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MSc in Operational Research and Management Science

Hi,
Most of the posts on OR date back to 2005.So i decided if anyone can help me with more recent information that would be great.I have offers from Warwick,Manchester,Lancaster,Strathclyde and LSE for OR.From my understanding LSE is very theoretical while at Warwick and Lancaster not only are the depts excellent but the course content cover all areas of OR.I would appreciate any pointers as to which is the best uni in terms of quality for OR and also with regards to job opportunities after completion.Thanks

Reply 1

The Orientalist

All universities you've mentioned have world-class business schools (well LSE doesn't have a business school but is very good for business/management related courses). I can only a little information regarding Warwick: WBS is one of only 3 business school in the UK with a 5* research rating, you'll be taught by experts of the field. Furthermore, some of your modules will be taught by Warwick's statistics department, another 5* rated department and widely regarded to be the 2nd best staistics department in the UK. I unfortunately cannot comment on any other of the unis you mentioned (hopefully someone attending one of the other unis mentioned will give you some further info), but they are also excellent.

Reply 2

:¬)

The Orientalist

I can only a little information regarding Warwick: WBS is one of only 3 business school in the UK with a 5* research rating, you'll be taught by experts of the field.

While this is true, Lancaster is one of the other two. In fact, Lancaster is rated 6* as it achieved the maximum research rating in the previous RAE assessment too.

The Orientalist

Furthermore, some of your modules will be taught by Warwick's statistics department

I'm fairly certain this isn't true!

Reply 3

The Orientalist

:¬)

While this is true, Lancaster is one of the other two. In fact, Lancaster is rated 6* as it achieved the maximum research rating in the previous RAE assessment too.

Yep, Lancaster's got one hell of a research record.

I'm fairly certain this isn't true!

My bad then. Some of the modules of the course seemed to be too statsy to be taught by a business school, hence why I thought that they can only be taught by the statistics department. Sorry jas23 for the misinformation.

Reply 4

jas23

No Problem guys thanks for the info.

Reply 5

donnadrew

JAS23

WERE U ABLE TO FIND ANY OTHER INFO ON THE BEST OPTIONS FOR MSC IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCE? i HAVE TO DECIDE MYSELF AND i AM HAVING DIFFICULTY PICKING A UNI.

Reply 6

roughy_ruff

Lancaster has the best for research in MSOR, However, LSE's MSc Operational Research provides their students a summer placement

Reply 7

donnadrew

how does the Msc which strathclyde offers in Operational research compare to that of Warwick and lancaster? I am very impressed with their programme, but I a bit afraid, that in terms of job prospects, it may fall short, because it is not as recognised as the other two.
Ps - thanks for responding Roughy_ruff!!!!!

Reply 8

e-lover

What does operational research consist of?

Reply 9

donnadrew

Hi there.

I took bits and pieces of info from different websites in order to explain what is operational research. However, the bulk of thei definition came from Wikipedia - check it out for more info,

In a nutshell, operational research (O.R.) is the discipline of applying appropriate analytical methods to help make better decisions. (http://www.orsoc.org.uk)

The terms operations research and management science are often used synonymously. When a distinction is drawn, management science generally implies a closer relationship to the problems of business management. Operations research also closely relates to Industrial engineering. Industrial engineering takes more of an engineering point of view, and industrial engineers typically consider Operations Research (OR) techniques to be a major part of their toolset.

Some of the primary tools used by operations researchers are statistics, optimization, probability theory, queuing theory, game theory, graph theory, decision analysis, and simulation. Because of the computational nature of these fields, OR also has ties to computer science, and operations researchers regularly use custom-written or off-the-shelf software.

Operations research is distinguished by its frequent use to examine an entire management information system, rather than concentrating only on specific elements (though this is often done as well). An operations researcher faced with a new problem is expected to determine which techniques are most appropriate given the nature of the system, the goals for improvement, and constraints on time and computing power. For this and other reasons, the human element of OR is vital. Like any other tools, OR techniques cannot solve problems by themselves.

Scope of operations research

Examples of applications in which operations research is currently used include:

* designing the layout of a factory for efficient flow of materials
* constructing a telecommunications network at low cost while still guaranteeing QoS (quality of service) or QoE (Quality of Experience) if particular connections become very busy or get damaged
* road traffic management and 'one way' street allocations i.e. allocation problems.
* determining the routes of school buses (or city buses) so that as few buses are needed as possible
* designing the layout of a computer chip to reduce manufacturing time (therefore reducing cost)
* managing the flow of raw materials and products in a supply chain based on uncertain demand for the finished products
* efficient messaging and customer response tactics
* roboticizing or automating human-driven operations processes
* globalizing operations processes in order to take advantage of cheaper materials, labor, land or other productivity inputs
* managing freight transportation and delivery systems (Examples: LTL Shipping, intermodal freight transport)
* scheduling:
o personnel staffing
o manufacturing steps
o project tasks
o network data traffic: these are known as queueing models or queueing systems.
o sports events and their television coverage
* blending of raw materials in oil refineries

Operations research is also used extensively in government where evidence-based policy is used.

hoped this help. You can also check out the following website: -
www.scienceofbetter.org/

Reply 10

kvas.artsiom

roughy_ruff

Lancaster has the best for research in MSOR, However, LSE's MSc Operational Research provides their students a summer placement

As far as I am informed from the Lancaster Uni website, the LUMS also provides a 4-months summer placement for the MSc OR students

Reply 11

papakhan

any current students of or courses on these forums? i could use some reviews on orms/or courses

Reply 12

zziippoo

I am not sure if OR at LSE is very theoretical.. I have spoken with two guys, studying at the moment at LSE and they informed me that they are doing a lot of quantitative staff. Also I have spoken with a guy who finished LSE -OR before three years and now is working and he told me that the course is different from decision science (the other pathway) because students at OR have a lot of quantitative techniques.

BTW about the summer internship that LSE offers: where can i find this? i cannot find anything in LSE's website!!

Even if Lancaster is really good business school, i think that LSE or Warwick are two universities with high employability and better brand names. Also LSE is in London - connections with the industry.

Reply 13

cmoloney90

I am also interested in Operational Research. I won't be applying for LSE or Warick so how would people rate University of Manchester, Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Lancaster for their courses?

Reply 14

Batch

I'm a current student on Lancaster's MSc in OR so any questions, any away!

Reply 15

Backtouni2012

Hi Batch,

Interested to know what the range of students is like on Lancaster MSc... Eg mature age w work experience or recent graduates?

How do you find Lancaster?

Cheers

Reply 16

shak_c

Hi all,

I was looking for doing MSc in either of the following two programmes:

MSc in Business/Market Analytics (BAC) and/or

MSc Management Science & Operational Research (MSOR)

I found Warwick, LSE, Lancaster, Manchester, Southampton, Aston, Strathclyde and a few other universities offer similar programs. But Warwick is too expensive for me. Hence, I was wondering which schools I can go other than Warwick (& also Oxford/Cambridge) for Business/Market analytics and/or MSOR that has/have really good programmes and also has/have high employability? Could you help?

Thanks,
shak_c

Reply 17

abhishek.konduri

Not sure if people are still actively looking at this thread but inputs will be highly valued :smile:

I have offers from University of Edinburgh and LSE in MSc Operational Research and I am confused as most students would be with these 2 offers in hand. Any inputs on the course and employability between LSE and UoE for MSOR ?

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