Junior Researcher Best Paper Prize

The Committee on Stochastic Programming is pleased to announce a Junior Researcher Best Paper Prize in Stochastic Programming, which will be given in recognition of the most outstanding paper(s) in stochastic programming authored by a junior researcher. The prize will be awarded at the 17th International Conference on Stochastic Programming (ICSP) to be held in Paris, July 28-August 1, 2025.

The prize committee consists of Andrzej Ruszczynski (Rutgers University), Siqian Shen (University of Michigan at Ann Arbor), and Wim van Ackooij (EDF-Lab Paris-Saclay, chair).


Each entry must satisfy the following eligibility criteria:

  • The paper must present original research results and must have been published or accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed English language journal after January 1, 2022.
  • All co-authors must have obtained their PhD in one of the seven calendar years preceding the year of the prize submission, that is after Jan 1, 2018. This period of seven years may be extended for personal reasons, such as parental leave or health issues. Requests for extensions need to be sent to the Junior Researcher Best Paper Prize Committee Chair accompanied by appropriate documentation. The Committee will decide if an extension is granted.
  • The paper may not have won a SPS Best Student Paper Prize in previous years and may not be simultaneously considered for the Dupačová-Prékopa Best Student Paper Prize.
  • The paper must not have won a previous SPS Junior Researcher Best Paper Prize.
  • The entrants can be (co-)author(s) in at most one paper submitted to the competition.


Entrants must submit the following material by March 31, 2025:

  • An electronic copy (PDF file) of the paper.
  • The publication information for the work.
  • Email addresses and phone numbers where the entrants can be contacted in the event the entrants are selected as finalists.
  • A letter signed by all co-authors attesting that the eligibility conditions are met. In case an extension is requested, the letter should be accompanied by appropriate documentation, as discussed above.


The submitted papers will be judged on the following criteria:

  • Magnitude of the contribution to the advancement of the field of stochastic programming.
  • Originality of ideas and methods.
  • Clarity and excellence of exposition.


Submissions must be sent to the committee chair at wim.van-ackooij@edf.fr by March 31, 2025. If you do not receive a confirmation by April 7, please contact a committee member directly.

The prize committee will select the finalists at least two months before ICSP 2025. Once the decision is made, the committee will inform the finalists; those students are expected to attend ICSP 2025 and present their papers at a special “award” session. During the SPS Business Meeting, the prize committee will announce the winners.


For more information on the 17th International Conference on Stochastic Programming, please see: https://icsp2025.org/


Sincerely,

Andrzej Ruszczynski (Rutgers University)
Siqian Shen (University of Michigan at Ann Arbor),
Wim van Ackooij (EDF-Lab Paris-Saclay, Chair).New Paragraph

By SPS Wolfram July 15, 2025
We invite PhD students to a Nordic winter school on Advanced Stochastic Optimization at the Norwegian Univer- sity of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway, from 1 – 5 December 2025. The course is part of the Nordic Courses in Stochastic Programming, a cooperation between NTNU, NHH in Bergen, and UCPH in Copenhagen that provides PhD courses on stochastic programming. The course builds on the material taught in the introduction-level Nordic PhD course in stochastic programming taught in Bergen in September this year. Prior participation in that course is not mandatory, but some basic knowledge of stochastic pro- gramming models is required. The course is taught by multiple lecturers, each teaching on their field of expertise. This provides PhD students a unique opportunity to learn from and connect with experts in the field, as well as with other students with similar interests. The following lecturers will give talks on the indicated topics: Vincent Leclère (Ecole des Ponts, Paris) – Stochastic dual dynamic programming and related methods Francesca Maggioni (University of Bergamo) – Bounding techniques in (multi-stage/-horizon) stoch. programs Ward Romeijnders (University of Groningen) – Mixed-integer stochastic programming Peter Schütz (NTNU) – Dual decomposition Stein-Erik Fleten (NTNU) – Applications in energy systems Ruben van Beesten (Erasmus University Rotterdam, NTNU) – Quick recap of basics, modeling risk aversion The course takes place at the Gløshaugen campus in Trondheim from 1 – 5 December. During this week, the tra- ditional Christmas market on the city square starts, which will keep you busy during the evenings. Lectures start Monday morning and end around 14:00 on Friday. Participation is free of charge. Students that wish to receive credits (5 EC) should write a 10-page essay after the course related to one of the topics discussed (you can relate this to your own research project), graded pass/fail. The deadline for registration is 15 September (if you cannot make the deadline, email me to ask for remaining options). See the second page of this document for instructions on how to register. For any remaining questions, contact me using the email address below. I hope to see many of you there! Kind regards, Ruben van Beesten (coordinator) Registration procedure Everyone: fill out the registration form here. Students that wish to receive credit must also register officially within the NTNU system. NTNU students: enroll for the courses using the regular procedure on Studentweb. External students: follow the following steps: Go to Søknadsweb using this link Choose the institution Norwegian University of Science and Technology, press continue At the bottom of the page, choose Register new international applicant Answer the questions. When asked if you are a current or former student at NTNU, choose No (i.e., do not answer I am a PhD-Candidat). Once registered in Søknadsweb, log into your account. Follow the following steps: Fill out your personal details Under Single courses, choose PhD courses for external candidates Autumn 2025. In the drop-down list, select 9690 PhD courses for external candidates. Moreover, in the text box, write the course code of the course you wish to follow: - IØ8404 Advanced Stochastic Optimization Press Submit your application Upload the requested documents. Press Next  You will see a confirmation screen. Press Done
By SPS Wolfram July 13, 2025
Dear Stochastic Programming Society, We are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2025 Roger J. B. Wets Junior Researcher Best Paper Prize. We have received excellent nominations this year and after careful deliberation the jury has chosen 2 finalists. Both finalists will present their work in a dedicated session on Wednesday 30/07 at ICSP 2025. In alphabetical order, the finalists are: Rui Gao , for the paper : "Finite-Sample Guarantees for Wasserstein Distributionally Robust Optimization: Breaking the Curse of Dimensionality" Bradley Sturt , for the paper : "A nonparametric algorithm for optimal stopping based on robust optimization" Congratulations to the finalists! Sincerely, The 2025 Roger J. B. Wets Junior Researcher Best Paper Prize Committee: Andrzej Ruszczynski (Rutgers University) Siqian Shen (University of Michigan at Ann Arbor), Wim van Ackooij (EDF-Lab Paris-Saclay, Chair).