Course description
This is an introductory course into the basic operations research methods. It is a mandatory course in the track "Data Science & Decision Support" (formerly Information & Operations Management). Methods discussed in this course are used in many other DS&DS courses.
The module contains the following weekly units:
Simplex algorithm (linear programming)
Simplex, Networks
Duality, Transportation Problem, Dynamic Programming
Mixed Integer Programming
Forecasting
Heuristics, Metaheuristics
Course organization
Daryna Dziuba and Patricia Zech are the teachers of this course. For any questions regarding the course please use the discussion forums here in Moodle.
The course starts on December 8th, 2025.
Weekly schedule
The course is structured in 6 weekly units. Introductory basics and simple tutorials are provided online for self-study. Advanced topics, case studies, and the broader context will be discussed in classroom. Participation in the classroom meetings is strongly recommended, because many relevant topics will be discussed there. Material for the new unit will always be available on Monday morning. Topics which are necessary for the classroom meetings are marked.
The weekly schedule of the course is as follows (starting always on Tuesday, ending on Monday the following week):
Tuesday (starting December 9th): 09:15-12:45 lecture and exercise in classroom GD 305
Thursday (starting December 11th): 09:15-12:45 lecture and exercise in classroom GD 204
Monday (starting December 15th): Graded online tests in Moodle to be done in the time window from Sunday 18:00 to Monday 18:00 o'clock
Due to the holidays, there will be no meetings from December 22nd – January 4th.Grading
The grading will be based on the best 3 out of 5 weekly tests in Moodle and a 90 min. exam during the exam week. The weekly online test will take 15 minutes and and are always scheduled for Monday. You can gain 15 points on each test. The final exam will be 65 points worth. So the maximum you can reach is 110 points. A minimum of 50 points overall, 15 points for the online quizzes and 25 points for the final test are necessary to pass the course. You will receive a grade if you participated in 3 or more weekly tests, regardless if you participate in the final exam or not. Grades are as follows:
≥95
≥90
≥85
≥80
≥75
≥70
≥65
≥60
≥55
≥50
<50
1.0
1.3
1.7
2.0
2.3
2.7
3.0
3.3
3.7
4.0
5.0