HOCM - Winners of Previous Competitions

Best Paper Competition 2025

Finalists

• Title: Dynamic Relief Provision Planning for En Route Refugee: Shaping Probabilistic Movements Using Migration Pull Drivers. Authors: Amirreza Pashapour; Dilek Günneç; F. Sibel Salman; Eda Yücel
• Title: A Little Goes a Long Way: How Investments Boost Volunteer Productivity. Authors: Eunae Yoo; Gloria Urrea
• Title: How long should supermarkets wait to donate? Optimal policies for donating perishables with profit and food waste considerations. Authors: Shabnam Salehi; Irem Sengul Orgut; Emmett Lodree
• Title: A behavior-driven framework for shelter network design and evacuation planning. Authors: Maedeh Sharbaf; Marie-Ève Rancourt; Valérie Bélanger

Runner Up

• Title: A behavior-driven framework for shelter network design and evacuation planning. Authors: Maedeh Sharbaf; Marie-Ève Rancourt; Valérie Bélanger

Winner

• Title: Dynamic Relief Provision Planning for En Route Refugee: Shaping Probabilistic Movements Using Migration Pull Drivers. Authors: Amirreza Pashapour; Dilek Günneç; F. Sibel Salman; Eda Yücel

Best Paper Competition 2024

Finalists

• Title: AI-Powered Philanthropy: Effects on Volunteer Productivity. Authors: Vinit S. Tipnis, Eunae Yoo, Gloria Urrea, and Fei Gao
• Title: Cognitive Biases in Cryptocurrency Donations: The Influence of Market Changes and Urgency. Authors: Gloria Urrea, Sebastian Villa, Eunae Yoo, and Gordon Burtch
• Title: Pushing the Limits: Changing Service Architectures in Humanitarian Response Operations. Authors: Lauren Bateman and Erica Gralla
• Title: Raising Voice and Speaking Up to Leaders: A Catalyst for Identity Leadership and Innovation in Humanitarian Operations. Authors: Lea Ruesch, Mojtaba Salem, and Ilka Gleibs

Runner Up

Title: AI-Powered Philanthropy: Effects on Volunteer Productivity. Authors: Vinit S. Tipnis, Eunae Yoo, Gloria Urrea, and Fei Gao

Winner

Title: Cognitive Biases in Cryptocurrency Donations: The Influence of Market Changes and Urgency. Authors: Gloria Urrea, Sebastian Villa, Eunae Yoo, and Gordon Burtch

Best Paper Competition 2023

Finalists

• Title: Aiming for Research and Practice Impact in Humanitarian Operations: A Critical Review, Challenges, and Opportunities. Authors: Erica Gralla and Maria Besiou
• Title: Tweet in Unison? Examining Content Coordination and Social Media Engagement during Disasters. Authors: Changseung (Chang) Yoo, Eunae Yoo, Lucy Yan, and Alfonso J. Pedraza-Martinez.

Runner Up

Title: To Earmark or to Non-Earmark? The Role of Control, Transparency, and Warm-Glow. Authors: Özalp Özer, Gloria Urrea, and Sebastian Villa.

Winner

Title: Market Systems in a Humanitarian Crisis: Making Food More Affordable and Available. Authors: Tristan Downing, Jarrod Goentzel, and Maria Besiou.

Best Paper Competition 2022

Finalists

• Title: Donations for Disaster Response: Competition on Earmarking and Fundraising Effort vs. Joint Fundraising. Authors: Arian Aflaki and Alfonso J. Pedraza-Martinez
• Title: Curbing the Usage of Conflict Minerals: A Supply Network Perspective. Authors: Han Zhang, Goker Aydin, H. and Sebastian Heese
• Title: Avoiding Fields on Fire: Information Dissemination Policies for Environmentally Safe Crop-Residue Management. Authors: Mehdi H. Farahani, Milind Dawande, Ganesh Janakiraman, and Shouqiang Wang
• Title: Treatment Planning of Victims with Heterogeneous Time-sensitivities in Mass Casualty Incidents. Authors: Yunting Shi, Nan Liu, and Guohua Wan

Runner Up
Title: Reinforcing Schooling Access for the Syrian Refugee Children in Turkey. Authors: Sebnem Manolya Demir, Feyza G. Sahinyazan, Bahar Yetis Kara, and Elfe Buluc

Winner

Title: A Queueing-Theoretic Framework for Evaluating Transmission Risks in Service Facilities During a Pandemic
Authors: Authors: Kang Kang, Sherwin Doroudi, Mohammad Delasay, and Alexander Wickeham

Best Paper Competition 2021

Finalists

• Title: Disaster Mitigation: Leveraging Community Involvement to Improve Water Access in Sub-Saharan Africa. Authors: Chengcheng Zhai, Kurt Bretthauer, Jorge Mejia, and Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez.
• Title: No Panic in Pandemic: The Impact of Individual Choice on Public Health Policy and Vaccine Priority. Authors: Anthony Zhenhuan Zheng, Miao Bai, Ying Cui, and Guangwen Kong. 
• Title: The Role of Volunteer Experience on Performance of Online Volunteering Platforms. Authors: Eunae Yoo and Gloria Urrea.

Runner Up 

Title: No Panic in Pandemic: The Impact of Individual Choice on Public Health Policy and Vaccine Priority. Authors: Anthony Zhenhuan Zheng, Miao Bai, Ying Cui, and Guangwen Kong. 

Winner

Title: The Role of Volunteer Experience on Performance of Online Volunteering Platforms. Authors: Eunae Yoo and Gloria Urrea.

Best Paper Competition 2020

Second Place Tie

• Title: Collaboration in the field: A behavioural approach. Authors: Lea Rüsch, Murat Tarakci, Maria Besiou, and Niels Van Quaquebeke.
• Title: Impact of Incorporating Returns into Pre-Disaster Deployments for Rapid-Onset Predictable Disasters. Authors: Jon M. Stauffer and Subodha Kumar.

Winner

Title: Is authoritarian leadership an effective approach during humanitarian operations?. Authors: Mojtaba Salem, Maria Besiou, and Niels Van Quaquebeke.

Best Paper Competition 2019

Finalists

• Title: Operational Transparency on Crowdfunding Platforms: Effect on Donations for Emergency Response. Authors: Jorge Mejia, Gloria Urrea, and Alfonso J. Pedraza - Martinez
• Title: Collaborative Prepositioning Network Design for Regional Disaster Response. Authors: Burcu Balcik, Selene Silvestri, Marie Ève Rancourt, and Gilbert Laporte 
• Title: Stay Dependent: Relational Strategies to Reduce Funding Uncertainty. Authors: Gloria Urrea, Sebastian Villa, and Eric Quintane
• Title: Humanitarian Organization Pre-Disaster Deployment for Predictable Disasters. Authors: Jon M. Stauffer and Subodha Kumar

Runner Up 

Title: Operational Transparency on Crowdfunding Platforms: Effect on Donations for Emergency Response. Authors: Jorge Mejia, Gloria Urrea, and Alfonso J. Pedraza - Martinez

Winner

Title: Collaborative Prepositioning Network Design for Regional Disaster Response. Authors: Burcu Balcik, Selene Silvestri, Marie Ève Rancourt, and Gilbert Laporte

Best Paper Competition 2018

Runner Up 

Title: Designing response supply chain against bio-attack. Authors: David Simchi-Levi, Nikos Trichakis, and Peter Yun Zhang 

Winner

Title: Design of Public Warning System. Authors: Saed Alizamir, Francis de Vericourt, and Shouqiang Wang

Best Paper Competition 2017

Runner Up 

Title: A set-partitioning formulation for community healthcare network design in underserved area. Authors: Marilene Cherkesly, Marie-Ève Rancourt, and Karen Smilowitz

Winner

Title: A Policy for Managing Operational Assets to Minimize Deprivation Cost. Authors: Milad Keshvari Fard, Mahyar Eftekhar, and Felix Papier

Best Paper Competition 2016

Runner Up 

Title: Disaster Cycle Management: Matching Supply and Demand for Social Support through Social Media. Authors: Lucy Yan and Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez

Winner

Title: Surface vs. Air Shipment in Humanitarian Operations under Demand Uncertainty. Authors: John Park, Burak Kazaz, and Scott Webste