MS/PhD in Decision, Risk, and OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

The field of Decision & Risk studies judgments and decisions by individuals, groups and organizations. Research in this area can be classified into three categories: the normative approach studies how people should make decisions if they are making choices in their best interests; the descriptive approach delves into the psychology of individuals and groups to understand how people actually make decisions; and the prescriptive approach develops methods and techniques to improve decision making. By its nature, Decision & Risk research is highly interdisciplinary, maintaining ties with fields such as psychology, economics, and statistics. Research in this field has received considerable attention in recent years due to a number of Nobel prizes in economics -- works of Nobel laureates including Maurice Allais (1988), Daniel Kahneman and Vernon Smith (2002), and Robert J. Aumann and Thomas C. Schnelling (2005) has inspired much of the current research in the area. Decision & Risk at Bilkent University focuses on a number of challenging research themes which include judgment under risk, dealing with uncertainty, choosing among risky alternatives, judgmental forecasting, forecast support systems, risk perception and risk communication.  Programs of study and research are individually designed to fit each student’s research interests.

Operations Management is concerned with gaining knowledge, skills, and expertise needed to manage and advance the efficiency and productivity of business operations. Operations Management studies emphasize the development of models, methods, applications, and algorithms as they apply to problems in production and services. Management of resources, the distribution of goods and services to customers, and the analysis of queuing and inventory systems are also within the scope of Operations Management. Operations Management at Bilkent is concerned with decisions such as strategic design of manufacturing systems, developing operations strategy for production and customer scheduling, and statistical quality control. The research interests of the Operations Management faculty follow up-to-date business practices and needs, with emphasis on revenue management, perishable and recyclable inventory control, health care management, supply chain contracts, production and customer order scheduling, and coordination issues in inventory management, supply chain scheduling, and new product development. Operational problems are studied primarily through mathematical models, with field studies and empirical analyses being used to guide and test the theories built on problems studied.  Graduate students are also encouraged to work on interdisciplinary problems which require combining the knowledge and methodology of finance, marketing, or strategy with the ones in operations management.

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