Ph3Overview /h3 pThe Research Centre for Operations Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven (Belgium) has a vacancy for a PhD student position at the intersection of Operations Research and Supply Chain Management. We are looking for a full-time PhD student to do research on supply chain visibility and network resilience, under the supervision of profs. Jannik Matuschke, Erik Demeulemeester, and Maximiliano Udenio. /p h3Project /h3 pGlobal supply chains are large, complex networks that are typically opaque even to the firms that operate within them. A firm generally has visibility only to its direct (tier-1) suppliers and, at best, a small fraction of its tier-2 suppliers. However, empirical supply networks routinely span 10 to 15 tiers. This lack of visibility creates significant vulnerability: firms cannot anticipate, prepare for, or respond to disruptions that originate deep in their upstream network. /p pThis PhD project aims to develop a formal framework for supply chain visibility and resilience using tools from Operations Research and Operations Management, such as network theory, combinatorial optimization, and econometrics. The project pursues three interrelated aims: first, to characterize how network structure affects the cost and robustness of supply chain visibility; second, to study what actions a focal firm can take within its local sphere of influence to improve its resilience, including the design of its sourcing strategy; and third, to validate the theoretical framework empirically using real-world supply chain network data. /p pResults of the research will be communicated through top-level publications in operations research and operations management journals, and through presentations at international conferences. Although the focus is on research, the candidate can be asked to give guidance to Master’s students, to be involved in teaching, and to supervise and correct exams. /p /p #J-18808-Ljbffr