Veni grant for researcher Albert Schrotenboer

April 12, 2022

How to include future impact in complex decisions

Organizations make complex decisions while the future is uncertain. For example, inner-city stores are replenished by trucks before sales are known, and ICU beds are reserved each day before COVID-19 patient inflow is known. To make good decisions, organizations consider the impact of a decision on the future.

Many of these complex decisions have a structural and a dynamic component. Replenishment of stores is planned according to fixed (structural) delivery schedules while daily supplies are determined dynamically based on the latest information, and COVID-19 beds are reserved structurally while daily admissions (and moves between hospitals) are determined dynamically.

Albert Schrotenboer develops a completely new mathematical method to calculate the future impact of a structural decision on the dynamic daily reality. For this he combines Mathematical Programming and Machine Learning methods. The research will help organizations to make better complex decisions. This could, for example, lead to less nuisance and pollution in inner cities and better intensive care and regular hospital care.

Veni grants

Veni grants are awarded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). These substantial, personal grants are awarded to starting researchers with an innovative research idea. This round 1,280 research projects were submitted, of which 167 were awarded. Read which other TU/e researchers were awarded Veni grants