Mathematical Formalization Specialist

What You'll Do

• Translate informal mathematical proofs into Lean (and related proof assistants) with an emphasis on clarity, structure, and correctness
• Analyze proofs across a range of domains — identifying gaps, hidden assumptions, and formalizable sub-structures
• Create formalizations that test and extend the limits of existing proof assistants, especially where automated tools struggle or fail
• Collaborate with researchers to design and evaluate strategies for improving formal verification pipelines
• Develop clean, readable, reproducible proof scripts aligned with mathematical best practices and proof assistant idioms
• Provide expert guidance on proof decomposition, lemma selection, and formal model structuring
• Investigate where automated provers break down and articulate why — complexity, missing lemmas, insufficient libraries, and more

Who You Are

• Hold a Master's degree or higher in Mathematics, Logic, Theoretical Computer Science, or a closely related field
• Strong foundation in rigorous proof writing across areas such as algebra, analysis, topology, logic, or discrete mathematics
• Hands-on experience with Lean (Lean 3 or Lean 4) — experience with Coq, Isabelle/HOL, or Agda also valued
• Deep enthusiasm for formal verification, proof assistants, and the future of mechanized mathematics
• Able to translate dense, informal arguments into clean, well-structured formal proofs
• Mathematically mature — you thrive working at the frontier, not just within established territory
• Nice to have: Familiarity with type theory, the Curry–Howard correspondence, and proof automation tools
• Experience contributing to large-scale formalization projects such as mathlib
• Exposure to theorem provers in settings where automated reasoning frequently fails or requires manual scaffolding
• Strong communication skills for documenting formalization decisions, edge cases, and reasoning strategies

Sample Work You Might Do

• Formalize classical or research-level proofs and compare machine-verifiable structures against informal textbook arguments
• Create Lean proofs that reveal deeper patterns or generalizations implicit in the original mathematics
• Map the frontier of formal verification by identifying and analyzing the limits of current proof assistants