PhD Programme

Overview

The aim of the PhD programme in Management Science and Operations is to train scholars to undertake original and cutting-edge research - both fundamental and applied - in order to advance the understanding of decision making in organizations and the design and management of business processes.

Specifically, the department has expertise in the areas of portfolio optimisation and the interface of finance and operations, energy markets, supply chain management, humanitarian logistics and global health delivery, service and health care operations, pricing and revenue management, and innovation in operations. For more information on topics, please see our research examples.

Research approaches may span analytical, empirical and behavioural considerations; but the key focus is on rigour and relevance. Collaboration with industry is encouraged in order to foster and preserve alignment with practice. Typical tools used include mathematical programming, probability and statistics, game theory, econometrics, and behavioural science.

We aim to place our graduates in top academic institutions, although some of our graduates do go on to occupy influential positions in industry. Students admitted to this programme have a strong analytical background, often holding Bachelors or Masters degrees in mathematics, physics, engineering or quantitative economics, and have a clear demonstrated potential for a successful academic career. All admitted students are awarded a fellowship that covers tuition and provides a stipend to cover living expenses for four years of study, which is the expected programme duration.

Programme Structure

The first programme component is an extensive and rigorous curriculum of graduate-level courses providing strong methodological foundations in optimisation, stochastic modelling, statistics, econometrics, microeconomics and game theory. An important differentiating feature of our programme is the ability of our students to complement their curriculum with the very best courses offered by other neighbouring institutions of academic excellence such as the Mathematics Department of Imperial College (stochastic processes, queueing networks) and the Economics Department of the London School of Economics (econometrics, game theory). In addition, students participate in research seminars, reading groups, international workshops and conferences.

The second programme component is a close mentoring relationship with one or several members of the MSO faculty, a prestigious group of leading academics combining scholarly and practical impact. This relationship involves intense collaborative research work culminating in the writing and defence by students of a doctoral dissertation. London Business School's faculty expertise, location and international alumni base offers opportunities for PhD students to delve into challenging problems from across the globe, combining deep academic rigour and practical relevance.

Finally, the programme provides the opportunity for students to acquire experience with the practice of university teaching, through their participation in the delivery of the courses taught by the MSO faculty at the London Business School.

Current Management Science and Operations PhD Students

Woonam Hwang
Xue Lu
Shyam Mohan
Iva Rashkova
Heikki Peura
Jonas Oddur Jonasson
Yiangos Papanastasiou
Isabel Smith Nino