Offre de stage Master 2 (ou 3A) en RO, avec potentielle prolongation en thèse de doctorat - Assortment Optimization

Forum 'Stages' - Sujet créé le 2025-11-03 par Mahdi Moeini

Title: Assortment Optimization in Mass Retail

Context and Objectives:

In this project, we focus on the assortment optimization problem (AOP). More specifically, given a very large number of products, retailers must select a limited number of products consisting of basic items, trendy products, etc., in order to both better meet customer demands and achieve commercial objectives.

To this end, several criteria, e.g., product availability, prices, customer preferences, support for regional/local producers, etc., must be taken into account. Depending on the total number of products available and the size of the goods to be selected, there will be an exponential number of combinations. In this context, the assortment optimization problem consists of making the best choices among all possible combinations, taking into account various constraints. This problem can be modeled in the form of mathematical optimization models that are computationally challenging for large instances.

Once models are formulated, we focus on design of algorithms, which can be, e.g., heuristics and/or machine learning algorithms.

The algorithms will be tested on publicly available as well as randomly-generated test instances.

Moreover, some new features will be introduced to the models and solutions methods to bridge the gaps in the scientific literature.

Potential PhD Thesis: Successful accomplishment of this internship can lead to a PhD thesis at the University of Évry Paris-Saclay.

Research steps:

State-of-the-art literature review.
Understanding and identifying the optimization problems.
Modeling the identified optimization problems.
Design and implementation of efficient solution methods.
Conducting extensive computational experiments.
Design and implementation of a graphical user interface (GUI).
Preparing a final report and a presentation file (in preference in English).

Required skills:

Student in the last year of a Master’s program (or 3A of an engineering school) in computer science, applied mathematics, or similar domains.
Strong background in Operations Research.
Familiarity with Machine Learning techniques and algorithms.
Familiarity with a MIP solver, e.g., Gurobi or Hexaly.
Excellent programming skills, in preference in Python (or Julia).
Holding effective teamwork skills.
Excellent communication and writing skills in English.

Supervisors:

Feng CHU (feng.chu(@)univ-evry.fr), Full professor at the University of Evry Paris-Saclay
Mahdi MOEINI (mahdi.moeini(@)ensiie.fr), Associate professor at the ensIIE and affiliated to the research lab. SAMOVAR of the Télécom SudParis

Location:

Labo. IBISC: Bâtiment IBGBI – 2ème étage, 23 Boulevard de France, 91034 Évry, France
ensIIE: 1 Place de la résistance, 91000 Évry, France

Both institutions are located at the center of Évry, within 10-minute walk distance from each other.

Évry is located at 20km distance from Paris, reachable by RER D, etc.

Complementary information:

Dates: The starting date of the internship is flexible, but it should not be later than March 1, 2026.
Salary: Standard internship salary in France, for a duration of 5-6 months.

How to apply:

Please send the following documents as a single pdf file, as soon as possible to the indicated e-mail addresses:

Motivation letter (at most one page).
Detailed Curriculum Vitae (maximum 2-4 pages)
Academic transcripts (Master level)
Contact information of two academic references

Application Deadline: the position remains open until we find the suitable applicant.

Contacts:

Mahdi MOEINI, Associate professor (https://sites.google.com/view/mahdi-moeini)

- (mahdi.moeini(@)ensiie.fr)

- (moeini.mahdi(@)gmail.com)

Feng CHU (feng.chu(@)univ-evry.fr), Full professor at the University of Evry Paris-Saclay

Some references:

[*] Leitner, M., Lodi, A., Roberti, R., & Sole, C. An Exact Method for (Constrained) Assortment Optimization Problems with Product Costs. INFORMS Journal on Computing, 36(2), pp. 479-494, (2024).

[*] Le Zhang, Shadi Sharif Azadeh, Hai Jiang. Exact and heuristic algorithms for cardinality-constrained assortment optimization problem under the cross-nested logit model. European Journal of Operational Research 324, pp. 183–199, (2025)