Systems modelling and OR
INCISM members
EPSRC

Systems modelling and operational research

Operational Research (OR) began as an interdisciplinary and ad-hoc attempt to use the principles of scientific method in supporting operational investigations just before, and during, the second world war. In the post-war years it became established in industry and commerce and, later, university courses and departments appeared.

Nowadays it is seen, by many, as a branch of applied mathematics and statistics. It is accepted, however, that its successful use for problem solving in systems that are large and complex requires much more than the application of mathematics and statistics. Rather, its practitioners need adequate tools to cope with the often taken-for-granted social world in which they live, as well as tools that meet the technical requirements of whatever mathematics is needed.

The aim of INCISM is to explore the tools and approaches needed in OR to deal with large and complex systems. For more detail about the theoretical background of the INCISM network click here.

It brings together people with expertise and interests in both 'hard' and 'soft' OR. For more details on 'hard' and 'soft' OR, click here or read the background page. There is a meeting of the INCISM network about every 3 months. A record of the meetings held to date can be found here.

In April 2002 a group of Younger Operational Researchers met at Lancaster University to discuss Complementarity in Systems Modelling following which they formed the Modelling Strategic Problems Group. Click here for details of the Modelling Strategic Problems Group.

If you wish to join the INCISM network or would like more information, please contact Mike Pidd.

Members of INCISM

The initial INCISM network consists of 3 partners from the academic world and 3 from industry.

INDUSTRIAL partners	ACADEMIC partners
BT Exact (Dr Michael Lyons)	Lancaster University Department of Management Science (Professor Mike Pidd)
Shell Services International (George Paterson)	University of Strathclyde Department of Management Science (Professor Val Belton)
Dstl Analysis (formally DERA/CDA) (Alan Robinson)	Royal Military College of Science, Cranfield University, Department of Informatics & Simulation (Dr Sue Holwell)

EPSRC

This Interdisciplinary research network in systems theory is one of several funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. More details of these networks can be found at the EPSRC web site.