MSc in Management Science

Management Science applies analytical approaches to problems of resource allocation and optimal decision-making in the real world. Drawing heavily on economics, mathematics, and behavioural science, we study model formulations for a variety of problem types, both deterministic and probabilistic, considering both static and dynamic approaches. Some of the material covered involves rigorous mathematical analysis, while other material focuses more on the application of mathematical methods to interesting problems.

We offer fundamental courses in:

  • Deterministic Operations Research (linear programming, non-linear programming, and dynamic programming);
  • Supply Chain Analysis (such as game theoretic approaches);
  • Probablistic Operations Research (queuing, inventory control, Markov chains, birth and death processes, probablistic dynamic programming);
  • Stochastic Processes (Markov processes, Renewal proceses, Martingales, Brownian motion);
  • Statistical Analysis (estimation, inference, regression, econometric modeling);
  • Special Topic courses based on student/faculty interest (such as Revenue Management, Dynamic Pricing, and Decision Analysis).

Research in Management Science ranges from highly applied, immediate problem-solving work to longer-term, theoretical contributions.

Projects currently under way are summarized on this page.

Chailin Chen
Chialin Chen’s research interests are in product and process innovation and their interaction with supply chains, transportation management, environmentally conscious logistics and manufacturing, and industrial organization theories and practice. His research has been published in Management Science, Transportation Research, and Production and Operations Management.
Tanya Levin
Tanya Levin’s current research focuses on algorithmic learning methods in revenue management and dynamic pricing based on earlier work with online learning algorithms for stock market portfolio rebalancing. Tanya has authored or co-authored papers in Operations Research and Operations Research Letters, presented numerous national and international conference papers, and published a book chapter on “Online methods for portfolio selection”.
Yuri Levin
Yuri Levin’s current research interests include revenue management, dynamic pricing, numerical optimization, and machine learning applications. His research has been published in Management Science, Operations Research, Production and Operations Management, European Journal of Operational Research (EJOR), Computational Optimization and Applications, Computers and Operations Research, Mathematics of Computations, Operations Research Letters, etc. Yuri is an Associate Editor at Management Science, and was a Guest Editor (with Jeff McGill) of the Special issue of EJOR on Revenue Management and Dynamic Pricing.
Jeff McGill
Jeff McGill research interests include revenue management and dynamic pricing and applied statistical methods. Jeff has published in Communications in Statistics, Management Science, Operations Research, Operations Research Letters, Production and Operations Management, Transportation Science, the Annals of Operations Research, and the Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics. Jeff is an Associate Editor for the journal Operations Research, a Senior Editor at Production and Operations Management, and was a Guest Editor (with Yuri Levin) of the Special issue of the European Journal of Operational Research on Revenue Management and Dynamic Pricing.
Arcan Nalca
Arcan Nalca is our newest faculty member. He has research interests in the field of supply chain management, especially in the context of modeling and analyzing managerially related research problems at the interface of operations and marketing. He is particularly interested in operational problems arising in retail environments. Issues related to competition, coordination, and contracting in the presence of demand uncertainty as well as the dynamic effects of strategic consumer behaviour on firms’ decisions constitute some of his research thrusts in this area. Arcan has presented numerous conference papers in these and related areas.
Mikhail Nediak
Mikhail Nediak is interested in Management Science, Operations Research and complex data analytic problems with a particular focus on revenue management and pricing. In his recent research, he has studied such topics as dynamic pricing under price-guarantee policies, risk in revenue management and dynamic pricing, air cargo capacity management, and the effects of strategic consumer behaviour on firms in monopolistic and competitive settings. Dr. Nediak's research has appeared in Management Science, Operations Research, Production Operations Management, Annals of Operations Research, Operations Research Letters and other outlets.
Matthew Thompson
Matthew Thompson’s research is in real options theory and applications in energy markets. Matthew’s work has gained significant national and international recognition from the operations research community (winner of the best student paper award of the Canadian Operational Research Society and finalist in the prestigious George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award of INFORMS). His work has appeared in Operations Research and Naval Research Logistics. Matt recently re-joined the group after a two-year leave with the investment branch of a major Canadian bank where he headed a project developing advanced methods for energy market analysis.