Sheldon Howard Jacobson,
Ph.D.
University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Our research group is always looking for talented and energetic graduate students to participate in the numerous research activities within the Simulation and Optimization Laboratory. We are currently looking for students interested in earning their Ph.D. degree in Operations Research. We are particularly interested in students who either have an undergraduate degree or masters degree in mathematics, have taken courses in real analysis, probability theory, and discrete mathematics, or are interested in using mathematics to address fundamental issues in the areas of algorithm design and AI, with applications in aviation security, biological systems, and health care. Students who fit any of these profiles are encouraged to contact me via email (once on campus) at shj@illinois.edu to discuss opportunities and openings within our research group.
One final (and important) note. Although we welcome new students into our group, we rarely provide funding immediately. Most of the students in our lab have come to campus, interacted with our lab, and then (most commonly, within one semester) received funding. Students who send out mass e-mailings requesting funding are not acting in their best interest, since such e-mails are typically deleted unread. Moreover, it does not work to obtain funding and enhance your application. In fact, it is assumed that prospective students who do send such e-mails asking for funding are not capable of following simple directions, and hence, are not as talented as the ones who take the following approach: If you want to secure funding, apply to our program. If you are as talented as your would be mass mailings indicate, our admissions committee will recognize this and you will be awarded funding. If you do not fit this picture, you may be admitted without funding. However, once you prove your capability, a large number of research funding opportunities are available. In fact, there are numerous research assistant positions available throughout the university for students interested in computer programming and related activities. Such opportunities are typically only available to students once they are on campus.
Research opportunities exist for unfunded M.S. students in Operations Research. These opportunities include applied research in the areas of aviation security, health care, and computational optimization and probability. Note that funding for M.S. students in Operations Research is not available at this time. Our experience has shown that the research experiences that are offered by our faculty provide excellent credentials that typically lead to numerous employment opportunities upon your graduation. If interested, please send an email (once on campus) to shj@illinois.edu to discuss the most current opportunities. Note that requests for funding by M.S. students will not be answered. Moreover, mass mailings are neither effective nor a good mechanism for obtaining admission or funding (see comments above).