INFORMS knows that recent political changes have disrupted many in our global community. As a professional society for students and professionals worldwide, we stand firmly for open inquiry, free exchange of ideas, and international collaboration – values vital to advancing operations research, analytics, and all our related fields.
These challenges affect current research and the growth of students and early-career professionals – our future leaders. We’re listening, advocating, and partnering with others to protect these principles and support you.
Visit this page often for updates, resources, and ways to get involved.
Together, we’re stronger – advancing INFORMS’ vision of “Better decision making for a just, prosperous, and sustainable world.”
Help with Membership Dues
- Reduced or waived fees for those facing financial hardship. We encourage you to share this with your peers.
- Discounted memberships for individuals in developing countries.
Supporting Communities and Other Groups
- Our new Executive Rapid Response Fund provides just-in-time support for urgent community needs.
- INFORMS Communities are working on ways to support their members navigating today’s challenges.
Meetings Access
- For the 2025 Annual Meeting, we piloted a “Lite” virtual option that provided access to plenaries, keynotes, and TutORials.
Global Support
With approximately one-third of INFORMS members coming from outside the U.S., it is important to offer services designed to support members worldwide.
- We successfully hosted the 2025 International Meeting in Singapore to expand global accessibility to our meetings, and we are continuing to explore additional non-U.S. meeting options.
- Knowing some may face visa and entry challenges with U.S.-based meetings, we have modified our policies to help navigate possible issues.
- We will enhance the promotion of community members from around the world, our global impact, and publication visibility for non-U.S. research.
- We transitioned the PSOR-led one-day event, “2025 Contemporary Operations Management in Developing Economies,” into a full INFORMS-level virtual event that connects researchers who may not be able to attend the INFORMS Annual Meeting.
Student Support & Career Growth
- INFORMS Career Center serves as your hub for job opportunities and other career resources (e.g., interviewing help) in operations research, analytics, and data science. Visit often to see updates.
- A Revitalized Career Services Committee is launching new job search support, including potential regional career fairs.
- “Speak Up” was a new preconference event funded by the Bonder Foundation and was hosted in conjunction with our 2025 Annual Meeting to help students build communication and presentation skills.
Advocacy & Impact
- We launched the INFORMS Advocacy Toolkit, which provides members with a step-by-step guide to engage with policymakers and the media. A May 2025 INFORMS Connect post provided info.
- INFORMS Advocacy team continues to monitor current events to identify ways to support the community. Most recently, INFORMS joined dozens of scientific associations in signing a joint letter to Congressional leaders in support of the National Science Foundation’s vital role in research, and another letter urging the government to preserve public access to data across federal agencies.
- INFORMS is also listed as an adopting organization of C4DISC – a collaboration of scholarly groups working to improve how people participate, contribute, and are supported across academic publishing.
- We continue our collaborations with other organizations such as ASA, AAAI, and AAAS to support STEM and equity.
- We’re tagging published articles aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals to spotlight research driving real-world impact.