400
DAYS
20
HOURS
Tutorials
Healthcare operational research
Demand Generation in Healthcare Services: Theoretical Foundations and Simulation
This seminar aims to provide a rigorous introduction to Poisson processes as a fundamental stochastic model for generating demand in healthcare services. Poisson processes are widely used to represent arrival phenomena such as patient arrivals at emergency departments, ambulance demand, or calls to healthcare coordination centers. Their relevance stems from both their solid theoretical foundations and their ability to approximate real-world processes arising from the superposition of a large number of rare individual events, as established by the Palm-Khintchine theorem.
Bilevel optimization
Optimism, Pessimism, and Bilinear Terms: A Bilevel View of Decision-Focused Learning and Security Games
Bilevel optimization provides a natural framework for modeling hierarchical decision-making processes in which one optimization problem is embedded within another. In recent years, this paradigm has attracted growing attention in operations research, machine learning, and game theory, not only because of its modeling power, but also because of the significant theoretical and computational challenges it raises. In many relevant applications, these challenges are further amplified by the presence of bilinear terms, which naturally arise when decisions, probabilities, or predicted quantities interact.
This tutorial introduces bilevel optimization through two application domains where bilinear structures play a central role: decision-focused learning and security games. In decision-focused learning, bilevel models provide a principled way to integrate prediction and optimization, allowing learning models to be trained with respect to decision quality rather than prediction accuracy alone. In security games, bilevel optimization captures the strategic interaction between a defender and an attacker, offering a powerful framework to model resource allocation and adversarial response.
This tutorial introduces bilevel optimization through two application domains where bilinear structures play a central role: decision-focused learning and security games. In decision-focused learning, bilevel models provide a principled way to integrate prediction and optimization, allowing learning models to be trained with respect to decision quality rather than prediction accuracy alone. In security games, bilevel optimization captures the strategic interaction between a defender and an attacker, offering a powerful framework to model resource allocation and adversarial response.
Multi-criteria decision making
Multi-Criteria Decision Making with Partial Preference Information - Recent Applications and Cases with the FITradeoff Method
This tutorial presents cutting-edge research on innovative approaches to decision-making in Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and Group Decision and Negotiation (GDN) with partial preference information, with focus on MCDM. The discussion is grounded in the recently published book “Multi-Criteria Decision Making with Partial Preference Information: Recent Applications and Cases with the FITradeoff Method,” part of the International Series in Operations Research & Management Science (Springer).
Bringing together methodological, behavioral, and applied perspectives, the tutorial will explore how partial preference information can enhance decision processes while reducing cognitive effort for decision-makers.
Humanitarian logistics
Using OR to deal with Humanitarian Logistics
Operations Research (OR) can play a key role in improving decision-making in humanitarian logistics, where vulnerability, urgency, and limited resources are the norm. This tutorial introduces how OR can support more effective and equitable service delivery in such challenging environments.
More than following the traditional OR focus on mathematical models or metaheuristics, the tutorial also centers on the analysis and comparison of performance indicators. It will examine key metrics—such as equity, responsiveness, coverage, and efficiency—and how they influence decisions in humanitarian operations. It highlights that selecting appropriate indicators is not straightforward, as different metrics can lead to competing priorities and trade-offs.
More than following the traditional OR focus on mathematical models or metaheuristics, the tutorial also centers on the analysis and comparison of performance indicators. It will examine key metrics—such as equity, responsiveness, coverage, and efficiency—and how they influence decisions in humanitarian operations. It highlights that selecting appropriate indicators is not straightforward, as different metrics can lead to competing priorities and trade-offs.
Operations Research Applications in Agriculture
Operations Research Applications in Agriculture: An Open Field
This tutorial will present research in which Operations Research tools are applied to problems in the agricultural sector. We will begin with challenges in the wine industry, ranging from the application of stochastic optimization to the harvest problem, through the transportation of grapes from the field to the winery and the assignment of fermentation tanks, to the sequencing of bottling lines and maintenance policies. The use of simulation tools to support decision-making in dairy cattle farms will also be presented. The goal of the tutorial is to show attendees the potential of OR tools in the sector, the large number of open problems that exist, and the benefit of using advanced analytics in highly uncertain systems, such as agriculture, where we work with climate and biological organisms.
Multi-criteria decision making applications in port logistics
Multi-criteria Decision Making Applications in Port Logistics
This tutorial presents an integrated overview of port logistics planning supported by multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methodologies. It begins with an introduction to maritime and port logistics operations, outlining core functional areas and the range of planning decisions involved in vessel, truck, and cargo flows. We discuss the diversity of stakeholders within the port logistics community, such as port authorities, terminal operators, shipping lines, logistics providers, and customs agents, each with distinct objectives and responsibilities that may not always align.
Decision-Making in Circular Economy
Introduction to Decision-Making in Circular Economy Models: Methods, Applications, and Open Challenges
This tutorial presents an overview of how the circular economy is reshaping the conception of production systems in Latin America, and how prescriptive analytics, grounded in operations research, can serve as a fundamental instrument for advancing more sustainable and efficient decision-making. The session introduces a range of methodological approaches, with particular emphasis on optimization and simulation models applied to real-world problems. These contributions are organized according to the types of decisions they support and the contexts in which they are deployed, while also identifying underexplored domains such as the textile sector. Beyond a technical review of the state of the art, the tutorial seeks to foster critical reflection and academic dialogue regarding current challenges and emerging opportunities, encouraging participants to engage actively in the development of innovative solutions for the circular economy.
