Frank Phillipson (F.)
Prof. dr. Frank Phillipson is full endowed professor of Quantum Enhanced Decision Intelligence / Computational Operations Research in the Operations Research group at the School of Business and Economics of Maastricht University. In addition, he is Research Fellow at the Graduate School of Business and Economics and Senior Scientist at TNO, where he works on applied quantum algorithms and advanced optimisation.
Frank obtained his PhD in Applied Mathematics / Business Analytics from VU Amsterdam, following earlier degrees in Econometrics (Operations Research) from VU Amsterdam and a PDEng in Applied Mathematics from Delft University of Technology. His academic career is closely intertwined with more than 25 years of research and innovation experience in applied optimisation, network planning, and decision support at TNO and KPN Research. In 2022, he delivered his inaugural lecture “Searching for Optimisation” at Maastricht University.
His research focuses on the development, analysis, and practical deployment of optimisation and machine-learning methods for large-scale decision problems, with a strong emphasis on quantum and hybrid quantum-classical computing. Application domains include energy systems, telecommunications, logistics, transportation, finance, defence, and smart city infrastructures. A recurring theme in his work is bridging theory and practice by translating real-world decision problems into mathematically sound and computationally viable models, including QUBO formulations for near-term quantum hardware. He has authored more than 25 journal publications, over 80 peer-reviewed conference papers, and is co-inventor of two patents.
Frank is actively involved in national and international research initiatives and regularly collaborates with industry and public-sector partners. He serves on numerous technical program committees and editorial review boards. He has supervised more than 50 MSc students and several PhD candidates.
He teaches and supervises topics in Operations Research, optimisation, decision analytics, and quantum computing for business and engineering applications.
Other activities include:
- Chair, NATO Research Task Group Quantum Computing for Military Applications
- Member of Technical Program Committees of leading conferences in quantum computing, optimisation, and applied computer science
- Reviewer for international journals and EU research programmes (including Marie Curie actions)
- Chair and board member of international scientific conferences
- Senior Scientist and Innovator at TNO, Applied Crypto & Quantum Algorithms