Dr Banu Lokman has received an international award for her research into multi-objective optimisation, helping people and businesses to make better decisions.

Dr Lokman, Reader in Operational Research and Deputy Director of Centre for Operational Research and Logistics (CORL) in the Faculty of Business and Law, was given the Bernard Roy Award 2022 of the Association of European Operational Research Societies Working Group on Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding.

The award is given to a young researcher for outstanding contribution to the field of Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA). MCDA provides a framework to solve complex decision problems involving multiple criteria of conflicting nature, helping people, such as business managers and public administrators, to make better-informed decisions.

Dr Lokman was recognised for her research that has applications across a wide range of sectors such as business, energy, healthcare, supply chain, sustainability and logistics, where decisions need to be made in the presence of trade-offs between two or more conflicting objectives.

Dr Lokman said: “I am earnestly grateful to the jury members for the recognition of my efforts; to my seniors and colleagues from whom I received the inspiration and derived strength to challenge myself and perform better at each stage; and to my family for their endless support.

“Winning this award means that I am on the right track to continue doing what I am doing - creating, sharing and applying knowledge to help people and businesses make better decisions. I hope it will open up opportunities to expand my research collaborations and address some of the challenges businesses and society face today. I feel more compelled to work harder!”