A doctoral degree in Operations Management qualifies you to pursue an academic career as a researcher and educator. An academic career provides not only tremendous intellectual freedom, but makes it possible to work with bright young people throughout your life. You can make a difference through the scholarly research you create, and the lives you shape through your teaching.
The Operations Management area at Georgia Tech is a strong community of active researchers pursuing a wide variety of interests including supply chain management, operations strategy, technology management, new product development, revenue management and environmental operations. We have a strong tradition of problem driven research using both analytical and empirical methods.
Our group is consistently ranked in the top ten to fifteen Operations Management programs. Please see the Operations Management area page and individual faculty pages for more information about faculty research interests.
Our program is strongly research oriented, and emphasizes the early involvement of our students in research projects. Given the small size of the program (approximately 10 students in all), our students are mentored very closely by the faculty. Our group works collaboratively, with many students writing papers with more than one faculty member. Thus, doctoral students experience significant attention and support by a diverse set of world-class faculty.
Educational background
Many of our PhD students have an engineering education (Industrial, Chemical, Mechanical are the most common) or a management/economics education. Some have MBAs, some have worked in industry (typically 2 – 10 years), and some come directly from the BS-MS route. We offer a broad range of OM PhD seminars in established as well as emerging research areas. PhD students complete a variety of PhD methodology courses in operations research, statistics, and economics. These courses along with MBA courses allow students to complement their backgrounds in ways that are most suitable to their needs.
We train our PhD students to be successful, well-rounded academics with the goal of placing them as faculty in top-tier business schools. Our recent placements include Darden (University of Virginia), Rady (University of California at San Diego) and Mendoza (University of Notre Dame). An academic career provides not only tremendous intellectual freedom, but makes it possible to work with bright people throughout your life. Financially, an academic position in a US business school offers excellent prospects. Moreover, the job market forOperations Management PhDs is very strong.
You don’t need to finance your PhD! All admitted applicants will receive a competitive yearly stipend, and their tuition will be waived. The application deadline is January 6th for admission the following fall semester (mid-August). We consider applicants who took either the GMAT or the GRE.
All relevant financial information, including the application package are available on this site.