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Fully funded PhD studentships at the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Statistics and Operational Research in Partnership with Industry (STOR-i), Lancaster University

Have you just finished your degree, or are coming to the end of your masters?

Would you like to solve real-life problems using statistics and operational research to have positive impact on business, the economy or society? Then why not consider applying to the STOR-i Centre for Doctoral Training to start in October 2024?

Joining STOR-i will enable you to:

– Make significant scientific and industrial impact with your research

STOR-i has an internationally leading reputation, training skilled graduates through research projects that use industrial challenges as the catalyst for methodological advance.

– Work directly with leading industry partners

Many of our PhD projects are developed and involve collaboration with our industrial partners. Projects provide a unique research and training experience and an exciting opportunity for you to develop mathematical innovation inspired by contemporary real-world challenges. Partners include BT, Morgan Stanley and Tesco.

– Engage with our network of charitable partners

Students have the opportunity to engage with our charitable partners, British Red Cross, Cancer Research UK, Fareshare, Home Start UK and Nesta. Mechanisms include extended data dives, charity focussed career talks and collaborative research opportunities.

– Be mentored by internationally recognised research leaders

Our cohort-based, 4-year scheme offers a distinctive PhD training experience. During this structured PhD programme, you will complete several modules to develop your research skills and will be mentored by internationally recognised academics. We also have successful collaborative partnerships with leading international universities.

– Be part of an exciting community of like-minded peers

The programme builds on our experience of training over 100 PhD students in partnership with industry since 2010.  Graduates from STOR-i have embarked on exciting careers in academia and industry, working with numerous partner companies and other organisations including British Airways, EDF Energy and the Williams Formula 1 Team.

Applications open for October 2024

We have funding available for UK eligible (including Republic of Ireland) applicants. Studentships include a generous tax-free stipend (£21,237 in year 1), fees and an allowance to support training and research related activities. Stipends increase up to £24,237 per year on successful progression to PhD at the end of the first year of the programme for students undertaking industry-funded PhD projects.

Please visit our website to find out more: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/stor-i/apply/. Dr. Anna-Lena Sachs | Senior Lecturer in Predictive Analytics
Lancaster University Management School
Contact me on Teams
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/people-profiles/anna-lena-sachs

At 2 pm on Wednesday 27^th of March there will be a seminar from visiting academic Prof. Michael C. Ferris from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The seminar will be held in 439-G10 (70 Symonds St) and followed by refreshments in the Level 2 common room.

Speaker: Michael C. Ferris, Jacques-Louis Lions Professor of Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Title:  Modeling for design and impact

Time: 2 pm, Wednesday 27^th of March

Location: 439-G10

Abstract:

Many of us build (computer/mathematical) models that capture physics, dynamics, stochastics, discrete choices, and to some extent behavior: collaboration, competition. Such models can be complex and difficult to explain, often ignored by decision makers, yet their solution can lead to fundamentally new insights.

How can we use models in practice to determine good actions/designs?

What needs to change in the model (and its complexity), and what skills does a user need to acquire?

We will centre this discussion using data science, energy planning, and dairy decision making examples.

About Michael:

Michael Ferris is John P. Morgridge Chair in Computer Sciences & Jacques-Louis Lions Professor of Computer Sciences, and (by courtesy) Mathematics and Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

As Director of Hub Central in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, he leads the algorithmic and interface development for large scale problems in mathematical programming, including links to the GAMS and AMPL modeling languages, and general purpose software such as PATH, NLPEC and EMP. He has worked on many applications of both optimization and complementarity, including cancer treatment planning, energy modeling, economic policy, traffic and environmental engineering, video-on-demand data delivery, structural and mechanical engineering. Ferris is a SIAM fellow, an INFORMS fellow, received the Beale-Orchard-Hays prize from the Mathematical Programming Society and is a past recipient of a NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He serves on the editorial boards of INFORMS Journal on Computing and Optimization Methods and Software.

Associate Professor Andrew Mason and Associate Professor Andrea Raith have a funded PhD project in Operations Research available. To apply, please get in touch with us as soon as possible by email.

Title: Problem Shaping for Mathematical Models of Scheduling Problems

Summary: Many organisations have complex scheduling problems that they model as generalised set partitioning models and then solve using integer programming optimisation techniques. These problems arise, for instance, in the airline operations, rostering of medical personnel, forestry management, or collection and processing of goods (such as milk) and many other contexts.

This doctoral research project will consider scheduling problems and other similarly complex problems. These problems have mathematical formulations with a special structure (generalised set partitioning models). Due to their prohibitively large size, the problems are commonly solved using decomposition algorithms. Decomposition approaches initially solve a simplified optimisation problem, and then repeatedly augment this problem with new schedules (e.g. sequences of work tasks) that improve the solution. Our recent observations hint at the impact of the augmentation approach itself, where, by carefully shaping the formulation, we can create favourable model properties that speed up the solution process. This allows us to obtain high quality solutions faster. We will systematically propose and analyse problem shaping approaches to develop a theoretical understanding of this new approach thereby addressing the following three research aims:

1. Identify properties of different mathematical representations of generalised set partitioning problems and their connection to solution fractionality of the linear programming formulation.
2. Propose novel problem shaping approaches and integrate them in decomposition algorithms for scheduling problems.
3. Conduct a systematic analysis of our current and proposed problem shaping approaches to develop an understanding of their operation and maximise the impact they make when solving challenging scheduling problems.

Registration for the ORSNZ 2023 Annual Conference is still open, you can register here.

The full conference programme is now on the conference website and is also available as a pdf here.

Gurobi is hosting an Optimization Community Event in Auckland on Thursday the 23rd of November from 3-6pm at the Sofitel Auckland Viaduct Harbour.

You can register for the event at the link below. Please note that if you are attending the ORSNZ conference you need to register separately for this event. In addition you do not need to attend the ORSNZ conference to attend the Gurobi event.

https://www.gurobi.com/events/optimization-community-auckland-23112023/

Please see below for an invitation to (1) join SigmaOpt (an ANZIAM special interest group for optimisation, Operations Research, optimal control and related fields), (2) attend the ANZIAM conference and the (3) SigmaOpt workshop immediately after the ANZIAM conference.
Finally, (4) SigmaOpt / MoCaO are also calling for nominations for a student best paper prize.

(1) Invitation to join SigmaOpt (An ANZIAM Special Interest Group in Mathematical Optimisation)

You may be aware of ANZIAM (Australian and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics). ANZIAM has a Special Interest Group in Mathematical Optimisation (SigmaOpt). Andrea Raith is a member of the SigmaOpt executive committee on behalf of ORSNZ.

SigmaOpt is the special interest group of ANZIAM for optimisation, Operations Research, optimal control and related fields. The SigmaOpt webpage is: https://www.anziam.org.au/SIGMAOPT
You can request to join the SigmaOpt website here: https://groups.google.com/g/sigmaopt or contact Dr Hoa Bui at [email protected].

We welcome you to join the SigmaOpt mailing list as well as sharing this announcement with any interested colleagues.

ANZIAM also offers free student membership for interested students.

(2) ANZIAM 2024 conference – Golbon Zakeri, who many of you will know, is an invited speaker at the upcoming ANZIAM conference.

The Organising Committee warmly invites you to join us for the ANZIAM 2024 Conference, to be held in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia.

Dates: 11-15 February 2024
Venue: Adelaide Hills Convention Centre, Hahndorf SA
Website: https://www.mathematics.org.au/sys/public/home.php?conf_id=61

The scientific programme for the annual ANZIAM Conference will include 8 invited plenary lectures on a range of areas of applied mathematics. The conference will also feature a student social event, WIMSIG Lunch, LGBTQIA+ & Allies event, and formal conference dinner.
An ECR Workshop will be held on Saturday and Sunday (10–11 Feb) and the Mathematical Biology Special Interest Group (MBSIG) Workshop and SigmaOpt Workshop will both take place on Friday 16 February following the conference.

Confirmed Invited Speakers:
• David Abrahams (U. Cambridge)
• Luke Bennetts (U. Adelaide)
• Beth Fulton (CSIRO)
• Adrianne Jenner (Queensland U. Technology)
• Chris Lustri (U. Sydney)
• Neela Nataraj (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)
• Tony J. Roberts (U. Adelaide)
• Golbon Zakeri (U. Massachusetts Amherst)

(3) SigmaOpt 2024 workshop and student paper prize – Golbon Zakeri, is also an invited speaker here.

SigmaOpt, the optimisation special interest group of ANZIAM, is holding a one-day workshop in Adelaide City on the day after the 2024 ANZIAM Conference (in Adelaide Hills). The workshop will feature talks from five invited speakers as well as the winner of the Student Best Paper Prize.

Important Information:

When: Friday February 16, 2024.
Where: Room RR5-09 at the City West Campus of UniSA.
Invited Speakers:

Kate Helmstedt (QUT)
Yalcin Kaya (UniSA)
Vicky Mak (Deakin)
Lindon Roberts (USyd)
Golbon Zakeri (UMas Amherst, USA)
The Winner of the Student Best Paper Prize (TBA) – see call below

Registration: $50 (includes catering) using the following link via the ANZIAM 2024 conference registration system: https://www.mathematics.org.au/sys/pages/plain.php?page_id=39&conf_id=61

(4) SigmaOpt/MoCaO Student Best Paper Prize: SigmaOpt and MoCaO call for nominations for the joint SigmaOpt/MoCaO Student Best Paper Prize for an exceptional paper in the field of mathematical optimisation, optimal control, operations research or related field published in the last 18 months. The winner of this prize will be awarded $300 and invited to present the paper at the one-day workshop. For information on submitting a nomination, visit: https://www.anziam.org.au/SIGMAOPT
Nominations for the prize are due by 4/12/2023.

For further information about the workshop, visit the ANZIAM conference webpage:
https://www.mathematics.org.au/sys/pages/plain.php?page_id=39&conf_id=61

Kia ora koutou,

The 11th Asia-Pacific International Conference on Advanced Reliability and Maintenance Modeling (APARM2024) will be held in Nagoya City, Japan, 26-30 August 2024. See the conference website https://aparm2024-conf.github.io/info/ for further information.

Noho ora mai, Mike (ORSNZ president) on behalf of Sarah (ORSNZ council member)

Kia ora koutou,

We invite you to register for the ORSNZ 2023 Annual Conference. Registrations are being managed via Eventbrite. Note that there is Student Financial Assistance available.

You also need to submit an abstract if you would like to present, along with a paper if you would like to be considered for the Young Practitioner’s Prize (YPP).

Please let Mike know if you have any issues: president AT THE orsnz.org.nz.

Ngā mihi nui, Tom & Mike (Conference Organisers)

Kia ora koutou,

We invite you to submit an abstract for the ORSNZ 2023 Annual Conference (23-24 November 2023) by Monday 6 November 2023. For those eligible for the Young Practitioners’ Prize (YPP), you also need to submit a short paper (at most 12 pages) by Monday 13 November 2023.

We hope to see you there! Noho ora mai, Tom & Mike (Conference Organisers)