Supermarkets are among the major contributors to food waste, particularly
those operating through extensive networks of retailers across wide
geographic areas. To combat this, many supermarkets implement a variety of
food waste prevention strategies, such as discount promotions, donations,
and recycling. However, these methods require a coordinated and holistic
management approach to be effective. While employing diverse strategies can
significantly reduce food waste, the increasing variety of methods adds
complexity to the resulting optimization problems.
This PhD project aims to address the operational and optimization
challenges involved in managing food waste reduction strategies within
supermarket retailers. Its ultimate goal is to develop models that optimize
the implementation of existing food waste prevention methods, thereby
contributing to both the reduction of food waste and the broader goal of
eliminating hunger.
*Expected qualifications:*
Applications are welcome from those with a master's degree in either
operations research, industrial engineering, management science,
mathematics, computer science, or similar fields. Candidates with a keen
interest in multi-objective optimization, simulation and dynamic
programming are particularly encouraged to apply. Experience with
commercial optimization solvers (e.g., Cplex, Gurobi) is also a plus.
*Funding eligibility:* EU and non-EU students *holding a master's degree*
are equally eligible.
*Funding amount:* This position comes with a waiver for PhD tuition fees.
The stipend for this position is €22,000 per annum, with additional funds
available for research costs.
*Expected starting date*: At the earliest opportunity.
*Required documents and their submission:* Required application documents
include a CV, a cover letter and two (preferably academic) reference
letters. Interested candidates can submit their application by forwarding
the required documents to istenc.tarhan@ucd.ie.
*Closing date: *Considerations of applications will continue on an ongoing
basis until the position is filled.
For further details please contact: Dr. Istenc Tarhan (istenc.tarhan@ucd.ie
).
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