Bradley Sturt Wins Best Paper Prize at International Conference in Paris
Award-winning research develops better algorithms for optimal stopping and options pricing
Bradley Sturt Wins Best Paper Prize at International Conference in Paris
Bradley Sturt, Assistant Professor of Information and Decision Sciences at UIC Business, has received the inaugural Junior Researcher Best Paper Prize in Stochastic Programming for his sole-authored paper, “A Nonparametric Algorithm for Optimal Stopping Based on Robust Optimization.” The award was presented at the 17th International Conference on Stochastic Programming (ICSP) held in Paris, July 28–August 1, 2025.
The prize, newly established by the Stochastic Programming Society (SPS) in memory of Roger J-B Wets, recognizes the most outstanding paper in stochastic programming authored by a junior scholar within seven years of earning a Ph.D. SPS is a global organization that promotes research and collaboration on decision-making under uncertainty through its conferences, workshops, and online initiatives. The prize is offered once every three years and is supported by a $100,000 endowment received by SPS in 2024.
Published in Operations Research, Sturt’s paper tackles a foundational challenge in stochastic dynamic optimization: how to make optimal decisions about when to stop a process under uncertainty—a key problem in areas like American-style option pricing and sequential investment decisions. His research introduces a novel algorithm that combines simulation and robust optimization to approximate these complex problems with high accuracy.
This recognition highlights UIC Business’s growing leadership in analytics and decision sciences and the influential contributions of its faculty to the global research community.