The Operational Research Society
| The Operational Research Society (ORS) |
|
| Formation |
1948 |
| Type |
Learned society |
| Headquarters |
Birmingham |
| Membership |
2500 |
| Key people |
Gavin Blackett |
| Website |
[1] |
The Operational Research Society. [1] (The OR Society) is an international learned society in the field of operational research (O.R.), with more than 2,500 members (2011). It has its headquarters in Birmingham, England. The purpose of the OR Society is to advance:[2] knowledge, interest, and education in O.R.
History
The OR Society is the world's oldest-established learned society catering to the O.R. profession and one of the largest in the world, with members in 53 countries. The OR Society was created in April 1948 as the Operational Research club, becoming the OR Society in 1953. A full history of the OR Society can be found on the OR Society website [3].
Membership and Accreditation
Membership of the OR Society is open to anybody who is or has been in a profession directly connected with the Society's aims. Members of the OR society may apply for accreditation.
Members
There are three types of membership that both give a full range of benefits to members, they include:
- Student Members: For those in full time education
- Full Member: For members in employment
- Retired/unwaged
Accreditation
Accreditation allows the user to post letters after their name indicating that they have been judged by the OR Society to have reached a certain level of professional development and O.R. capability. Such professional accreditation can be useful to members in developing their careers. There are four OR Society accreditation grades:
- Candidate Associate of the OR Society (CandORS); This grade is for those studying for a degree with a substantial O.R. component or within two years of starting their career in O.R. It signifies the applicant’s intent to achieve higher accreditation.
- Associate of the OR Society (AORS); This grade is for those OR Society members with over two years appropriate experience of working in O.R. and with appropriate educational background.
- Associate Fellow of the OR Society (AFORS); This grade is for those OR Society members with over five years successful experience of working in O.R. and with appropriate educational background.
- Fellow of the OR Society (FORS); This grade is for those OR Society members with over 10 years experience of successful experience in O.R. and with appropriate educational background.
Full details on accreditation can be found on the OR Society website.
Publications
The OR Society publishes the journals Journal of the Operational Research Society, Knowledge Management Research and Practice, Journal of Simulation, European Journal of Information Systems, O.R. Insight, Health Systems and Inside O.R. (the OR Society monthly news magazine).
Training Courses
The OR Society organises a number of O.R. and Analytics based courses to allow O.R. professionals (and others) to gain appropriate skills for their careers. These courses cover O.R. methodology such as system dynamics, simulation, soft systems, web analytics, data-mining; other useful tools such as VBA and Excel; and consultancy skills. These are generally short courses, between 1 day and two weeks.
Conferences
The OR Society organises several conferences each year to promote the use of O.R. and for attendees to exchange ideas. These conferences include:
- The ‘O.R. Conference’ held annually it lasts for 3 days attracts over 300 visitors per year and covers all aspects of O.R.
- The ‘Young O.R. Conference’ held every two years it gives those with 10 or less years experience of working in O.R. an opportunity to meet, present on and discuss different O.R. disciplines. The conference lasts for 3 days and covers all topics in O.R.
- The OR Society also organises several one to two day conferences in more specialist areas including, Simulation workshop(s), Knowledge Management Conferences, Intelligent Management Systems in Operations, Analytics Conference
Subgroups
The OR society has two sorts of subgroups: Regional Societies and Special Interest Groups.
Regional Societies
The OR Society has a number of regional societies which enable members to promote O.R. and allow them to build contacts with other operational researchers working in their (or related) area(s) and to expand their knowledge in O.R. The current regional societies include East Midlands, London & South East, Midland, North East, North West, Scotland, South Wales, Southern, Western, Yorkshire & Humberside. These regional societies organise meetings, works visits and other events.
Special Interest Groups
The OR Society has several special interest groups (not based on regions) which organise meeting on specialist topics and allow members – and others interested in the subject – to exchange ideas with those who are working in that specialist topic. The OR Society currently has special interest groups in the following subject areas:
- Community O.R. Network (to facilitate the practice of using O.R. to support community groups)
- Complex Systems Discussion Group
- Criminal Justice
- Decision Analysis
- Defence
- Health & Social Services
- Independent Consultants' Network
- Information Systems
- Local Search Technique Group
- Mathematical Programming
- O.R. and Strategy
- O.R. for Developing Countries
- O.R. in the Third Sector (to support those working or planning to work in charities, Non-Government Organisations and other social enterprises and volunteer groups)
- Problem Structuring Methods
- Simulation
- SD+ (Connecting System Dynamics more directly with O.R.)
Career Days
The OR Society organises an annual Career Day for employers to recruit graduates and those who are interested in work in O.R.
Interaction with other bodies
The OR Society works with a number of other bodies, to achieve common aims, including (amongst others):
- International Federation of Operational Research [4], an umbrella organisation for 45 plus O.R. societies from different countries across the world.
- The Association of European Operational Research Societies (representing the European IFORS societies) [5].
- The Council for Mathematical Sciences [6]. This council provides advice to government, education funding committees (such as ESPRC) on mathematical matters including education and policy, as well as bring together mathematicians with stakeholders in mathematics to explore issues and solutions. The council includes The O.R. Society, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, The Royal Statistical Society, The London Mathematical Society and the Edinburgh Mathematical Society.
Awards
To promote and disseminate O.R. knowledge and working practices the OR Society gives awards (medals, prizes and grants). These awards include (but are not limited to):
- The Beale Medal - for sustained contribution to O.R.
- The President’s Medal – for the best account of O.R. practice given at the Society’s annual conference
- The PhD Prize - most distinguished body of research leading to the award of a doctorate in the field of O.R.
- Scholarships to enable distinguished contributors to present their work at the IFORS Triennial Conference
- Donald Hicks Scholarships for young researchers and practitioners
- The May Hicks awards for student projects
- The Simpson Award for young researchers and practitioners
The Internet and Social Media
The OR Society has developed a number of web sites in addition to the Society’s site to promote O.R. and support its members, these include:
- Learn about O.R. [7]; devised to support the Society’s ‘O.R. in Schools’ initiative, this site contains help on what O.R. is, how it can help organisations, and how to get a career in O.R. The site encourages the study of O.R. by providing teachers with resources to help teach O.R. topics. This site also contains a downloadable video featuring O.R. being used to solve real-world problems
- The Science of Better [8]; This site provides the business community with a clear understanding of O.R. The site explains what O.R. it, how powerful it can be and how it can help the business community.
- The OR Society has pages/accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to allow users to share breaking O.R. and OR Society news and have discussions about O.R.
See also
Notes
External links