Seth Bonder

The Health Applications Society of INFORMS invites applications from qualified doctoral candidates for the Bonder Scholarship for Applied Operations Research in Health Services. Doctoral candidates, particularly those with two to three years remaining in their programs, with an interest in the application of process modeling and OR analyses to issues in health care design, delivery, or operations are encouraged to apply.

Objectives

The purpose of the Bonder Scholarship for Applied Operations Research in Health Services is to promote the development and application of process modeling and operations research analyses to health care design, delivery and operations. The scholarship provides funding of $5,000 ($US) to support the development of highly qualified individuals and promote the interchange of health services research knowledge in conjunction with INFORMS.

The Award

The Bonder Scholarship consists of a grant of $4,000 that is intended to provide financial support for a promising new researcher. In addition, the award winner will be eligible for up to $1,000 of travel funding to support his or her participation in the activities of the Health Application Society at the annual INFORMS conference. INFORMS will waive registration fees for the awardee. The tenure of the award is one year.

Selection Criteria

The scholarship will be granted on the basis of excellence, innovation, preparation, and the probability of a candidate's success. Candidates will be evaluated on the quality of their preparation to undertake a program of applied operations research in the field of health care. The proposed program of research will be judged according to its potential for making a significant contribution to the field of applied OR in health care systems, as well as the likelihood of successful completion.

Eligibility

Students pursuing doctoral studies in health operations research or a related discipline are eligible. Applications from US and international students are welcome.

Application procedures

Candidates are asked to forward their applications electronically in pdf format by June 15, 2012 to the Chair of the Bonder Committee.

Please submit:

• A curriculum vita,
• A brief statement describing why she or he is interested in applying operations research to healthcare,
• A titled, two-page summary of the proposed research program, and
• Two letters of support*, which should be sent directly from the authors to the Chair of the Bonder Committee.

* In a few cases, when it is needed in order to fully represent the academic and practical strengths of an application, a third letter may be appropriate.

Notification

All applicants will be notified by September 1, 2012 of the results of the competition.

Background

Dr. Seth Bonder was the founder and CEO of Vector Research, Incorporated (VRI) for 31 years. VRI is recognized for its quality and innovations in applying OR/MS to public and private sector enterprises. Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Bonder has been a leader in applying operations research to national defense planning and policy issues, and subsequently to health care delivery reengineering and disease management practices. He established this scholarship to encourage the application of scientific operations research approaches to health care delivery systems, processes, and enterprises.

Dr. Bonder has made major contributions to the operations research profession. He has served as president of the Operations Research Society of America and the Military Operations Research Society, and as vice president of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Patriotic Service Award from the US Secretary of the Army, the George E. Kimball Medal, and the INFORMS President's Award He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Previous recipients