Mixed-fleet routing and scheduling optimisation for healthcare logistics using vehicles, cargo bikes, ferries and drones
A fully funded studentship awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) commencing in 2021/22 Academic Year.
Recent technological developments have enabled the widespread usage of drones in a wide range of applications. In this project we are aiming to optimise the use of different modes of transport, from cargo bikes, vehicles, ferries and drones to cater for dynamic weather and routing situations. This project builds on an ongoing case study with the NHS, and it is focused on stochastic optimisation in healthcare logistics with mixed fleet where a large demand data set and weather forecast datasets are available to answer these questions and enable drone transport to be a reality in the near future.
Supervisory Team:
Dr Antonio Martínez-Sykora (A.Martinez-Sykora@soton.ac.uk) Southampton Business School; Prof Tom Cherrett (T.J.Cherrett@soton.ac.uk) Engineering and Dr Carlos Lamas-Fernández (C.Lamas-Fernandez@soton.ac.uk) Southampton Business School.
Skills Required
Background in Operational Research, Statistics or Data science and basic computer programming.
Funding
South Coast DTP Funding provides an annual maintenance grant (tax free) of £15285 (2020/21 UKRI rate), plus payment of programme fees. Other funding available for SCDTP funded students can be found on the SCDTP website (www.southcoastdtp.ac.uk).
Funding is provided for 3 years full-time PhD study (pro-rata for part-time students). Applications for 1+3 funding for students completing a Master's year prior to the commencement of PhD study are also welcome (details available at www.southcoastdtp.ac.uk).
Application Procedure
The closing date and time for applications is 4.00pm on 18th January 2021. The full application procedure, the funding application form, and more information on the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership can be found at: http://southcoastdtp.ac.uk/apply/
For further information about this project, please contact the lead supervisor detailed above. For questions relating to the application procedure, or for more information about the SCDTP, please visit the SCDTP website or contact us at scdtp@soton.ac.uk
Closing Date: 18 Jan 2021
Post Type: PhD Studentship (Funded)
