Principal Investigator Laura A Rose
Project Website http://web.mit.edu/orc/www/academics/index.html
Operations research is the discipline of applying advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions. It uses mathematical modeling, analysis, and optimization in a holistic approach to improving our knowledge of systems and designing useful, efficient systems. Its applications range from engineering to management, and from industry to the public sector.
Operations research (OR) has helped advance the mathematics of optimization, applied probability, and statistics. OR researchers, collaborating with colleagues in related fields, have created innovative methods for pricing goods and services, and for marketing them. They have contributed to improving transportation, developing new financial instruments and auctions, and analyzing biological and medical information, as well as many more areas. In today's complex and interconnected world, the rigorous techniques and methodologies of operations research have become especially important aids to informed decision making.
The Operations Research Center coordinates an S.M. program and a Ph.D. program, providing a strong background in OR theory as well as the practical techniques used in building models for a wide variety of applications.
Founded as an interdepartmental program, the Operations Research Center has maintained its interdisciplinary roots. Its faculty comes from nine different departments at MIT, including the Sloan School of Management, five of the engineering departments, the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Economics, and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning.
The doctoral degree program in operations research enables PhD candidates to contribute to advanced research and state-of-the-art knowledge in a selected field. The program provides both a thorough background in the theory of OR as well as in developing and applying OR methods in practice.
Many graduates of the doctoral degree program assume academic positions in the US and abroad; others work usually as researchers or consultants in business and industry.
The emphasis of the doctoral program is on dissertation research. The formal course work and other requirements provide a foundation for the student to undertake original and creative research in a topic area selected in consultation with a thesis advisor. A student may wish to focus solely on the theory and methodology of operations research or, alternatively, on the application of OR methods and models in a particular area.
ACADEMICS
Master's Degree Program -- The master's degree (SM) program prepares graduates for a professional career that usually involves applications of operations research. The core graduate curriculum for the master's degree in operations research consists of applied probability, applied statistics and optimization modeling.
Doctoral Degree Program -- The doctoral degree (PhD) program in operations research enables candidates to contribute to advanced research and state-of-the-art knowledge in a selected field. The program provides both a thorough background in the theory of OR as well as in developing and applying OR methods in practice.