Advanced Seminar Logistics & SCM
(Prof. Dr. Stefan Minner, Christoph Kerscher)
Kick-off meeting: 28 April 2025 - 14:00 - 16:00 in 0505.EG.544
This seminar provides participants with the essential skills and tools needed to embark on a successful master thesis project. Participants will be granted the opportunity to work on real-world datasets, engage in literature reviews to identify recent and leading contributions on the assigned topic, answer important research questions and develop their own critical analyses.
Topics
- Logistics for Mega-Events, Disasters, and Seasonal Peak Demands
- Hyperparameter Tuning Approaches in Solvers and Learning Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization Problems
Introduction
In this advanced seminar, participants will explore two emerging topics within the domain of logistics and supply chain management:
Logistics for Mega-Events, Disasters, and Seasonal Peak Demands: This topic explores strategies that improve supply chain resilience, cost management, and risk mitigation of large-scale organizational challenges. These challenges stem from coordinating the flow of goods, services, and information under highly fluctuating and often unpredictable conditions. These unparalleled logistics scenarios require effective resource allocation, rapid response, and maintaining service quality during intense surges in demand.
Hyperparameter Tuning Approaches in Solvers and Learning Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization Problems: This topic examines how parameter configurations (e.g., learning rates, iteration limits, or heuristic thresholds) influence solution quality and computational efficiency of an optimization algorithm. Hyperparameter tuning strategies range from grid and random search to Bayesian optimization to advanced meta-controllers. A systematic parameter selection can achieve more scalable and robust solution algorithms to complex optimization challenges.
Registration
Please note: The registration for the seminars of the TUM School of Management is now done via TUMonline.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of at least one course in the field of Operations Research & Supply Chain Management.
Course description
Participants in this seminar will have the opportunity to choose between the following two topics:
- Logistics for Mega-Events, Disasters, and Seasonal Peak Demands
- Hyperparameter Tuning Approaches in Solvers and Learning Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization Problems
We will provide suggested research topics/questions under each umbrella topic. Each student is expected to produce a 15-20 page seminar paper that identifies a key issue related to their chosen topic and proposes viable solutions. The course structure includes a kick-off meeting, regular mentoring sessions, and final presentations. During the kick-off meeting, we will outline the seminar’s objectives, expectations, and deadlines, along with discussions on what constitutes a strong seminar paper. Writing tips and potential topics will also be provided. Each participant will receive individualized mentoring and coaching from a team advisor. Throughout the seminar, participants will learn to critically assess recent research, develop and explore relevant research questions, conduct both literature and empirical studies, and effectively communicate their findings.
Learning objectives
The objective of the seminar is to equip the participants with the necessary skill and tools for a successful master thesis project (examples see here).
Specifically, the aim is to
- Read and understand recent research contributions
- Pursue interesting research questions
- Conduct a literature review and numerical study and/or implementation
- Structure and organize research methods and results
- Write a seminar paper
- Present research findings and defend them in a discussion
Important dates
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