We are not involved in complex theory or algorithms. Nevertheless, our work is complex and non-trivial. We are doing things that have never been done before in ways that have never been implemented before.
This makes the work exciting. But it also means that students aren't told exactly what they're doing for the next many months. Because we are constantly forced to invent new solutions, sometimes throwing out work we've just done.
We read a lot of the literature and have lots of books. But much of what we do cannot be looked up there, because it is new. So if you are eager and hardworking and able to deal with projects that are often in flux, this is the research group for you.