Subject: PhD studentship

Please bring these vacancy to the attention of any students who you believe 
might be interested.

Title:  Decision support for integrated forecasting and inventory control

Faculty of Engineering & Computing, Coventry University

February, 2010 - January, 2013
 
Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD studentship, to work on a joint 
project of Coventry University (CU), Faculty of Computing and Engineering and 
Bucks New University (BNU), Faculty of Enterprise and Innovation. The main 
aim of the project is to develop a new methodology to support judgmental 
forecast adjustments in order to improve their efficiency in practice. The 
potential of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic in the area of forecasting and 
judgmental adjustments will be explored and applied.

Funding (Stipend/ Annual salary equivalent)
The studentship will last for a three year period at the end of which it is 
expected that the PhD will have been completed. The Studentship provides a 
full scholarship (£9,000 per year for maintenance for three years and the full 
fees at home/ EU rate). 

Overseas students are welcome to apply; however, they will need to pay the 
balance between overseas and home/EU fees.

As part of the studentship, successful applicants will be expected to 
undertake some teaching duties and support activities and to contribute to 
research activities within the Faculty.

About the departments research 
The Control Theory and Applications Centre – CTAC (CU) is a multidisciplinary 
applied research centre with a strong reputation for solving real world control 
problems in many industrial sectors. It has 10 staff members and 5 research 
assistants. The Business and Industrial Time Series group (BNU), focuses on 
forecasting research and has 7 successful PhD completions. 

Supervisory team:
Prof Dobrila Petrovic  (Coventry University
Prof John Boylan        (Buckinghamshire New University).


About the studentship 
Forecasting is of paramount importance for supply chain decision making and 
control. Very often in practice, managers judgmentally adjust forecasts 
obtained by using statistical forecasting methods. It enables consideration of 
some special events that might have an impact on forecasts that statistical 
methods cannot handle and, also, provides a sense of “manager’s ownership" 
of the forecasts. In this project, we will develop a new methodology to 
support judgmental forecast adjustments in order to improve their efficiency in 
practice. We will use fuzzy sets theory and fuzzy logic to model imprecise, 
linguistically described adjustments such as “small positive 
adjustment”, “medium positive adjustment”, “high negative adjustment”, etc. 
We will develop fuzzy if-then rules to support decision making on when and 
how to judgmentally adjust forecasts and how to impove them over time, in 
order to increase forecast accuracy and improve stock control performance, 
through reduced inventory volumes and enhanced service levels. An industrial 
collaborator, Severn Trent Water, Birmingham, will provide their expertise and 
understanding of real world forecasting problems and ensure that the research 
results contribute to reducing the gap between the forecasting theory and 
practice. 


Qualifications and experience required 
Student capabilities required 
The student should have a good degree in  operational research, computer 
science, mathematics, operations management or a related discipline, (2:1 or 
above), It is desirable, though not essential, to have an MSc in a relevant field 
from a recognised academic institution. An interest in the field of forecasting 
and/or fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic based applications would be an advantage.

An IELTS score of 7 is required for students who do not have English as a first 
language.

How to Apply and Contact details for application 
Applicants will be required to submit an application form, a detailed CV, 2 
references and a covering letter addressed to Professor Dobrila Petrovic, by 
email to [log in to unmask] 

For an application form please visit the link:
http://www.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/studentships

For any queries on the Studentship research, please contact:
Professor Dobrila Petrovic
Email:  [log in to unmask] 

Admissions Team  
Tel: 02476888857/02476887667
Email [log in to unmask]


Closing date for applications
Midday 30th November 2009

Reference number
CU-BUCKS/DB