During the annual conference of the Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR) e.V. in Hamburg, Prof. Dr. Anita Schöbel was awarded the GOR Science Prize 2023. With this award, the GOR has honoured every two years since 1989 a scientist for extraordinary achievements in the development of Operations Research (OR). The science prize is currently endowed with 8,000 € and is the most important award given by the GOR (in recognition of the overall scientific work).
Operations Research (OR) is generally understood as the development and use of quantitative models and methods for decision support. It is characterised by the interdisciplinary cooperation of mathematics, economics and computer science. It is an important research topic both at the Department of Mathematics (Optimisation Group) and at the Fraunhofer ITWM, which is headed by Prof. Dr. Schöbel.
This is the second time since 2015 that the GOR Science Prize has been awarded to a member of the Department of Mathematics. The former award winner (Prof. Dr. Horst W. Hamacher) did not miss the opportunity to personally give the laudatio for the award winner. He emphasised that with her research on integer optimisation, robust optimisation, optimisation of public transport, location optimisation and geometric optimisation methods, Ms. Schöbel has made outstanding contributions to the disciplinary development of Operations Research. Moreover, he pointed out that her overall scientific work is characterised by her publications, lectures and projects. Particular mention should be made of the respective range of activities, from popular science articles to important contributions to theoretical foundations of Operations Research. Prof. Hamacher also particularly highlighted Prof. Schöbel's versatile work for the scientific community and her international reputation, which was once again sustainably underlined by her election as president of the "Association of European Operational Research Societies" (EURO) starting on 01.01.2023.
"Operations Research is great!" - In a personal acknowledgement and speech, Prof. Dr. Schöbel again highlighted how relevant OR has been to her research and career so far. She pointed out that it is wonderful to advance the field of OR in dedicated teams on so many levels. Even though the award actually honours a life's work, she promised that her work here is of course far from over.