MSc in Operational Research: Admission 2023, Fees, Colleges, Scope, Syllabus

MSc in Operational Research is a 2-year postgraduate program that entails in-depth knowledge and skills about analytics in the field of operations which helps in better decision-making. The graduates of this program can look forward to job positions like operational research analyst, operational research consultant, research head, research scientist, etc. To get admission to this course a candidate must have completed a bachelor’s degree in the relevant field. Colleges generally enrol students for this program either on a merit basis or on an entrance basis. 

If you are also interested in this discipline and planning to pursue MSc in Operational Research then this blog will help you clear all of your doubts. Keep reading further to know more!

Name of the Program	MSc in Operational Research
Duration	2 years, full-time/distance learning
Level of Course	Post-Graduation
Selection	Merit or entrance-based
Eligibility Criteria	Bachelor’s degree in the relevant field with at least 55% marks
Average Course Fee	INR 25,000 to INR 50,000
Average Salary for Entry-Level Positions	INR 5.7 Lakh to INR 20.5 Lakh
Top Recruiters	KPMG, Bain and Company, Boston Consulting Group, Wipro, Zomato, Deloitte, etc.
Work Areas	Govt. hospitals, colleges/universities, research and medical labs, military services, etc.
Job Positions	operational research analyst, operational research consultant, research scientist, associate analyst, etc.

About MSc in Operational Research 

Also known as industrial engineering or management science, an MSc in Operational Research helps students learn high-level analytical skills to help the management make better decisions. During their time studying this program, students get to learn modelling, analytical, mathematical, computing, communication and interpersonal skills. To help students build successful careers, techniques and approaches from mathematical and other disciplines are covered in this course. This program makes students adept in using skills to deploy mathematical methods for solving real-world analytics problems faced by governments, companies and other institutions. 

Why Study MSc in Operational Research?

This course integrates the ability of computing and scientific methods which helps in building intelligent systems to help businesses make better decisions. The analytical skills gained in this course can help the student get jobs in industries like telecom, consulting, finance, banking, etc. Since businesses now heavily focus on data-driven decisions, graduates of this course can look forward to a successful career due to the high demand for working professionals who have analytical skills. Some of the job positions that MSc in Operational Research graduates can apply to are – risk analyst, data analyst, operational researcher, project manager, etc. 

Also Read: Masters in Business Management

Admission Process 

Mentioned below are the general steps that a candidate needs to take in order to apply for MSc in Operational Research: 

• Registration details are generally announced by every college around 4 to 5 weeks before the deadline. Therefore, you should keep checking the official websites of the colleges of your choice that you want to apply to.
• To register you need to provide details like name, phone no. and email id. 
• After completing the registration you need to fill out the application form by providing all the necessary details along with the required documents. 
• Before submitting the form you will have to pay the application fee. 
• In case of entrance-based selection, you need to download the admit card and take the exam on the date provided by the university/college. The result of the same is declared after a few weeks on the official website of the exam conducting body. 
• In case of merit-based selection, the college will release the list of selected students on their official website. 
• The final step is to attend the counselling session conducted by the college students in which admission is confirmed. 

Eligibility Criteria 

In order to be eligible for the MSc in Operational Research course an individual needs to have a bachelor’s degree in the relevant field with at least 55% marks or equivalent CGPA. Some of the universities may conduct an entrance examination for the selection process. Therefore, depending upon the university students will be either selected on the basis of merit or entrance. 

Entrance Exam 

Admission to the MSc in Operational Research course is done either on merit or entrance basis. The mode of selection varies from university to university. Some of the popular entrance exams conducted by various universities for the admission process of MSc in Operational Research are – TISS NET, IIT JAM, NEST, CUET PG, BITSAT, etc. 

Syllabus 

It is always a great idea to go through the syllabus of the course that you are applying to as it gives a better understanding of whether the curriculum aligns with your interest areas or not. Mentioned below is the general syllabus of the MSc in Operational Research: 

Semester 1	Semester 2
Statistics I	Mathematical Programming II
C++ & Unix – a) Theory  b) Practical	Java Programming – a) Theory  b) Practical
Queueing System I	Reliability & Maintenance Theory
Inventory Management I	Marketing Management
Mathematical Programming I	Scheduling Techniques
Semester 3	Semester 4
Database Management System & Visual Programming – a) Theory b) Practical	Three out of the following:
Statistics II	Marketing Research
Mathematical Programming III	Queueing System II
Software Reliability	Inventory Management II
	Multicriteria Decision Models
	Decision Theory
	Dynamic Optimisation
	Project Work (Compulsory)

Top Colleges and Fees 

Some of the top colleges offering MSc in Operational Research course along with their respective fees are mentioned below: 

College Name	Average Annual Fees (approx.)
St. Stephens College, University of Delhi	INR 17,000 to INR 20,000
Hansraj College, University of Delhi	INR 17,000
Hindu College, University of Delhi	INR 20,000
Ramjas College, University of Delhi	INR 14,500
Aligarh Muslim University, Distance Learning (AMU Aligarh), Aligarh	INR 9,000

Duties of an Operational Research Analyst 

Before deciding to pursue a career path it is always advisable that an individual must go through the type of work they will be required to do once they enter the workforce. Therefore, to give you a better idea of the daily work of an operational research analyst, we have mentioned their roles and responsibilities below: 

• Collect and organise data from various sources like computer databases, customer feedback, sales history etc. to solve problems in areas like healthcare, logistics, businesses and other fields. 
• To gather insights from workers who are related to the problem and from others who have specialised knowledge that can help in solving the problem. 
• Analyse information to extract relevant information and what tools & techniques can be used to extract insights from it. 
• In order to solve the problem, advise managers and other decision-makers about what should be the best course of action. 
• Prepare documents and reports to communicate their findings to the management. 
• Use simulations, predictive modelling, statistical analysis, etc. in order to analyse the information and suggest practical solutions to solve business problems. 

Also Read: Career Skills – The Essence of Success

Job Roles and Salary 

The table below represents some of the common job positions and their respective salaries in the field of operational research. 

Job Positions	Average Annual Salary
Research Scientist	INR 3.5 LPA to INR 8 LPA
Associate Analyst	INR 3.5 LPA to INR 12 LPA
Operational Risk Analyst	INR 3.5 LPA to INR 8.4 LPA
Research Head	INR 5 LPA to INR 15 LPA
Research Manager	INR 4 LPA to INR 9 LPA
Operational Research Consultant	INR 4 LPA to INR 16 LPA

FAQs

We hope this article cleared all of your doubts related to the MSc in Operational Research course. To read more informative articles like this one, keep following Leverage Edu.