-th International symposium on dynamic games and applications, Wroclav, Poland, 2008.

3. Staňková, K. and Olsder, G.J. Properties and Analysis of Inverse Stackelberg Problems, Sixth International ISDG Workshop, Rabat, Morocco, 2007.

4. Staňková, K., Olsder, G.J. and Bliemer, M.C.J. Games of Stackelberg Type in Bilevel Toll Design Problem, Ninth Workshop on Optimal Control, Dynamic Games and Nonlinear Dynamics, HEC Montreal, Canada, 2007.

5. Staňková, K. Stackelberg Games & Their Application in Energy Markets, 22nd Conference on Operational Research, Prague, Czech Republic, 2007.

Reports

1. Staňková, K. On Freeway Traffic State Estimation/Prediction Using the Linear Switching Model. INRIA Grenoble, France, February 2010. (confidential)

2. Núñez, A., Picasso, B., De Vito, D., Scattolini, R., Colaneri, P., Espinosa, J., Valencia, F., De Schutter, B. and Staňková, K. Report on newly developed coordination mechanisms for hierarchical and distributed MPC. Deliverable D3.3.2, European FP7 STREP project HD-MPC, 49 pp., August 2010.

3. Staňková, K. and Abate, A. Study of a game-theoretical model describing interactions between predatory and prey mites, Delft Center for Systems and Control, Delft University of Technology, 40 pp., August 2011.

Others

1. Activity Report of the Networked Controlled System Team, INRIA France, 2009, see this link.

Invited lectures

1. September 2010, Viscosity Seminar, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, title: Differential games and their relation to viscosity solutions of the partial differential equations.

2. April 2007, Leibniz Institute Hannover, title: Stackelberg games: Properties and Applications, for slides and videostream see this link.

3. December 2008, Colloquium Control and System Theory, CWI Amsterdam, title: On inverse Stackelberg games & their application in optimal toll design problem

4. December 2008, Grenoble, Network controlled systems team seminar, title: Inverse Stackelberg games with applications to toll-based traffic control