Thesis
If you are interested to conduct bachelor or master thesis with us, please contact Prof. Qing Liu via email or personally to discuss topics, schedules, and other details. Generally, there is no strictly required enrollment process.
A range of topics according to the interests of our research center can be found here, and proposed new topics are always welcome.
We would recommend you to use the following template：
Below you can see a list of current thesis proposals:
Topic List – Bachelor Thesis
1. Literature review on transportation/logistics system under pandemics
To examine the impacts of pandemics on transportation systems, and the roles of transportation systems in pandemic management. Contributions that relates transportation to are also can be considered. The aim is to provide an overview of the impacts of the infectious disease COVID-19 as well as the SARS, MERS, H1N1, Ebola and other pandemics on the performance of the system.
Reference: D. A. Jones, L. K. Nozick, M. A. Turnquist and W. J. Sawaya, "Pandemic Influenza, Worker Absenteeism and Impacts on Freight Transportation," Proceedings of the 41st Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2008), Waikoloa, HI, 2008, pp. 206-206.
2. Global economic and political impacts on international trade and shipping
To discuss and analyze the potential development of international trade and transport from a policy and economic perspective. For example, impacts of Eurasian land freight corridor on European shipping.
Reference: Hummels, D. (2007). Transportation costs and international trade in the second era of globalization. Journal of Economic perspectives, 21(3), 131-154.
3. Port collaboration and competition strategies
What are the major types of cooperation in which ports are now engaged? What are the major maritime competitive dynamics? How should ports cooperate and plan to remain competitive in a fast-changing world? Port collaboration and competition strategies are to be examined. For example, Mediterranean ports in competition with North European ports. (Note: Previous knowledge and/or interest in the field of game theory are advantageous)
Reference: Heaver T, Meersman H, Van de Voorde E. Co-operation and competition in international container transport: strategies for ports[J]. Maritime Policy & Management, 2001, 28(3): 293-305.
Heaver, T. D., Meersman, H., & Van de Voorde, E. (2004). Co-operation and competition in international container transport. International Maritime Transport: Perspectives, 130.
4. Literature Review on Liner Shipping Network Design
The objective of the liner shipping network design in the liner industry is managing the network efficiently. The network design problem is a complex strategic planning problem, interwoven with several subproblems. The aim is to provide an overview of the domain of liner shipping network design and which methods for solving the resulting optimization problems can be found in the literature.
Reference: Christiansen, M., Fagerholt, K., Nygreen, B., & Ronen, D. (2013). Ship routing and scheduling in the new millennium. European Journal of Operational Research, 228(3), 467-483.
Meng, Q., Wang, S., Andersson, H., & Thun, K. (2014). Containership routing and scheduling in liner shipping: overview and future research directions. Transportation Science, 48(2), 265-280.
5. Decarbonization in Transport
Climate change objectives cannot be met without the contribution from the transport sector to CO2 reduction. Decarbonizing transport is high in the agenda of several cities, countries, and international institutions. Analyses and forecasts challenges in freight road transport, maritime transport and air transport are to be examined.
Reference: Pietzcker, R. C., Longden, T., Chen, W., Fu, S., Kriegler, E., Kyle, P., & Luderer, G. (2014). Long-term transport energy demand and climate policy: Alternative visions on transport decarbonization in energy-economy models. Energy, 64, 95-108.
Psaraftis, H. N. (2019). Decarbonization of maritime transport: to be or not to be?. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 21(3), 353-371.
6. Supply Chain Design
Selected extensions to supply chain design that build on the basic knowledge of the B. Sc. Lecture “Supply Chain Management”.
Reference: Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., Simchi-Levi, E., & Shankar, R. (2008). Designing and managing the supply chain: concepts, strategies and case studies. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Chopra, S., Meindl, P., & Kalra, D. V. (2013). Supply chain management: strategy, planning, and operation (Vol. 232). Boston, MA: Pearson.
7. Game Theory approach to supply chain/logistics problems
Game theory is the study of mathematical models to deduce a set of equilibrium strategies for each player such that, when these strategies are employed, no player can profit by unilaterally deviating from their strategy. For example, evolve strategies and applications of game theory when it comes to pricing transport services. The methods and procedures of game theory approach are shown using a simple example.
Reference: Myerson, R. B. (2013). Game theory. Harvard university press.
Fisk, C. S. (1984). Game theory and transportation systems modelling. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 18(4-5), 301-313.
Topic List – Master Thesis
1. Literature review on transportation/logistics system under pandemics
To examine the impacts of pandemics on transportation systems, and the roles of transportation systems in pandemic management. Contributions that relates transportation to are also can be considered. The aim is to provide an overview of the impacts of the infectious disease COVID-19 as well as the SARS, MERS, H1N1, Ebola and other pandemics on the performance of the system.
Reference: D. A. Jones, L. K. Nozick, M. A. Turnquist and W. J. Sawaya, "Pandemic Influenza, Worker Absenteeism and Impacts on Freight Transportation," Proceedings of the 41st Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2008), Waikoloa, HI, 2008, pp. 206-206, doi: 10.1109/HICSS.2008.342.
2. Global economic and political impacts on international trade and shipping
To discuss and analyze the potential development of international trade and transport from a policy and economic perspective. For example, impacts of Eurasian land freight corridor on European shipping.
Reference: Hummels, D. (2007). Transportation costs and international trade in the second era of globalization. Journal of Economic perspectives, 21(3), 131-154.
3. Port collaboration and competition strategies
What are the major types of cooperation in which ports are now engaged? What are the major maritime competitive dynamics? How should ports cooperate and plan to remain competitive in a fast-changing world? Port collaboration and competition strategies are to be examined. For example, Mediterranean ports in competition with North European ports. (Note: Previous knowledge and/or interest in the field of game theory are advantageous)
Reference: Heaver T, Meersman H, Van de Voorde E. Co-operation and competition in international container transport: strategies for ports[J]. Maritime Policy & Management, 2001, 28(3): 293-305.
Heaver, T. D., Meersman, H., & Van de Voorde, E. (2004). Co-operation and competition in international container transport. International Maritime Transport: Perspectives, 130.
4. Literature Review on Liner Shipping Network Design
The objective of the liner shipping network design in the liner industry is managing the network efficiently. The network design problem is a complex strategic planning problem, interwoven with several subproblems. The aim is to provide an overview of the domain of liner shipping network design and which methods for solving the resulting optimization problems can be found in the literature.
Reference: Christiansen, M., Fagerholt, K., Nygreen, B., & Ronen, D. (2013). Ship routing and scheduling in the new millennium. European Journal of Operational Research, 228(3), 467-483.
Meng, Q., Wang, S., Andersson, H., & Thun, K. (2014). Containership routing and scheduling in liner shipping: overview and future research directions. Transportation Science, 48(2), 265-280.
5. Maritime Supply Chain Management
The aim of this master thesis is to provides an in-depth view into the management of maritime supply chains. To examine how such supply chains can be affected by exogenous trends and events, such as structural changes in international trade, evolutions in the global fleet, and national and supranational maritime policymaking. In this complex of topics, a focus can be on green maritime supply chain management.
Reference: Panayides, P. M. (2006). Maritime logistics and global supply chains: towards a research agenda. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 8(1), 3-18.
Davarzani, H., Fahimnia, B., Bell, M., & Sarkis, J. (2016). Greening ports and maritime logistics: A review. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 48, 473-487.
6. Supply Chain Design
Selected extensions to supply chain design that build on the basic knowledge of the B. Sc. Lecture “Supply Chain Management”.
Reference: Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., Simchi-Levi, E., & Shankar, R. (2008). Designing and managing the supply chain: concepts, strategies and case studies. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Chopra, S., Meindl, P., & Kalra, D. V. (2013). Supply chain management: strategy, planning, and operation (Vol. 232). Boston, MA: Pearson.
7. Game Theory approach to supply chain/logistics problems
Game theory is the study of mathematical models to deduce a set of equilibrium strategies for each player such that, when these strategies are employed, no player can profit by unilaterally deviating from their strategy. For example, evolve strategies and applications of game theory when it comes to pricing transport services. The methods and procedures of game theory approach are shown using a simple example.
Reference: Myerson, R. B. (2013). Game theory. Harvard university press.
Fisk, C. S. (1984). Game theory and transportation systems modelling. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 18(4-5), 301-313.