Mathematics

• Fairness in Operational Research with Application to Nurse Rostering
• Dynamics of Networks of Coupled Oscillators
• Nonlinear and Complex Systems

Fairness in Operational Research with Application to Nurse Rostering

Deadline for Applications: 1 August, 2012.

Immediate interviews will take place for suitable candidates.

The starting date of this project is 01/10/2012.

Applications are invited for a 3-year PhD Studentship based in the Logistics and Management Mathematics Group, Department of Mathematics, University of Portsmouth, UK.

Funding

The studentship will cover tuition fees at home/EU level and a tax-free bursary of £13,590 per year for 3 years. This studentship is only open to UK/EU students.

Project Description

The nurse rostering problem presents a combinatorial optimisation problem in which shifts must be assigned to nurses who are subject to a large number of workforce related constraints. Traditional approaches to solving the nurse rostering problem have mainly focused on the minimisation of the number of constraint violations across all the nurses. Nevertheless, the individual nurses have different implicit preferences and availabilities. Hence, these rosters generally fail to ensure that individual nurses are treated fairly and the workload is shared fairly amongst nurses. Incorporation of fairness in solution approaches is a new emerging topic which has not yet been studied sufficiently, although it is an issue that is expected to have a big impact on the quality of computer generated rosters. The successful student will investigate novel fairness models and solution approaches to solve various aspects of fairness in hospitals. This is an important research topic bringing together expertise from different domains including Operational Research and Artificial Intelligence.

Research Environment

The successful candidate will join an active and vibrant research group, together with other PhD students at various stages of their studies. Supervisors and students in the Department have frequent contact, leading to a conducive working environment. The applicant is also expected to participate in workshops and seminars, and in the publication of journal and conference papers as part of his/her research degree.

Entry Requirements

Students should have at least the equivalent of a UK first class honours degree (ideally a first class), or at least an upper second class honours undergraduate or Masters degree in Operational Research, Mathematics, or a closely related area. They should have very good programming skills. Students with a good knowledge of Operational Research and good programming experience are especially encouraged to apply.

Further Information

Informal enquiries may be addressed to:

Dr Djamila Ouelhadj, tel: +44 023 9284 6355, e-mail: djamila.ouelhadj@port.ac.uk,

or Dr Dylan Jones, tel: +44 023 9284 6362, email: Dylan.jones@port.ac.uk.

Further details of the department and research group can be found here:

http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/maths/

http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/maths/research/mmg/

How To Apply

An online application form with guidance notes can be accessed here:

http://www.port.ac.uk/phdapplication

Applications will only be considered on receipt of a completed application form. You can attach supporting documents to the application form, e.g., a CV, personal statement, and references. Applications should include a letter of application explaining your reasons for applying for the position and your initial thoughts on the  research area, a detailed CV (including expected or actual degree class), together with the names and contact details of two academic referees who can be contacted prior to interview.

Please quote the title of the post and supervisor, Dr. Djamila Ouelhadj and Dr Dylan Jones, in your application form.

Keywords:

Mathematics, Logistics, Management Mathematics, Operational Research, Rostering, Artificial Intelligence.

Dynamics of Networks of Coupled Oscillators

Deadline for Applications: 1 August, 2012.

Immediate interviews will take place for suitable candidates.

The starting date of this project is 01/10/2012.

Applications are invited for 3-year PhD studentship in Mathematics in the area of Dynamical Systems on Networks. The successful applicant will join the Nonlinear and Complex Systems Research Group in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Portsmouth, UK.

Funding

The studentship will cover tuition fees at home/EU level and a tax-free bursary of £13,590 per year for 3 years. This studentship is only open to UK/EU students.

Project Description

The aim of this project is to investigate the behaviour of networks of coupled oscillators, to determine how the dynamical behaviour is affected by the structure of the underlying network. The phenomena of interest are the transport of energy through the network, ‘cooperative behaviour’ in which large numbers of units interact together in a coherent manner, patterns of network activation, the affect of asymmetry in the network and in the initial conditions, and others. The project will involve a combination of theory and analysis, using techniques from Nonlinear Dynamical Systems and Complex Networks, in tandem with large-scale computer simulations to find systems with particular properties.

Research Environment

The successful candidate will join an active and vibrant research group, together with other PhD students at various stages of their studies. Supervisors and students in the Department have frequent contact, leading to a conducive working environment. The student will acquire experience of the underlying dynamical and network theory, will apply and extend existing computer code with access to High-Performance Computing Facilities at the University in order to run large-scale simulations, and will analyse the results, applying the relevant theory. The applicant is also expected to participate in workshops and seminars, and in the publication of journal and conference papers as part of his/her research degree.

Entry Requirements

Applicants should hold a First Class or Upper Second Class Honours, or Masters, degree in Mathematics or related Physical Sciences, preferably containing elements of Dynamical Systems and/or nonlinear differential equations. Knowledge and some experience of programming in C/C++/Python or a good level of general programming experience, and using a Linux operating system, would be an advantage.

Further Information

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact:

Dr. Andrew Burbanks: Andrew.Burbanks@port.ac.uk

Prof. Andrew Osbaldestin: Andrew.Osbaldestin@port.ac.uk

Further details of the department and research groups can be found here:

http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/maths/

http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/maths/research/ncsg/

How to Apply

An online application form with guidance notes can be accessed here:

http://www.port.ac.uk/phdapplication

Applications will only be considered on receipt of a completed application form. You can attach supporting documents to the application form, e.g., a CV, personal statement, and references. Applications should include a letter of application explaining your reasons for applying for the position and your initial thoughts on the  research area, a detailed CV (including expected or actual degree class), together with the names and contact details of two academic referees who can be contacted prior to interview.

Please quote the title of the post and supervisors, Dr. Andrew Burbanks and Prof. Andrew Osbaldestin, in your application form.

Keywords:

Science, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Dynamical Systems, Nonlinear, Discrete Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation, Discrete Self-Trapping Equation, Complex Systems, Networks.