Our doctoral programme aims at nurturing a small group of outstanding students to become world-class academicians and practitioners in the fields of Operations and Business Analytics, which have far-reaching applications including, but not limited to, logistics, supply chain management, manufacturing, service, transportation, and healthcare management. It is a multidisciplinary programme that incorporates areas in Operations Management, Business Analytics, Management Science, Economics, Statistics and Operations Research. The DAO PhD program is aligned with the PhD program offered by the Institute of Operations Research and Analytics (IORA).

Through well-planned, sequenced PhD coursework and intense hands-on research experiences with faculty members on joint research projects, it imbues students with a broad spectrum of analytical methods such as mathematical optimisation, applied probability, econometrics and equilibrium analysis, which they can apply to analyse, develop new insights and improve decision making in problems that arise in complex business operations environment.

We provide competitive four-year research scholarships for all qualified PhD students. Students can also receive supplemental support as teaching and/or research assistants. The School encourages and supports students’ participation at international conferences and workshops, and is constantly introducing new fellowships and schemes promoting students’ development including lecture series by distinguished professors.

Successful applicants are likely to have strong mathematical skills and outstanding degrees in any rigorous disciplines. The School admits PhD students every August. Admission in January will be considered only in very special cases.

Students are required complete a minimum of 40 Units courses comprising 3 essential courses (4 Units each) and 7 elective courses (4 Units each).

Essential Courses

Students must read and pass 2 essential courses in the area of ‘Operations Research (OR)’ as both courses will be tested in the PhD Qualification Examination (Written QE) at the end of their first year of candidature.

Operations Research (OR)

1. BDC6111/IE6001 Foundations of Optimisation
2. BDC6112/IE6004 Stochastic Processes I

Analytics

1. BDC6307  Introduction to Data Analytics
2. CS5339    Theory and Algorithms for Machine Learning

Elective Courses

Students have the flexibility to select the elective courses to match their research interests. The elective courses are grouped into 3 categories: OR Methods, OR Modeling and Data Analytics. Among the electives courses chosen, at least 2 courses (8 Units) must be in OR Methods, 1 course (4 Units) in OR Modeling and 1 course (4 Units) in Data Analytics. Updated information on the elective courses can be found at the IORA PhD programme website.

Students must pass the PhD Qualifying Examination (QE) within the stipulated period in order to continue with the PhD programme. Passing the PhD Qualifying Examination is the signal for the students to embark on the dissertation.

The PhD Qualifying Examination consists of 2 parts: Written QE and Oral QE.

Students are required to pass the written QE at the end of the first year and the oral QE at the end of the second year.

Part I: Written Examination

Part I evaluates the students’ mastery of the technical tools necessary for research and will be scheduled at the end of their study in Year 1. It comprises two closed book written exams based on the core courses:

1. BDC6111/IE6001 Foundations of Optimisation
2. BDC6112/IE6004 Stochastic Processes I

Part II: Oral QE

The oral QE comprises two components as follows:

1. Presentation of research oriented (RO) paper and
2. Oral examination of 2 elective courses chosen by the student and approved by the thesis advisors. The elective courses chosen must be related to the student’s RO paper.

Students who have passed the written QE can commence on their RO papers, which will be submitted for their oral QE at the end of the second year. The purpose of the RO paper is to examine the students’ ability to conduct independent research under the guidance of their supervisors.

The QE committee will examine the student’s RO paper and proficiency in the two elective courses before recommending a pass/fail.

Proposal Defense

After clearing the QE, students should begin to put together a proposal for the thesis. The proposal is an original idea for investigation put forth by the student, after an extensive study of the topic. The students are expected to detail the research question and also provide an outline of the study design.

A Proposal Examination Committee will be formed and students are required to defend their thesis proposal. As a guide, all students need to defend their thesis proposal in Year 3 to Year 4 in the programme.

Thesis Submission And Examination

Students are required to submit their thesis for examination after being approved by their supervisor(s) and the DAO Head of Department.

The thesis must demonstrate the student’s ability to perform original, independent research, and represent the student’s work and significant contribution to the knowledge in the specific domain of research.