Streams

If you would like to organize a session, please contact the stream organizers.

Area AI, Data Science, and Optimization
Chair(s): Dolores Romero Morales (drm.eco@cbs.dk)

• Analytics
  Chair(s): Sebastian Maldonado (sebastianm@fen.uchile.cl), Richard Weber (richard.weber@uchile.cl)

  This stream focuses on the integration of data science and operations research, emphasizing the development of predictive and prescriptive models to support complex decision-making. Topics include advanced statistical learning, machine learning for optimization, and the processing of large-scale datasets for real-time insights. We invite contributions covering the entire analytics lifecycle (from data engineering and feature selection to the deployment of robust analytical frameworks) with a particular interest in cross-disciplinary applications that bridge the gap between theoretical modeling and impactful industry practice.

• Data Envelopment Analysis
  Chair(s): Ali Emrouznejad (a.emrouznejad@surrey.ac.uk)

  I am pleased to invite colleagues from academia and practice to contribute to the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Performance Measurement Stream at IFORS 2026, taking place 12–17 July 2026 in Vienna, Austria. Scope of the Stream - We welcome high-quality contributions on: - Efficiency and productivity analysis - Performance measurement and management - DEA, SFA, and econometric approaches - Theory, methodology, and real-world applications Applications of particular interest include (but are not limited to): Banking and finance, Healthcare, Education, Transportation and logistics, Public sector and sustainability, etc... Both parametric and non-parametric studies are encouraged, with a strong interest in successful real-world applications. ???? How to Submit (IFORS 2026 system): https://ifors2026.at/home/ Please use the following session codes: - DEA & SFA Applications: 8b965d9e - DEA / SFA Modeling & Theory: 3334941e - DEA under Uncertainty: Models, Methods, and Applications (Chair: Adel Hatamimarbini): bee2be47 - Composite Indicators, DEA, and MCDM – New developments and applications (Chairs: Panagiotis Ravanos & Miguel Pereira): 5290230d Organising Sessions If you are interested in organising a special session on a specific area of DEA (or SFA) (typically 4 papers per session), please contact me directly: ae0027@surrey.ac.uk Important Dates: - Abstract submission deadline: 1 March 2026 - Early-bird registration: 25 April 2026 - Final registration: 1 May 2026 - Conference dates: 12–17 July 2026 - Venue: Vienna, Austria More details: https://lnkd.in/di9teYFi I very much look forward to your contributions and to an exciting DEA stream at IFORS 2026. Best regards, Ali Emrouznejad

• Data Science meets Optimization
  Chair(s): Patrick De Causmaecker (patrick.decausmaecker@kuleuven.be), Michael Römer (michael.roemer@uni-bielefeld.de), Ender Özcan (ender.ozcan@nottingham.ac.uk)

  The Data Science meets Optimization working group has been operational since 2016. It brings together researchers from domains such as Operations Research, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science to achieve joint progress. The working group has been active in conferences in each of the domains and has organized two EURO PhD schools. Very important have been the successful streams at EURO and IFORS where scientists could discuss their most recent progress. Feel free to submit to one of the planned sessions or to propose your own session.

• Descriptive, diagnostic and predictive analytics
  Chair(s): Sven F. Crone (s.crone@lancaster.ac.uk), Ralph Grothmann (ralph.grothmann@siemens.com), Jochen Gönsch (jochen.goensch@uni-due.de), Thomas Setzer (thomas.setzer@ku.de)

  The stream addresses new methodological and practice-oriented research contributions in the field of descriptive data analytics (“what happened”), diagnostic data analytics (“why it happened”) and predictive data analytics (“what will happen”). Contributions can involve, amongst others, statistical or machine learning methods, feature engineering and dimensionality reduction techniques, visual and interactive analytics procedures, forecasting techniques, and causal modeling approaches.

• Mathematical Optimization for Transparent and Fair Decision Making
  Chair(s): Jochen De Weerdt (jochen.deweerdt@kuleuven.be), Farnaz Farzadnia (ff.eco@cbs.dk), Vanesa Guerrero (vanesa.guerrero@uc3m.es)

  This stream explores how techniques from mathematical optimization can be leveraged to design decision-making systems that are both transparent and fair. It brings together research on fairness-aware optimization, counterfactual analysis, and interpretable machine learning methods. Topics include modeling and mitigating bias, ensuring accountability in automated decisions, and developing frameworks that balance performance with ethical considerations. The stream aims to bridge theory and practice, highlighting how optimization can support responsible, explainable, and equitable decision processes across domains.

Area Combinatorial Optimization
Chair(s): Eduardo Uchoa (uchoa@producao.uff.br)

• Combinatorial Optimization
  Chair(s): Silvano Martello (silvano.martello@unibo.it), Paolo Toth (paolo.toth@unibo.it)

  The members of ECCO and CO are cordially invited to submit an abstract on a Combinatorial Optimization theme. The EURO Working Group on Combinatorial Optimization, ECCO, was created in 1987, and is currently one of the largest working groups of EURO. ECCO researchers are active in different fields of operations management, logistics, production scheduling, location and distribution problems, resource allocation, and flexible manufacturing. Every fourth year the ECCO annual conference is held as a joint meeting with CO, a series of combinatorial optimization conferences that started in the UK in 1977.

Area Computational Operations Research
Chair(s): Thorsten Koch (koch@zib.de)

• HPC/GPU Optimization
  Chair(s): Utz-Uwe Haus (uhaus@cray.com)

• Nonlinear Optimization
  Chair(s): Cong Sun (suncong@lsec.cc.ac.cn), Ya-xiang Yuan (yyx@lsec.cc.ac.cn)

  This stream consists of sessions on algorithms for nonlinear optimization and applications. It contains talks on unconstrained optimization, constrained optimization, manifold optimization, distributed optimization, optimization for wireless communication and machine learning.

• Quantum Optimization
  Chair(s): Stefan Woerner (wor@zurich.ibm.com)

  This stream focuses on technical advances in quantum optimization, with emphasis on algorithms, implementations, and rigorous benchmarking. Topics include exact, approximate, and heuristic quantum optimization algorithms, hybrid quantum–classical workflows, problem encodings, circuit and resource analyses and optimization, and execution on current and emerging quantum hardware towards demonstrating quantum advantage in optimization.

• Software for Operations Research
  Chair(s): Timo Berthold (timoberthold@fico.com), Jens Schulz (schulz_jens@gmx.net)

  This stream brings together researchers and practitioners exploring innovative software approaches for mathematical optimization problems across industry domains. A key focus lies on optimization solvers, their design, implementation, and evolution, including new opportunities arising in the current AI landscape. Computational experiments, evolution of modeling and programming languages as well as hardware-software interplay for successful deployment of mathematical models are at the heart of this stream. We welcome contributions that advance the computational methods and practical applications of Operations Research.

Area Continuous and Global Optimization
Chair(s): Mirjam Duer (mirjam.duer@math.uni-augsburg.de), Andrea Seidl (andrea.seidl@wu.ac.at)

• Continuous and Global Optimization
  Chair(s):

• Dynamics of the Firm
  Chair(s): Peter Kort (kort@tilburguniversity.edu)

Area Cutting and Packing
Chair(s): José Fernando Oliveira (jfo@fe.up.pt)

• Cutting and Packing
  Chair(s): Tony Wauters (tony.wauters@cs.kuleuven.be)

Area Data-driven Optimization
Chair(s): Marlin Wolf Ulmer (marlin.ulmer@ovgu.de)

• Data-Driven Demand Management
  Chair(s): Matthias Soppert (matthias.soppert@unibw.de), Claudius Steinhardt (claudius.steinhardt@unibw.de)

  This stream focuses on recent advances and applications in demand management. It deals with the planning and control of sales processes through demand management instruments, such as pricing, availability control, and assortment optimization, using data- and method-driven predictive as well as prescriptive approaches. The specific topics and methodologies span a wide spectrum. For example, topics include sales process optimization in last-mile delivery, transportation, mobility, hospitality, e-commerce, or brick-and-mortar retail. The developed and applied methodologies include mathematical optimization and learning-based approaches, such as mixed-integer programming, dynamic programming, or reinforcement learning.

• Data-driven stochastic (inverse) optimization
  Chair(s): Bilge Atasoy (b.atasoy@tudelft.nl), Peyman Mohajerin Esfahani (peyman.mohajerin@epfl.ch), Peyman Mohajerin Esfahani (p.mohajerinesfahani@utoronto.ca)

  In this stream we are aiming to have sessions on methods covering data-driven robust optimization, data-driven stochastic optimization, inverse optimization, optimization under uncertainty with different applications covering health, transportation and beyond.

• Machine Learning and Optimization
  Chair(s): Florentin Hildebrandt (florentin.hildebrandt@ovgu.de), Axel Parmentier (axel.parmentier@enpc.fr), Shohre Zehtabian (shohre.zehtabian@ovgu.de)

Area Freight Transportation
Chair(s): Ann Campbell (ann-campbell@uiowa.edu), Claudia Archetti (claudia.archetti@unibs.it), Michel Gendreau (michel.gendreau@cirrelt.net)

• Emerging Delivery Ideas and Alternative Modes
  Chair(s):

  Papers on emerging delivery ideas such as crowdshipping as well as alternative modes to trucks such as air freight and drones. This stream also considers alternative objective functions and research incorporating new technologies in the delivery process.

• Freight Network Design and related problems
  Chair(s):

• Vehicle Routing and related problems
  Chair(s):

Area Game Theory, Market Design and Mathematical Economics
Chair(s): Martin Bichler (martin.bichler@in.tum.de)

• Algorithmic Game Theory
  Chair(s): Martin Bichler (martin.bichler@in.tum.de)

  This stream focuses on the algorithmic foundations of strategic interaction in large-scale systems. It brings together work on equilibrium learning in games, models of traffic and congestion with strategic agents, and calibration and information design under uncertainty. Contributions address how incentives, learning dynamics, and information structures interact with algorithms, and how these interactions shape efficiency, stability, and welfare in markets and networks.

• Auctions and Market Design
  Chair(s): Martin Bichler (martin.bichler@in.tum.de)

  This stream covers the design and analysis of auction and market mechanisms for complex economic environments. Sessions focus on robustness in market design, fairness and distributional considerations, electricity market design, and procurement auctions. Contributions study how incentives, uncertainty, and institutional constraints affect efficiency, competition, and welfare, and how market mechanisms can be designed to perform reliably in practice.

• Matching under Preferences
  Chair(s): Péter Biró (biro.peter@krtk.hu)

  Matching under preferences is a general field spanning computer science, economics, and mathematics. The central problems in the field involve matching agents to each other and to resources in a stable and efficient manner. Matching market algorithms based on the preferences of the agents have several applications such as in school admissions, placement of hospital residents, and centralized kidney markets.

Area Global Leadership in OR for Women
Chair(s): M. Grazia Speranza (speranza@eco.unibs.it)

• Global Leadership in OR for Women
  Chair(s):

Area Location Analysis
Chair(s): Atsuo Suzuki (atsuo@nanzan-u.ac.jp)

• Hub Location and Network Design
  Chair(s): Sibel A. Alumur (sibel.alumur@uwaterloo.ca), Stefan Nickel (stefan.nickel@kit.edu)

  Hub location and network design stream will bring together research on the strategic and tactical aspects of locating hub facilities and designing efficient networks to support transportation, logistics, and distribution systems. Contributions may include new mathematical models, solution algorithms, and empirical studies that address the selection and configuration of hub-and-spoke systems, the allocation of demand nodes to hubs, the design of interhub connections, and the integration of cost, service, sustainability, and uncertainty considerations in network design problems. Topics of interest span classical hub location formulations and multi-objective extensions, resilient and robust network designs under disruptions, multimodal and hierarchical hub configurations, and innovative optimization and heuristic methods that advance both theory and real-world applications in freight, passenger, and service networks.

• Location Analysis
  Chair(s): Hatice Calik (hatice.calik@kuleuven.be)

  The subjects of interest center around the optimal choice of locations for one or more objects (usually called facilities), within any framework (the classical settings being discrete, network and planar). Many other fields have direct connections with location analysis and location theory, either by subject such as transportation and routing, supply chain management, environmental studies, layout and design, data and cluster analysis, or as techniques, like mathematical (linear, integer, non-linear, convex, global, stochastic…) programming, multi-criteria analysis, approximation theory, computational geometry, statistics, etc.

• Location Analysis for Urban and Digital Infrastructure
  Chair(s): Yudai Honma (yudai@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

  Location Analysis for Urban and Digital Infrastructure stream will bring together research on location analysis and optimization methodologies for urban infrastructure systems where physical assets and digital technologies are increasingly integrated. Contributions may include new models, algorithms, and empirical studies addressing facility location, network design, and service placement problems under dynamic, uncertain, and data-rich environments. Topics of interest include spatial optimization for digital infrastructure linking macroscopic urban demand with microscopic system performance, as well as emerging mobility and energy infrastructures and integrated location–network problems with sustainability considerations. The stream also aims to foster methodological advances and real-world applications, particularly through industry–academia collaboration and research addressing practical challenges in complex urban settings.

Area Logistics
Chair(s): Janny LEUNG (jannyleung@um.edu.mo), Michal Tzur (tzur@eng.tau.ac.il)

• City Logistics
  Chair(s): Barış Yıldız (byildiz@ku.edu.tr)

  This stream focuses on a broad range of topics related to city logistics, covering challenges and perspectives relevant to both public and private stakeholders. The sessions will address planning and operational problems arising in urban freight and service systems, as well as their interactions with passenger transportation. Particular attention will be given to recent developments in technologies and business models, and to their integration into urban transportation systems for both people and goods.

• Health Care Logistics
  Chair(s): Yong-Hong Kuo (yhkuo@hku.hk), Atsuo Suzuki (atsuo@nanzan-u.ac.jp)

  This stream focuses on the applications of operations research, operations management, and machine learning techniques for healthcare logistics. Topics include but are not limited to hospital logistics, healthcare operations management, healthcare supply chains, and patient transportation. The talks will present innovative methodologies, modeling approaches, and data-driven solutions that enhance efficiency, resilience, and quality in healthcare delivery. We welcome theoretical developments, practical case studies, and interdisciplinary research that leverage advanced analytical tools to address current challenges in healthcare logistics and improve patient outcomes worldwide.

• Humanitarian Logistics
  Chair(s): Burcu Balcik (burcu.balcik@ozyegin.edu.tr), Emilia Grass (emilia.grass@kit.edu)

  The Humanitarian Logistics stream at IFORS 2026 will focus on exploring the critical role of logistics in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. As humanitarian crises become more frequent and complex, the need for efficient, effective, and sustainable logistics solutions is more pressing than ever. This stream will feature sessions dedicated to diverse topics in humanitarian logistics. The stream welcomes contributions employing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches, as well as interdisciplinary studies, to advance understanding and implementation of logistics strategies that save lives and improve outcomes for vulnerable populations worldwide.

• Maritime Logistics
  Chair(s): Peter Schütz (peter.schutz@ntnu.no)

  The stream on Maritime Logistics covers all relevant research areas in the intersection between maritime and port logistics and optimization. The maritime sector is also increasingly driven by AI-powered optimization and analytics. These technologies leverage the vast amount of data generated throughout supply chains, impacting the sector by enabling more informed decisions, enhanced performance, and improved sustainability. 

• OR in Space
  Chair(s): Christof Defryn (christof.defryn@uantwerpen.be)

  With this stream, we aim to bridge the gap between the field of Operations Research and the community engaged in space-related research. We kindly invite researchers and practitioners with expertise related (but not limited to) one of the following topics to contribute by submitting a short abstract: space logistics, trajectory optimisation, on-orbit servicing, constellation design, satellite network optimisation, orbit selection, mission planning, satellite scheduling and coverage, space-based control problem optimisation, space debris removal operations.

• Smart Logistics
  Chair(s): Albert Schrotenboer (a.h.schrotenboer@tue.nl), Tom van Woensel (t.v.woensel@tue.nl)

  Vehicle Routing: Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), Two-Echelon VRP, Consistent VRP, Periodic VRP, Pollution-Routing Problem, Pickup and Delivery Problem (PDP). Optimization Techniques: Integer Programming, Branch-and-Price-and-Cut, Metaheuristics, Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS), Benders Decomposition, Mathemaristics. City & Urban Logistics: Last-Mile Delivery, Urban Consolidation Centers, Cargo Hitching (People and Freight Integration), Zero-Emission Zones, Parcel Lockers, Underground Logistics (Metro-based freight). Smart & Sustainable Mobility: Synchromodal Transport, Electric Trucking, Modal Shift, Green Logistics, Circular Flows (Circulaire stromen). Real-time & Stochastic Systems: Time-Dependent Travel Times, Stochastic Request Times, Dynamic Re-routing, Path Flexibility, Queueing Theory for Traffic Flow.

• Warehousing
  Chair(s): Kris Braekers (kris.braekers@uhasselt.be), Felix Weidinger (felix.weidinger@tu-darmstadt.de)

  This stream hosts talks related to warehousing and intralogistics. It is open to a wide range of methods, including discrete and continuous as well as linear and non-linear optimization, but also simulation and machine learning.

Area Metaheuristics
Chair(s): Thomas Stützle (stuetzle@ulb.ac.be)

• Metaheuristics
  Chair(s): Sara Ceschia (sara.ceschia@uniud.it), Leslie Pérez Cáceres (leslie.perez@pucv.cl)

  Metaheuristics and applications

Area Multiobjective Optimization / Multicriteria Decision Making
Chair(s): Matthias Ehrgott (m.ehrgott@lancaster.ac.uk), Xavier Gandibleux (xavier.gandibleux@univ-nantes.fr)

• Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM)
  Chair(s): Salvatore Corrente (salvatore.corrente@unict.it), Milosz Kadzinski (milosz.kadzinski@cs.put.poznan.pl)

  The stream focuses on developments in methods and applications of Multicriteria Decision Making. The specific methodological sessions will focus on pairwise comparisons, preference learning, outranking methods, robustness analysis, portfolio optimization, and the intersection of MCDM and AI. The application-oriented sessions will address social aspects in MCDM, the circular economy, and sustainable urban planning. We also collect abstracts under general methodological and applicational sessions, which will be divided into more concrete, coherent sessions once all submissions are collected.

• Multiobjective Optimization (MOO/MOP)
  Chair(s): Lavinia Amorosi (lavinia.amorosi@uniroma1.it), Andrea Raith (a.raith@auckland.ac.nz)

  The stream covers both discrete and continuous multi-objective optimization, including methodological developments as well as real-world applications. This stream highlights innovative approaches in modeling, algorithm design, and computational efficiency, while demonstrating their impact in complex, high-stakes application areas such as sustainable and resilient systems, supply chains, logistics and health systems.

Area Operations Research and Energy
Chair(s): David Wozabal (d.wozabal@vu.nl)

• Energy Markets & Systems
  Chair(s): Christoph Graf (cgraf@stanford.edu), Christoph Graf (cgraf@stanford.edu), Jalal Kazempour (jalal@dtu.dk)

  The Energy Markets & Systems stream focuses on the latest advances in optimization theory, economic theory, machine learning, and computational methods for energy market design, as well as power system operations and planning. Contributions span methodological innovations and practical applications that address the growing complexity of modern energy systems.

• Forecasting in Energy
  Chair(s): Rafal Weron (rafal.weron@pwr.edu.pl), Florian Ziel (florian.ziel@uni-due.de)

  This session showcases modern data‑driven approaches to streamflow forecasting for energy applications, emphasizing advanced statistical, machine‑learning, and AI‑based methods for operational decision support. Contributions will highlight how probabilistic forecasting and rigorous forecast evaluation improve risk-aware planning in hydropower, energy trading, and system operations, especially, energy price, load/demand and renewable energy forecasting. We invite work that bridges methodological innovation with practical value for energy-sector decision makers.

• Optimal Decision Making in Energy
  Chair(s): Christoph Graf (cgraf@stanford.edu), Jalal Kazempour (jalal@dtu.dk)

  The Optimal Decision Making in Energy stream focuses on the latest advances in optimization, game theory, and computational methods for unilateral and strategic decision-making in energy markets. Emphasis is placed on theory and applications solving problems involving operational strategies, trading, bidding, risk management, and portfolio optimization under uncertainty. Contributions span methodological innovations and real-world applications, addressing the increasing complexity of decentralized and competitive energy markets.

Area Operations Research and Sustainability
Chair(s): Elise Miller-Hooks (miller@gmu.edu)

• Building Resilient Systems
  Chair(s):

  Topics in this stream relate to the use of operations research and data analytics techniques towards improving our understanding, predictive capability and decision support for building resilient systems and infrastructures. Topics might include, for example: • Supply chain resilience • Systems resilience, vulnerability and robustness in, for example, energy, transportation, water, and other critical lifelines • Emergency and disaster preparedness and response • Healthcare capacity planning for disaster • Hazardous materials transport and siting • and more...

• Operations Research and Sustainability
  Chair(s): Elise Miller-Hooks (miller@gmu.edu)

  Topics in this stream relate to the use of operations research and data analytics techniques towards improving our understanding, predictive capability and decision support for building sustainable systems and infrastructures. Topics might include, for example: • Environmental condition prediction • Climate impact analysis and decision-making • Sustainable cities • Sustainable production, corporate sustainability, and green supply chains • Social innovation and climate change • Urban and planetary sustainability • Addressing poverty, hunger, well-being and health, inequity, and environmental justice • and more...

Area Operations Research for Development
Chair(s): Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber (gerhard-wilhelm.weber@put.poznan.pl)

• OR for Development
  Chair(s): Gordon Dash (ghdash@uri.edu), Nina Kajiji (nina@nkd-group.com), Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber (gerhard-wilhelm.weber@put.poznan.pl)

  The EURO Working Group on Operational Research for Development (EWG ORD) invites submissions to the IFORS 2026 stream on OR for Development. We welcome theoretical, conceptual, and empirical contributions that apply operational research to social, economic, and environmental challenges in any region. Work that advances decision-making, governance, or resilience in developing economies and vulnerable communities is especially encouraged. More on our work in OR for Development see: https://bit.ly/EWGORD_Promo

• OR for Sustainability
  Chair(s): Audrius Banaitis (audrius.banaitis@vilniustech.lt), Fernando Alberto Freitas Ferreira (Fernando.Alberto.Ferreira@iscte-iul.pt), Sarfaraz Hashemkhani Zolfani (sa.hashemkhani@gmail.com)

Area Operations Research History, Ethics, and Social Perspectives
Chair(s): Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber (gerhard-wilhelm.weber@put.poznan.pl)

• Behavioural Operational Research
  Chair(s): Michael Leyer (michael.leyer@wiwi.uni-marburg.de)

  Behavioral OR (BOR) is positioned between hard and soft OR and provides analyses of human behavior in decision making so that it can be conceptualized, modeled and implemented with OR tools. BOR bridges distinguishable world views and describes how behavioral dimensions influence OR problems and solutions.

• Knowledge, Technology, and Innovation Decisions
  Chair(s): A. D. Amar (ad.amar@shu.edu)

  This stream covers decisions pertaining to the strategic role of corporate knowledge and technology for innovation in today’s firms. It takes on specialized management of human, organizational, and social capitals and adds technical and managerial issues for the acquisition and management of knowledge and cutting edge technology for success in developing products, services and processes for the contemporary global markets.

• Moments in the History of OR and IFORS
  Chair(s): Roberto Rossi (robros@gmail.com), Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber (gerhard-wilhelm.weber@put.poznan.pl)

  This stream celebrates the scientific and practical professional and life experiences of colleagues and friends in Operational Research (OR), and how they have contributed to shaping and developing OR into a vibrant, dynamic, and engaging discipline. We would like to highlight and present key moments in the history of OR, listen to firsthand accounts from contemporary witnesses, and explore and uncover entire, fascinating lines of development within OR. Last but not least, our stream also provides space for reflection, including collective reflection, on the future of OR and the potential and key roles that IFORS, with its regional groupings, could play for the benefit of humanity, all life, and all of creation.

• OR and Ethics, and Societal Perspectives
  Chair(s): Dorien DeTombe (doriendetombe@hotmail.com), R. M. Kazakov (r.kazakov@hw.ac.uk), Cathal MacSwiney Brugha (cathal.brugha@ucd.ie), Ulrike Reisach (ulrike.reisach@hnu.de), Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber (gerhard-wilhelm.weber@put.poznan.pl)

  OR and Ethics, and Societal Perspectives Chair(s): Dorien DeTombe (doriendetombe@hotmail.com), Rossen M. Kazakov (rkazakov@strateggo.com), Cathal MacSwiney Brugha (cathal.brugha@ucd.ie), Ulrike Reisach (ulrike.reisach@hnu.de), Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber (gerhard-wilhelm.weber@put.poznan.pl) Stream OR and Ethics, and Societal Perspectives Societal Complexity, Governance, AI and Ethics Ethics and Methodology of Societal Complexity focuses on methodologies, methods and tools for analyzing, structuring, guiding and evaluating on an ethical complex societal problems. Complex societal problems are often policy problems that can occur in many fields, like in the Agro-industry (water ground and air pollution, fowl and chicken plague), in the Transportation sector, in Healthcare sector (Malaria, HIV/Aids, Flu and Corona Pandemic), in Water affairs and in Economy (credit crisis). The field focuses on handling local safety problems like large city issues and natural disasters as flood and hurricanes and global safety problems like war, pandemics and terrorism. Although many of these issues have different causes, they have so much in common that they can be approached for handling the policy in the same way by using the Compram methodology, a methodology based on the use of experts and actors and the voice of the people in a democratic way. Complex societal problems, as such, are unstructured, dynamical, constantly changing and have a large impact on society on macro, meso and micro level. Handling complex societal problems needs a special multi-disciplinary approach. The content knowledge comes from content experts. The process knowledge comes from facilitators. The power is in the hand of actors. The attention of the research of Methodology of Societal Complexity is on the methods and tools facilitators need for guiding these kinds of problems. The facilitators use methodologies specially created for the field of societal problems combined with methods and insights derived from fields like medicine, law, economics, societal sciences, methodology, mathematics, computer sciences, technology, engineering sciences, socio-cybernetic, chaos theory and operational research combined with content knowledge. Often a combination of methods is needed as is prescribed by the Compram methodology for handling complex societal problems. We prefer to get research focusing methodology for handling complex ethical problems.

• Soft OR and Problem Structuring Methods
  Chair(s): Irene Pluchinotta (i.pluchinotta@ucl.ac.uk), Chris Smith (christopher.smith@manchester.ac.uk), Leroy White (l.white2@exeter.ac.uk), Mike Yearworth (m.yearworth@exeter.ac.uk)

  Soft OR and PSMs play a vital role in helping organisations and communities navigate complexity through inclusive problem framing, shared understanding, and collaborative action. Today, the field is entering an exciting new phase. Emerging applications span grand societal challenges, public policy, sustainability transitions, digital facilitation, artificial intelligence, and the ethical implications of decision support, opening fresh opportunities to expand the reach and relevance of the discipline. We invite contributions that push the boundaries of theory, methodology, and practice across diverse domains. We are particularly interested in work that introduces novel conceptual perspectives, methodological innovation, and impactful real-world applications, and that provokes thoughtful debate about the future direction of the field. By sharing your ideas, methods, and experiences, you will help shape the next generation of Soft OR, PSM and Systems Thinking scholarship and practice.

Area Operations Research in Agriculture and Natural Resources
Chair(s): LluisM Pla (lluismiquel.pla@udl.cat)

• OR in Agriculture
  Chair(s): LluisM Pla (lluismiquel.pla@udl.cat)

• OR in Forestry
  Chair(s): Lidija Zadnik Stirn (lidija.zadnik@bf.uni-lj.si)

• OR in Natural Resources
  Chair(s): Victor M. Albornoz (victor.albornoz@usm.cl), Sonja Rohmer (sonja-ursula-katharina.rohmer@hec.ca), Sonja Rohmer (sonja-ursula-katharina.rohmer@hec.ca)

Area Operations Research in Education
Chair(s): José Fernando Oliveira (jfo@fe.up.pt)

• OR Education
  Chair(s): Jeroen Belien (jeroen.belien@kuleuven.be), Maria Antónia Carravilla (mac@fe.up.pt), Stefan Creemers (sc@cromso.com), Arne Heinold (arne.heinold@klu.org)

  This stream invites abstracts on innovative and effective approaches to teaching Operations Research in academic and professional settings. We welcome contributions that critically reflect on how OR is taught and learned, and how educational choices support the application of OR in real-world decision-making. Topics include curriculum design, pedagogical and assessment strategies, digital and experiential learning, case-based and project-based teaching, and the integration of OR into interdisciplinary programmes. Practice-oriented papers, teaching cases, and reflective accounts of challenges and lessons learned are particularly encouraged.

Area Operations Research in Finance
Chair(s): Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber (gerhard-wilhelm.weber@put.poznan.pl)

• OR and Accounting
  Chair(s): Matthias Amen (matthias.amen@uni-bielefeld.de)

  The topic covers a wide spectrum of quantitative approaches in all areas of accounting, including OR methods for modelling, data analysis, forecasting, optimization, simulation, etc. in financial and management accounting for private and public entities and related aspects like financial crisis and restructuring, long term planning and valuation of companies, accounting based strategic planning, ...

• OR Dynamics and Games in Finance
  Chair(s): Alberto Pinto (aapinto1@gmail.com)

  Game theory is a mathematical art of modelling and decision making developed to solve problems involving conflicts or cooperation, competition and coopetition between largely rational parties. The theory primarily concerns the search for the optimal rational choices or decision in various scenarios. Modern game theory was introduced in the 1920s in the works of John von Neumann. John von Neumann, Oskar Morgenstern, and John Nash contributed significantly to the development of game theory. The theory has a wide range of applications in various fields, including economics, political science, finance, biology, psychology, neuroscience and more. In recent decades, the game theory community paid particular attention to games which involve uncertainty of various formats, also through the presence of diverse human factors. It was quite natural that finance and related economic fields, including actuarial science, asset-liability management, and pension fund systems, began to benefit from modern game theory and its research dynamism and vibrancy, not least at the interface between game theory and computer science, for example in algorithmic game theory. We invite contributions that address mathematical questions about such systems or provide a rigorous mathematical analysis of models, preceding optimal decision-making, where tools from dynamics and games prove useful in OR, and vice versa. Areas covered, related to finance and economics, include dynamic games, stochastic games, differential games, evolutionary games, learning and evolutionary models, repeated games, mean-field models, fairness, voting, auctions, matching, allocation games, and other research areas of tuned cooperative and non-cooperative game theories, preferably where uncertain dynamics are involved, as well as related applications in social sciences, biological sciences, medicine, brain and heart research, life sciences, physical and chemical sciences, and computer science.

• OR for Insurance, Banking and Financial Risk
  Chair(s): Rita D'Ecclesia (rita.decclesia@uniroma1.it)

  It explores how advanced analytical methods can improve decision‑making across the financial sector. The stream brings together researchers and practitioners working on optimization, stochastic modeling, simulation, machine learning, and risk analytics to address challenges faced by insurers, banks, and financial markets. Topics include capital and liquidity management, pricing and portfolio optimization, systemic and climate‑related risks, stress testing, credit and market risk modeling, and the design of resilient financial systems. The stream aims to foster cross‑sector dialogue and highlight how OR can support stability, innovation, and strategic planning in an increasingly complex financial landscape.

• Selected Aspects of International Finance and OR
  Chair(s): Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber (gerhard-wilhelm.weber@put.poznan.pl)

  The stream "Selected Aspects of International Finance and OR" focuses on distinctly international aspects of the financial world, with particular consideration of regional characteristics and global cooperation, and on overcoming its challenges in modeling and decision-making using modern scientific methods of Operational Research, especially mathematical ones, for example stochastic, control or game-theoretic.

Area Operations Research in Healthcare
Chair(s): Sally Brailsford (s.c.brailsford@soton.ac.uk)

• Healthcare OR in developing countries
  Chair(s): David Barrera Ferro (barrera-o@javeriana.edu.co), Elena Valentina Gutierrez-Gutierrez (valentina.gutierrez@correounivalle.edu.co)

  The objective of this track is to bring together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working on Operational Research applications that address healthcare challenges in low- and middle-income countries. In these settings, healthcare systems face persistent and evolving pressures: limited resources, fragmented service delivery, workforce shortages, increasing burdens of chronic and infectious diseases, and significant territorial and socioeconomic inequalities. Addressing health needs under such conditions often requires modelling approaches that differ substantially from those commonly used in high-income contexts. Consequently, Operational Research applications frequently call for innovative formulations and methodological adaptations that capture real-world dynamics and generate insights that are both feasible to implement and meaningful for local decision-makers.

• OR in Healthcare (ORAHS)
  Chair(s): Roberto Aringhieri (roberto.aringhieri@unito.it), Melanie Reuter-Oppermann (melanie.reuter-oppermann@dgre.org)

  This stream welcomes all talks on healthcare ORMS from within and outside the EURO Working Group ORAHS community (orahs.di.unito.it). Topics include healthcare logistics and decision making in healthcare (e.g.hospital logistics, primary and ambulatroy care, longterm care, rehabilitation, blood logistics, radiotherapy etc.), healthcare processes and services, use of machine learning (artificial intelligence) for decision making in healthcare logistics. We are especially interested in talks about impact in practice when using ORMS or ML.

• Surgery scheduling
  Chair(s): Edilson Arruda (e.f.arruda@southampton.ac.uk)

  With unprecedented number of patients waiting for surgeries across the globe, optimised approaches for the scheduling of elective and emergency surgeries have gained increased relevance in recent years. This stream will consider approaches to optimise processes and resource usage over the whole surgical pathway, from referral to discharge. Approaches that deal with strategic, tactical or operational planning sub-problems are welcome, as are integrated approaches that consider two or more planning levels.

Area Operations Research in Sports
Chair(s): Celso Ribeiro (celso.ribeiro@gmail.com)

• OR in Sports
  Chair(s):

Area Plenaries, Keynotes, Tutorials and Special Sessions
Chair(s): Jan Fabian Ehmke (jan.ehmke@univie.ac.at)

• Keynotes
  Chair(s):

• Plenaries
  Chair(s): Jan Fabian Ehmke (jan.ehmke@univie.ac.at)

• Special Sessions
  Chair(s):

• Tutorials
  Chair(s):

Area Practicing the Magic of OR
Chair(s): Rina Schneur (rinarsg@gmail.com)

• From Models to Smarter Decisions: Harnessing OR + AI
  Chair(s): Radhika Kulkarni (rvk9@cornell.edu)

  Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Operations Research / Management Science (OR/MS) have often used distinct approaches to decision-making with data and models. In this Stream, we invite presentations on research and applications illustrating the synergies resulting from combining the expertise from both communities to address complex, global problems to maximize societal impact. How best can we harness the complementary strengths of AI and OR to use both data-driven and model-driven approaches to make smarter decisions? Session topics can include the following ideas: • Integrating AI, OR/MS for smarter, robust, and trustworthy decisions • Real-world applications with successful implementations of combining AI and OR/MS in different industry domains • Democratizing trustworthy decision-making by integrating AI and OR/MS with LLMs • Overcoming challenges in bringing together the AI and OR communities to tackle complex problems in industry and society

• How OR Makes A Difference for Non Profits
  Chair(s): Mariana Escallon Barrios (mescallo@andrew.cmu.edu)

• OR in Military, Defense, and International Security
  Chair(s): Greg Parlier (gparlier@knology.net)

• OR in Rising Economies
  Chair(s): Issmail El Hallaoui (issmail.elhallaoui@gerad.ca)

• Quantum Computing and OR at Work
  Chair(s): David Hunt (david.hunt@oliverwyman.com)

• Sponsors
  Chair(s): Jan Fabian Ehmke (jan.ehmke@univie.ac.at)

• The Practice of OR: Stories of Solutions, Setbacks, and Successes
  Chair(s): Elise del Rosario (elise@jgdelrosario.com)

  Every OR practitioner has a story to tell. Behind every model is a real problem, real people, imperfect data, and decisions that rarely unfold as planned. This stream invites papers that bring those stories to the foreground—sharing how Operations Research is actually practiced in real-world settings. At the IFORS conference, we welcome contributions that showcase applied OR projects and the practical challenges involved in carrying them out. Of particular interest are experiences that illustrate how practitioners: * Identified and framed opportunities for OR * Engaged stakeholders and decision-makers * Formulated, tested, and refined models * Dealt with data limitations, organizational constraints, or shifting objectives * Navigated the often-difficult path from analysis to implementation Submissions may reflect on topics such as: * How the project began and how the problem was ultimately framed * Assumptions that did not hold—and how the formulation evolved as a result * Technical, organizational, or political challenges encountered along the way * Strategies for “selling” OR: securing buy-in, managing expectations, and communicating value * Lessons learned from successful implementations—or from attempts that fell short This stream aims to promote honest, experience-based insights into the practice of OR. We encourage both academics and practitioners to submit papers that reveal what happens beyond the equations — where OR meets reality. With the breadth of work you have undertaken, we are confident you have valuable experiences to share. We invite you to contribute and help enrich the collective understanding of how OR truly happens on the ground.

Area Production and Operations Management
Chair(s): Alena Otto (alena.otto@tum.de)

• Data-driven Operations Research
  Chair(s): Kevin Tierney (kevin.tierney@univie.ac.at)

  This stream focuses on data-driven modeling and optimization, with a primary emphasis on applications in operations management. Topics include learning-augmented and predictive–prescriptive approaches, data-driven optimization under uncertainty, and the integration of large-scale operational data into decision models.

• Human Aspects in Operations Management
  Chair(s): Olga Battaia (olga.battaia@kedgebs.com), Daria Battini (daria.battini@unipd.it)

  This stream focuses on integrating human behavior and fairness considerations into operations management and operations research models and algorithms. Topics include behavioral operations, human–algorithm interaction, workforce and incentive design, and equity-aware decision-making. We welcome rigorous methodological contributions as well as rigorous field, laboratory, and controlled experimental studies.

• Humanitarian Operations Management
  Chair(s):

  This stream covers the design and management of operations in disaster response, relief logistics, and development contexts. Topics include preparedness planning, last-mile distribution, coordination under extreme uncertainty, equity considerations, and resilient system design for crisis environments.

• Integrated Planning in Manufacturing
  Chair(s): Martin Grunow (martin.grunow@tum.de)

  This stream addresses models and methods that coordinate decisions across hierarchical and functional boundaries in manufacturing systems. Contributions may focus on the integration of strategic, tactical, and operational planning, linking production, material handling, inventory, distribution, and/or capacity decisions.

• Lot Sizing, Lot Scheduling and Production Planning
  Chair(s): Christian Almeder (almeder@europa-uni.de), Safia Kedad-Sidhoum (safia.kedad_sidhoum@cnam.fr), Wilco van den Heuvel (wvandenheuvel@ese.eur.nl)

  This stream welcomes advances in classical and emerging models of lot sizing and production planning. Topics include deterministic and stochastic models, multi-level and capacitated settings, sequence-dependent setups, and customized algorithmic developments with theoretical or nontrivial managerial insights.

• Prescriptive Analytics in Operations Management
  Chair(s): Melvyn Sim (dscsimm@nus.edu.sg), Qinshen Tang (qinshen.tang@ntu.edu.sg)

  This stream focuses on optimization-driven decision support in complex operational environments that require nontrivial methodological innovations and their analysis to reach implementable and high-impact solutions.

• Scheduling in Manufacturing and Beyond
  Chair(s): Dmitry Ivanov (divanov@hwr-berlin.de), Erwin Pesch (erwin.pesch@uni-siegen.de)

  This stream addresses scheduling theory and applications across Operations Management, including manufacturing, services, healthcare, logistics, and emerging domains. Topics include exact and heuristic methods, online, robust, and stochastic scheduling, energy-aware scheduling, integration with planning and real-time control.

• Tbd (for inviting abstracts)
  Chair(s): Alena Otto (alena.otto@tum.de)

Area Public Transportation
Chair(s): Anita Schöbel (schoebel@mathematik.uni-kl.de)

• Optimizing Transit
  Chair(s): Sophie Parragh (sophie.parragh@jku.at), Marie Schmidt (marie.schmidt@uni-wuerzburg.de)

  This stream covers research on optimization problems arising in the planning, operation and control of public transit. We welcome presentations on topics including (but not limited to) optimization and control of metro, tram and bus systems, mobility-on-demand, multimodal transit, and transit fare design.

• Passenger air transportation: airlines and airports
  Chair(s): Rainer Kolisch (rainer.kolisch@tum.de), Marjan van den Akker (j.m.vandenakker@uu.nl)

  This stream on passenger air transportation includes the following topics: * Fleet assignment, routing & scheduling * Crew scheduling & crew pairing/rostering * Airport operations, ground handling * Runway scheduling, air traffic management * Disruption management and recovery * Maintenance planning * Network design * Revenue management Other related topics are also welcome!

• Passenger Railway Transportation
  Chair(s): Valentina Cacchiani (valentina.cacchiani@unibo.it), Twan Dollevoet (dollevoet@ese.eur.nl)

  This stream focuses on innovative optimization approaches for passenger railway transportation. It includes all stages of railway optimization, such as railway network design, line planning, train timetabling, train platforming, rolling stock circulation and crew scheduling and rostering. The stream covers both the planning phase and the real-time rescheduling process. We invite presentations on optimization models and solution methods addressing any of these stages, as well integrated problems, robustness issues, and passenger-oriented strategies.

• Shared Mobility
  Chair(s): Tal Raviv (talraviv@tauex.tau.ac.il)

  Shared mobility is transportation that people access and use when needed instead of owning a personal vehicle, typically through a service or platform that allows multiple users to share the same vehicles or rides over time; it includes options like public transit, ride-hailing and ride-pooling, carsharing (hourly or short-term car access), and shared micromobility such as bike, e-bike, and scooter systems, and its core idea is shifting from private ownership to shared, on-demand mobility as a service.

Area Stochastic Optimization
Chair(s): Stein W. Wallace (stein.wallace@nhh.no)

• Exact and Heuristic solution methods for Optimization under Uncertainty
  Chair(s): Milos Kopa (kopa@karlin.mff.cuni.cz), Francesca Maggioni (francesca.maggioni@unibg.it), Man-Chung Yue (manchung.yue@polyu.edu.hk)

  This stream focuses on the development and analysis of exact and heuristic methods for solving optimization problems under uncertainty, including stochastic, robust, and data-driven approaches.

• Optimization under uncertainty in Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chains
  Chair(s): Mike Hewitt (mhewitt3@luc.edu), Hajnalka Vaagen (hajnalka.vaagen@ntnu.no)

  This stream of sessions focuses on optimization models, and solution algorithms for those models, that address problems in transportation and logistics. We welcome all forms of uncertainty modeling, including stochastic programming, robust optimization, and markove decision processes. Relatedly, we welcome all manners of algorithmic techniques for those modeling approaches. Finally, we also welcome talks that focus on the role uncertainty plays in designing and planning transportation and logistics systems.

• Robust and Resilient Optimization in Finance and Businesses
  Chair(s): David Saunders (dsaunders@uwaterloo.ca), Stavros A. Zenios (zenioss@ucy.ac.cy)

  We gather together papers that deal with robustness and resilience in the financial markets and institutions. Still, other areas of application where uncertainty is prevalent are also welcome.

• Stochastic Optimization with Industrial Applications
  Chair(s): Kai Pan (kai.pan@polyu.edu.hk)

  This stream focuses on the diverse field of stochastic optimization, encompassing a wide range of topics that explore both practical applications and theoretical foundations. We welcome contributions that address real-world challenges through stochastic optimization techniques, as well as rigorous theoretical research that advances our understanding of the discipline. By emphasizing "industrial applications," this stream aims to differentiate itself from related areas, fostering discussions that bridge theoretical insights and practical implementation across various industrial contexts. Participants can expect to engage with a wide range of ideas, methodologies, and applications that highlight the importance of stochastic optimization in addressing contemporary problems across sectors.

Area Supply Chain Management
Chair(s): Stefan Minner (stefan.minner@tum.de)

• Retail Operations
  Chair(s): Pedro Amorim (amorim.pedro@fe.up.pt), Heinrich Kuhn (heinrich.kuhn@ku.de), Manuel Ostermeier (manuel.ostermeier@uni-a.de), Winfried Steiner (winfried.steiner@tu-clausthal.de)

• Supply Chain Design
  Chair(s):

• Supply Chain Optimization
  Chair(s):

• Supply Chain Planning
  Chair(s):