Applications of operations research to transportation, logistics, fairness issues, and other topics

拟议的研究计划是一项长期持续努力的一部分，旨在开发基于运筹学方法（数学模型、解决算法、计算机程序和软件）的有效决策支持工具，以解决运输和物流网络规划和运营中遇到的重要问题，以及一些其他应用领域（能源生产和储存、医疗保健等）。这意味着，除其他事项外，只要手头的情况需要，就会得出必要的理论结果，并在所有开发的算法和软件中寻求尖端性能。另一个关键问题是相关性，也就是说，这个项目的最终目的是为现实中重要的、实际的环境和科学上具有挑战性的问题提供解决方案。

The proposed research program is part of a long-term, continuing effort aimed at developing effective decision support tools based on operations research methods (mathematical models, solution algorithms, computer procedures and software) to tackle important problems encountered in the planning and operations of transportation and logistical networks, as well as some other application areas (energy generation and storage, healthcare, etc.) . This implies, among other things, deriving necessary theoretical results whenever required by the situation at hand and seeking for cutting-edge performance in all algorithms and software that are developed. Another key issue is that of relevance, i.e., this program aims ultimately at providing solution approaches for problems that are both important in real, practical settings and scientifically challenging. Regarding short-term objectives, the proposed research program aims at: 1. Developing models and related methodological tools (algorithms, theoretical results, etc.) that account better for the inherent uncertainty encountered in many important practical situations; 2. Examining carefully the benefits to be gained from access to massive data, as well as from the methodological interactions between more traditional operations research approaches and techniques from data science and machine learning; 3. Tackling new research themes that deal with issues and practices that have appeared in recent years in several fields (transportation with electrical vehicles, sharing economy approaches in transportation and logistics, energy storage for sustainable generation, etc.); among these, one research stream is of special interest in the context of the current concerns about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: the use of operations research tools in the context of fairness issues in artificial intelligence. Efforts will be made to ensure the transfer of the results of the research program to industry and public authorities that are most susceptible to use them. Considering the huge amounts that the public and the private sectors devote each year to the deployment and operation of transportation and logistical networks, as well as healthcare and energy, the long-term socio-economic impact of this research program could prove to be extremely significant.