Motivation and Purpose

The main purpose of ESI is to establish a network of outstanding people who will continue to work together in the future.

Participation in an ESI should be regarded as a considerable honour. The main objective of an ESI is to give a limited number of carefully selected representatives of the next generation a unique opportunity for establishing a personal network and for addressing an international audience and thus to create new research groups around the topic chosen.

The basic idea is that around 25 early stage researchers, who are either PhD students or who have less than two years research experience since completing a PhD can meet for about two weeks. All participants will have an unpublished paper within the theme announced, and will present their material, discuss it with others and with a handful of specially invited senior experts in the field, and finally prepare a paper to be considered for inclusion in a feature issue of an OR publication.

The scientific sessions will be hosted at the hotel Sorriso Thermae, and laureates will share a double room with another laureate. 

Scientific Program

To be eligible, a candidate must be the main contributor of a single-authored or co-authored paper related to the field of Optimization under Uncertainty, which has not yet been published or accepted for publication. Topics of interest are, for example:

• Optimization techniques under uncertainty

• Stochastic programming

• Robust optimization

• Distributionally robust optimization

• Portfolio selections and risk management

• Credit risk management in financial institutions

• Machine Learning to identify risk drivers in ESG investments

Each laureate will give a presentation of 60 minutes about their paper, including questions. Moreover, there will be presentations from international experts. In addition to those presentations, we intend to hold several workshops, each coordinated by two or three of the invited speakers. During these workshops, the laureates, split into groups, will have the chance of working together on a given topic. After two days, each group will present its findings to all laureates. These workshops give the laureates the opportunity to delve deeper into some of the topics addressed in the talks of the experts. Furthermore, we hope to encourage laureates to work together on some problems and, hopefully, lay the grounds for future collaborations among them.

Finally, we are very pleased to say that there will be a special issue of Annals of Operational Research (AOR) covering the topics of the ESI and that selected papers of the Institute will be eligible for submission.

Applying to the ESI

If accepted, the ESI will cover the full cost for accommodation and board of each laureate for the duration of the institute.

Who can apply?

To apply to the ESI, you

• Have to be a current PhD student or researcher with less than two years research experience since completing your PhD.

• Have to come from a EURO member society country, or study in a EURO member society country.
  Additionally, up to two candidates can be appointed by IFORS, according to the EURO and IFORS exchange for ESWIs (see below for additional information).

• Must not have been a laureate of a previous EURO Summer/Winter Institute.

What to submit?

• A Curriculum Vitae, including information about your education, research projects, publications, awards, and other pertinent experiences (pdf format).

• A single-authored or co-authored paper in the field of “Optimization under Uncertainty” where you are the main contributor and which has not yet been published or accepted for publication (pdf format).

• A statement outlining your motivation for participating in the ESI (at most one page).

• A letter of recommendation from one referee (preferably the thesis advisor or head of department).

How to submit?

Upload all  the required document by clicking on the following link:

https://www.euro-online.org/awards/esi2024/registration.php

The deadline for submission is May 15, 2024.

What next?

The admission process for candidates will focus on the quality of their submitted paper, their scientific background as well as their interest in the field of Optimization under Uncertainty. Applicants might be asked to clarify their statement before the final decision.

The Scientific Committee selects and ranks the candidates and the Organizing Committee will liaise with the national OR societies to secure funding to cover travel expenses (which are not included in the ESI grant).

The Scientific Committee will notify applicants about the final decision by email by 15 June 2024.

The selected applicants will be announced in the official program and published on the web page.