INFORMS Open Forum

2026 Deadline:  Monday, November 24, 2025 (11:59pm eastern)
Learn more and/or begin a submission  

The prize is awarded to an academic department or program for effective and innovative preparation of students to be outstanding practitioners of operations research, management science, analytics, and data science.  It recognizes and honors the ties between industry and the schools of higher education that graduate young practitioners of operations research. 

Application shall be made by means of a submission packet, which should include the following:

• A description of the applying academic unit with other basic information such as program history, the nature of the parent academic institution, the number of students enrolled and annually graduated in the program, and the nature of degrees given. 
• The role of operations research and advanced analytics in the program, and why competency in operations research practice is at least one of the goals of the program.
• Faculty familiarity and competence in operations research, management science, and analytics practice.
• A description of what is innovative in their program in regards to O.R. and Analytics practitioner preparation.
• A summary of why they feel that their students are prepared to be effective practitioners of advanced analytics and operations research, whether or not students choose to become practitioners.
• Contact information for 2 current and 2 graduated students and permission to contact them for candid assessments of the program.
• A statement describing the funding sources and scope of the program and how it is used to most effectively achieve the programs' goals. 
• A statement of the proposed use of the money if awarded.
• Acknowledgment of future INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics (formerly Interfaces) article if selected as the winner.
• Other information and documentation that they feel will support the case that they deserve this award.