The 2021 EURO PhD Summer School on MCDA/MCDM (which was originally scheduled for 2020) has been once again postponed to 2022 due to the continued pandemic. It is going to take place in Ankara, Turkey, on July 18-29, 2022. PhD students interested in getting an in-depth understanding of the theoretical and applied aspects of MCDA/MCDM, interacting with some of the top scholars in the area, and conducting hands-on exercises/cases are welcome to apply. Although the priority is for PhD students, a limited number of Master’s students may also be admitted. A total of approximately 50 students will be admitted to the summer school. Those who had been admitted and opted to apply their registration fees towards the postponed summer school need not apply again. All others, including those admitted and had not paid or had been refunded, will have to apply again. We have room for new applications as well.
There will be lectures on state-of-the-art multiple criteria methods, applications, and software. Teams of students will be formed to work on several case studies and will present their work at the end of the summer school. The venue is Bilkent University. The students will be staying in a dormitory of Bilkent University and will have the opportunity to interact with each other, as well as with the lecturers throughout the summer school. This is a great opportunity for PhD students to network among themselves and with the lecturers, and initiate collaborations and friendships that may continue for many years. Many of the current well-known scholars in the area have attended past summer schools.
In addition to the unique academic program, the summer schools are lots of fun. There are social activities throughout and the students enjoy spending time together. Many long-lasting friendships have been formed in past summer schools.
The lectures will be held at the Bilkent University campus. All meals will be provided and the activities of the social program will also be covered. Thanks to the financial support from the Association of European Operational Research Societies (EURO) and the International Society on MCDM, we are able to keep the registration costs low. There will also be an opportunity to apply for partial support for the registration cost for those who have limited funds, especially from developing countries.
The organizers of the summer school originally scheduled for 2020, Gülşah Karakaya of Middle East Technical University, and Banu Lokman of Portsmouth University, could not continue to be involved in the organization due to other commitments. They worked diligently and documented everything so well. We are in their debt for all their efforts that make our job easier.
Bilkent is located on a beautiful campus in the west side of Ankara (https://w3.bilkent.edu.tr/). Ankara, located in central Anatolia, is the capital of Turkey. It connects east and west parts of the country, and is the second largest city of Turkey. The city has great museums including Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which was elected as The Museum of the Year in Europe in 1997. Please check the following link for more information about Ankara:
https://www.goturkeytourism.com/destinations-turkey/ankara-city-in-turkey.html.
Although the pandemic is not over yet, multiple doses of vaccines that have high efficacy results have already been administered in many countries. Early evidence indicates that, although it is more easily transmissible, the dominant Omicron variant is causing less severe illness, especially for vaccinated individuals. We are hoping that the new variant will make its peak worldwide soon and the situation will improve during the next several months. We will keep watching the course of the pandemic closely and we are optimistic that it will be safe to get together face-to-face for the summer school in July 2022.
The most up-to-date information regarding the application process and all other developments about the summer will be available at https://www.ie.bilkent.edu.tr/mcdm/. Please check frequently. The finalized summer school program will be published in April 2022.
We look forward to an exciting summer school in Ankara!
Contact address: mcdmss21@bilkent.edu.tr