In his bachelor’s thesis titled “Theoretical Foundations for Chasing Disjunctive Existential Rules with ASP,” Louis Gröger examines how the disjunctive Skolem chase can be simulated using Answer Set Programming (ASP). The disjunctive chase is a correct and complete – though potentially non-terminating – process for constructing universal model sets of a knowledge base. However, due to the non-determinism caused by disjunctions, its computation can be time- and memory-intensive. Since current inference systems do not directly support disjunctions, the thesis investigates the use of ASP as an alternative approach. To this end, Louis Gröger introduces a relation called “stable model correspondence,” which enables a systematic comparison between Chase results and the results of ASP programs. Building on this, he develops a translation technique that allows knowledge bases to be converted into disjunctive ASP programs and formally demonstrates that the resulting ASP results can be considered equivalent to the corresponding Chase results. Thus, this work establishes a theoretical foundation for simulating the disjunctive Skolem-Chase using ASP in the future, thereby enabling its practical computation.

Since the winter semester of 2025, Louis Gröger has been pursuing a master’s degree in computer science at TU Dresden and, thanks to his outstanding academic performance, has been awarded the SECAI Scholarship. “I applied for the scholarship because it aligns very well with my area of interest and provides me with the necessary resources to develop as a future researcher, as well as to focus fully on my studies during my master’s program,” explains Louis Gröger. In his master’s program, he also intends to continue focusing on the theoretical and mathematical foundations of computer science and to deepen his knowledge, particularly in the areas of symbolic artificial intelligence and knowledge representation.

For the summer semester of 2027, Louis Gröger is planning to spend a semester abroad in Korea, where he will receive support from SECAI in preparing for and carrying out the program. He also hopes to remain involved in research in the long term: After completing his master’s degree, he plans to pursue a PhD to continue his academic work in the field of theoretical and symbolic computer science.