Study at Cardiff | Postgraduate

Operational Research (PhD/MPhil)

Programme Aims

To offer knowledge and expertise for a career in the academic world, or to pursue a variety of other opportunities in which a strong mathematical background is important. Past students are on the staff of universities in the UK and abroad, and senior statisticians and managers in industry and business.

Special Features

• The School is part of the EPSRC Science and Innovation funded LANCS Initiative in the Mathematical Underpinnings of Operational Research.
• Colloquia are held regularly and each research group has a weekly research seminar.
• The School hosts and participates in frequent workshops organised by WIMSC research clusters, with which the research groups are associated.
• The many collaborative projects with groups in other institutions in the UK and abroad, bring a steady stream of distinguished visitors to the School.

Programme Description

The Cardiff School of Mathematics offers an exceptionally wide range of opportunities for postgraduate studies in mathematics. The academic staff are engaged in research projects in fields that are as varied as number theory, functional analysis and spectral theory in pure mathematics, image processing, operational research, statistics and quantum field theory.

Many research projects undertaken by members of staff in the School are being generously funded by the public and private sectors. The leader of the Operator Algebras and Non-Commutative Geometry group is the co-ordinator of the European Network on Non-Commutative Geometry funded by the EU TMR programme. Other sources of funding include EPSRC, Leverhulme Trust, NATO, INTAS, Ministry of Defence, Wellcome Trust, GlaxoSmithKline, Proctor and Gamble.

The School has close links with several universities and institutions abroad. These include the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, the Australian National University and the Australian Road Research Board in Melbourne, Ecole Superieure d'Electricite in Gif-Sur Yvette, ETH in Zurich and universities in Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Malaysia and USA.

The School provides training and a high level of support, and the postgraduate community contributes substantially to the University's international reputation for research.

Programme Structure

In their first and second year of study, research students follow a programme of lectures and reading courses agreed with their supervisors. These include formal assessment.

Moreover, research students benefit from a carefully developed graduate program including computational, presentational and subject-specific skills.

Students will also write a substantial end-of-year report and give a seminar in the department.

Research Areas

Operational Research

• Modelling of traffic flow
• Models for the outcomes of battles
• Modelling of the spread of AIDS and other infectious diseases
• Queueing theory
• Scheduling and timetabling problems
• Metaheuristics
• Discrete optimisation.

Available Funding

A small number of EPSRC-funded doctoral training grants are available, awarded on a competitive basis.

Additional Information

Informal contact with potential supervisors in the School of Mathematics is recommended before applying.

Entry Requirements

Suitable for graduates in Mathematics (or a suitable related field).

A 1st or upper 2nd class UK Honours degree, or equivalent is required.

Next intake: The University has four entry points for research degrees; 1st October, 1st January, 1st April or 1st July

More information

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