Prof. Kai Pan, Associate Professor in the Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies at the Faculty of Business of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), is looking for a highly motivated Ph.D. student starting in Fall 2026. Research Assistant / Research Associate / Postdoctoral Fellow applicants are also invited to start immediately. The successful candidates are expected to conduct cutting-edge research on data-driven optimization, artificial intelligence, and decision-making under uncertainty, with applications in smart city operations, energy market, machine learning, supply chain, and shared mobility. Prospective students with solid backgrounds are welcome to email Prof. Pan at kai.pan@polyu.edu.hk with your CV/resume and transcripts.
Competitive financial support with a full scholarship will be provided. Various Fellowship & Scholarship schemes are provided at PolyU (check https://www.polyu.edu.hk/gs/prospective-students/fellowship-scholarship-schemes/).
A detailed description of Prof. Kai Pan's research can be found at
https://sites.google.com/view/kaipanuf
https://www.polyu.edu.hk/lms/people/academic-staff/kai-pan/
His research has been published in Operations Research, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, INFORMS Journal on Computing, Production and Operations Management, IISE Transactions, European Journal of Operational Research, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Transportation Research Part B, etc. All these journals are top-tier journals in various fields. He serves as a Secretary/Treasurer for the INFORMS Computing Society (ICS) and an Associate Editor for IISE Transactions and Omega. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the University of Florida, USA, and his Bachelor's degree from Zhejiang University, China. Prof. Pan was the first-place winner of the prestigious IISE Pritsker Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2017 and the awardee of the PolyU Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) 2025. His works have been supported by the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Candidates with backgrounds in Industrial Engineering (IE), Mathematics, Operations Research (OR), Operations Management (OM), Electrical Engineering (EE), Computer Science (CS), or other relevant fields will be considered. Strong mathematical background and programming skills will be a plus. Previous research experience in the related areas will also be a plus.
About The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU): Hong Kong PolyU is currently ranked at 54th in QS World University Rankings 2026, 58th in the U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities Rankings 2025-2026, and 84th in Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025.
The Faculty of Business of Hong Kong PolyU is ranked No. 35 in the world in the latest UTD (the University of Texas at Dallas) Top 100 Business School Worldwide Rankings based on research published in 24 top business journals for the period of 2020 to 2024.