ORBEL Master Thesis Award

Posted by: Dimitri Papadimitriou
Date:2026-09-05
Contact:[email protected]

Dear Colleagues,

Dear colleagues,
The ORBEL Award is a prize for the best master thesis in Operations Research of the past academic year. We invite you to encourage your students to apply for the award (2000 Euro) sponsored by OMP. The deadline for applying is November 1, 2026.
The authors of the master thesis should be a citizen of Belgium or Luxemburg or must have completed all or part of their studies at an institution based in Belgium or Luxembourg. 
The manuscript may be written in Dutch, French, or English. It will be evaluated by a jury, with particular attention paid to the effectiveness of the theoretical methods in addressing and solving practical problems. 
The selected finalists will be invited to present their work at the next annual ORBEL Conference, to be held at Ghent University on February 2–3, 2027.
Evaluation criteria: focus primarily on the efficiency and effectiveness of the scientific approach used to address the problem under study. Particular emphasis will be placed on the application of existing methods to new areas or on the development and application of new solution methods to models that are relevant to to real-life operations research and management problems. An important evaluation criterion will therefore be the extent of collaboration with industry during the preparation and development of the thesis.
Submission procedure: send, by November 1, 2026, a PDF file of your master thesis to the Chair of the ORBEL Award committee ([email protected]) stating you want to compete for the 2027 ORBEL Award.
Please forward this announcement to interested students and colleagues!Dear Colleagues

The ORBEL Award is a prize for the best master thesis in Operations Research of the past academic year. We invite you to encourage your students to apply for the award (2000 Euro) sponsored by OMP. The deadline for applying is November 1, 2026.

The authors of the master thesis must be citizens of Belgium or Luxembourg, or have completed all or part of their studies at an institution based in Belgium or Luxembourg.

The manuscript may be written in Dutch, French, or English. It will be evaluated by a jury, with particular attention paid to the effectiveness of the theoretical methods in addressing and solving practical problems. 

The selected finalists will be invited to present their work at the next annual ORBEL Conference, to be held at Ghent University on February 2–3, 2027.

Evaluation criteria: focus primarily on the efficiency and effectiveness of the scientific approach used to address the problem under study. Particular emphasis will be placed on the application of existing methods to new areas or on the development and application of new solution methods to models that are relevant to to real-life operations research and management problems. An important evaluation criterion will therefore be the extent of collaboration with industry during the preparation and development of the master thesis.

Submission procedure: candidates intending to compete must submit, by November 1, 2026, a PDF copy of their master thesis to the Chair of the ORBEL Award committee ([email protected]) together with a statement indicating their intention to be considered for the 2027 ORBEL Award.

Please forward this announcement to interested students and colleagues!