Ph.D. – OPIM

Program’s Mission

To prepare students to conduct high quality, state-of-the-art research, and to assume faculty positions at leading institutions in the areas of Information Systems and Operations Management.

The Program

The Operations and Information Management (OPIM) PhD Program at UConn provides its students with the training necessary to conduct cutting-edge research in the broad areas of Management Information Systems (MIS) and Operations Management (OM). Students are guided through a curriculum that combines the research methods of Economics, Computer Science, Operations Management, Operations Research, and Statistics, with an emphasis on the scientific management of real businesses.

After completing their coursework and qualifying examinations, our PhD students engage in original research that focuses on emerging technologies and algorithms, and their effects on businesses and the economy. Recent graduates have successfully defended dissertations with topics including: markets for distributed computing, online commerce, healthcare decision support, and measuring and managing the influence of “blogs.”

The OPIM department is unique in its wide range of interests and highly collaborative research environment. Students can work with professors on a research topic from the following list, or develop a related research topic in their own area of interest.

Faculty Research interests include:

  • Auction theory and applications
  • Database design and security
  • Database management
  • Distributed computing and client/server technology
  • Electronic commerce
  • Economics of information and information systems
  • Healthcare information systems
  • Management of technology
  • Manufacturing systems, planning, and strategy
  • Supply chain management
  • Telecommunication and network modeling and analysis
  • Applications of operations research and other optimization techniques to areas such as product design, production scheduling, and facility location

Coordinator: Chen Liang

For further information about the Operations and Information Management Department, please refer to our homepage, or visit our Faculty directory.

Qualifications for Admission

All applicants must exhibit excellent mathematical and analytical problem solving skills. One year of calculus and a course in linear algebra (matrix algebra) are required. Further, a qualified student must be prepared to take courses in economics and statistics at the graduate level.

Communication skills are another important qualification for the OPIM PhD program. Applicants must be fluent in English and be prepared to begin teaching undergraduate business courses within their first two-years of study.

For a detailed description of typical plan of study, view a sample curriculum.

To apply for admission, please read the Instructions for Application and apply online.

Questions? Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

More general information can be found at the Business Ph.D. Program website and the UConn Graduate School website.