The Management Science group at Kent Business School is one of Europe’s leading centres in the areas of location analysis and transportation and logistics. Particular interests of the staff include discrete and continuous location, routing problems, including green or reverse logistics, and the design of heuristic and exact solution methods.

The group is also known in the areas of soft OR, research metrics, big data, data envelopment analysis, and environmental management. We welcome student research projects on a variety of topics including:

• Location analysis
• Routing problems
• Critical Infrastructure Protection
• Environmental management
• Operations management
• Multivariate analysis
• Big data
• Insurance/warranty data analysis and management
• Research metrics
• Soft OR
• Data envelopment analysis and performance measurement

Students working on relevant research topics in logistics or performance measurement are invited to join the Centre for Logistics and Heuristic Optimisation or the Anglo-Chinese Business and Management Centre, respectively.

The group is a member of NATCOR and students can attend a wide range of courses and workshops in the field of operational research and management science.  Students interested in more mathematical topics are advised to follow the ‘Operational Research’ programme while those interested in more applied topics or operations management are advised to choose ‘Management Science’.

Location

You will be based either at the Canterbury or Medway campus, depending on where your first supervisor is based, for the duration of your PhD. Should you be based at Medway you will be expected to travel to Canterbury for compulsory modules and events run by the Graduate School. There is a regular University shuttle bus, which runs between Canterbury and Medway during term-time, this service is free for students.

Exchange partners

Kent Business School has excellent links with business schools globally, including in China, USA, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Italy. Our wide array of exchange partners give you the opportunity to gain international experience. Our partners are committed to enhancing their international outlook while providing excellent teaching. You will gain invaluable work experience, develop your understanding of a new culture and improve your language skills.

Our exchange partners include these top ranked institutions amongst others:

• University of Technology, Sydney
• Renmin University of China, School of Business
• University of Hong Kong
• ESSEC
• Neoma Business School
• Freie Universitat Berlin
• University of Florence
• IE Madrid University
• Stockholm Business School
• Georgetown University.

About Kent Business School

Kent Business School has over 25 years’ experience delivering business education. Our portfolio of postgraduate programmes demonstrates the breadth and depth of our expertise. Academic research and links with global business inform our teaching, ensuring a curriculum that is relevant and current. We are a leading UK business school for the standard of our teaching and student satisfaction. We also hold a number of accreditations by professional bodies.

Studying at Kent Business School (KBS) gives you the opportunity to increase your employability with real-life case studies, a student council and a business society. We have strong links to local and national organisations providing opportunities for projects, internships and graduate placements. The School attracts many high-profile speakers from industry and last year included visits and lectures from staff of the Bank of England, BAE Systems, Barclays, Lloyds Insurance, Cummins, Delphi and Kent County Council.

The School currently has 60 PhD students, who form a dynamic and close-knit research community.