MSc EORAS

1. MSc EORAS Overview

1.1. EORAS in short

1. MSc EORAS is the advanced data science master program of FEB
2. MSc EORAS courses are applied and use quantitative methods to model, analyze, and improve (mostly business) problems.

1.2. EORAS illustrated by example

Illustration by example: Keep the city clean in a smart way by efficiently organizing waste collection.

1. Collect and analyze data to determine when to empty underground waste containers (forecasting, queueing process)
2. Determine efficient routes for the trucks to empty the containers (route optimization, data analysis for making maps and demand patterns).

1.3. EORAS in steps

1. Design/adapt rules to improve/control/change the behavior of systems (e.g. machines/population).
2. Make models of the systems to analyze and predict the behavior under the proposed rules.
3. Assemble data and turn this into information that can be used in the models, e.g., for forecasting.
4. Evaluate (quantitatively) the efficacy of the information and the rules.
5. Restart from Step 1.

1.4. Why chose MSc EORAS in Groningen?

1. Unique mixture between data science and the application of data in decision making.
2. Considerable freedom to make your own course portfolio to match with your personal/professional current/future interests.
3. The master is relatively small, hence opportunity for personal contact with staff.
4. Groningen is the healthiest city of The Netherlands (Arcadis, 2022)

1.5. Why chose MSc EORAS in Groningen?

1.6. Is the MSc EORAS suitable for you?

1. MSc EORAS requires considerable background and investment in mathematical modeling and probability/statistics.
2. Application of theory to empirical applications.
3. Develop modeling skills.
4. Is more than just number crunching: interpretation of quantitative results is very important.

2. Employability

2.1. Career perspectives

1. Job prospective is excellent. Students find a job they like within weeks after (or even before) completing the MSc EORAS.
2. Students find jobs in consultancy firms, banks, insurance companies pension funds, government (supervisory authorities, competition authorities, central planning office)
3. Employers find it important that our students have a decent level of programming skills (in python, R, C++).

2.2. LinkedIn connections (selection)

Partner BCG, Aegon, pricing actuary Achmea, APG Asset Management, ASR, Data Analyst Ahold Delhaize, bol.com, LHCP, ORTEC, PhD Student University of Oxford, Data Analyst LOGEX, professor at University of Groningen, designer at ATOS, senior policy advisor Dutch Healthcare Authority, supervisor national insurance groups at De Nederlandsche Bank, researcher ACM.

2.3. Job Advertisement 1

• Job title from site of VESTING: Operations Research Specialist
• Job qualifications: Analysis, programming, development of (simulation) models, demand-supply optimization. Using new methods and tools in Operations Research.
• Match with our Courses: Data Analysis and Machine Learning, Data-driven Optimization, Demand Analysis and Inventory Control, Design of Combinatorial Algorithms, Econometric Methods.

2.4. Job Advertisement 2

• Job title from site of VESTING: Data Scientist at Bell Simpel
• Job qualifications: Web performance, analysing improvement strategies, process automation, data driven decision making, premium optimzation for phone insurance.
• Match with our Courses: Data Analysis and Machine Learning, Data-driven Optimization, Econometric Methods for Data Analysis, Non-normal Data Analysis, Applied Microeconometrics

2.5. Job Advertisement 3

• Job title from VESTING: Junior consultant Quant at Sprengels
• Job qualifications: risk management, financial analysis, quantitative models, strategic consultance and data analysis
• Match with our courses: Non-normal Data Analysis, Econometric Models, Models for Short Term Risk Management, Quantitative Finance, Investing, Uncertainty and Climate Risk

2.6. Relation to practice

1. Courses and assignments include many practical cases which are based on company problems and company data.
2. If you like, you can combine your thesis project with an internship at a company anywhere in The Netherlands or abroad.
3. Program management (prof. dr. R.H. Koning and me) collaborate closely with VESTING (the student association) on employability, such as intern ships, jobs, alumni days.

3. MSc EORAS Programme Organization

3.1. What are the entrance requirements?

1. BSc degree at BSc EOR level.
2. Pre-MSc program for students with BSc in economics, industrial engineering and management, physics, engineering, mathematics, chemistry.
3. Pre-MSc students should interact with students with a BSc EOR.

3.2. How is the programme organized?

1. 1st semester: preferably 5–6 courses, each 5 EC
2. 2nd semester: 2–3 courses, each 5 EC, Master's thesis, 20 EC.
3. Programme starts in September or February.
4. Nearly all master's theses are based on internships at companies.

3.3. MSc EORAS, 4 profiles

1. Data Science
2. Actuarial Studies
3. Operations Research
4. Econometrics

3.4. What is Data Science?

1. Given the available data, make sound (business) decisions
2. Given the type of decisions that need to be made: determine the data that is necessary.

3.5. What is Econometrics?

1. Quantifying causal relations among economic variables.
2. Forecasting economic variables, such as demand, unemployment, or inflation.
3. Quantifying the consequences of economic or political choices.
4. Assessing the consequences of interventions.
5. Developing statistical theory to estimate econometric models.

3.6. Econometrics: Recent MSc Thesis titles

• Global portfolio diversification from a eurozone perspective.
• Estimating the Effects of Patient Intensity on Physician’s Time Spent on a Patient to Review Care Product Lead Times. (Logex)

3.7. What is Operations Research?

1. Quantitative decision making for business problems.
2. Solving complex optimization problems, for example logistic or planning problems.
3. Finding heuristic (=approximate) solutions to very large problems, e.g., control and maintenance of wind mill farms..

3.8. Operations Research: Recent MSc Thesis titles

• Speed Optimization: Reducing Fuel Consumption in the Shipping Industry
• Optimizing Maintenance Decisions for Systems with Deterioration-Dependent Production Rates.

3.9. What is Actuarial Studies?

1. Risk management for the financial sector (insurance companies, pension funds, banks).
2. Calculating insurance premiums for insurance and pensions.
3. Modeling mortality and longevity risks.
4. Modeling extreme events.

3.10. Actuarial Studies: Recent MSc Thesis titles

• The Risks of Climate Change: An Insurance-based Perspective on Extreme Weather Events in The Netherlands. (EY)
• Probability of default modeling under IFRS 9: A macroeconomic approach. (Deloitte)

3.11. Commonality in all four profiles

• Advanced data analytics (on big data sets).
• Human behavior and feedback play an important role.
• Mathematical methods are similar.
• Multi viewpoints are necessary to understand and model large practical problems.
• Very often the thesis project is combined with an internship at a company.

3.12. How can I meet my main interests?

There are four profiles, within each you have considerable freedom to compose a suitable MSc program.

3.13. Example track, AS/Risk management

4. Remaining Questions?