Stefan Kemper, a third-year PhD student at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), is spending his research semester at the Chair of Operations Management. The topic of his doctoral thesis is “Decision support in healthcare using the combination of AI and optimisation”. His PhD project is being conducted in close collaboration with Region Zealand (a Danish hospital network) and focuses on combining AI technologies, such as machine learning, with operations research methods to support data-driven decision-making. The aim is to improve healthcare delivery by making it faster and more reliable, and to realise the benefits of data availability. The focus will primarily be on the emergency and surgical departments of hospitals.

During his time here, Stefan will collaborate with Professor Rainer Kolisch on applying phase-type distributions to operating room scheduling. The research aims to identify efficient booking templates for assigning patients to operating rooms. This reduces possible overtime and idle time for medical personnel, as well as waiting times for patients, and improves the utilisation of rooms and the management of surgical procedures.