Berend Markhorst

Hi! I am a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Business and Management Science at NHH (Norwegian School of Economics), where I will be working with Julio Goez and Stein Wallace. In September 2026, I submitted my PhD thesis, Decision-Making Under Uncertainty: Tending an Optimization Garden. My doctoral research at the Stochastics department of CWI and VU Amsterdam was supervised by Joost Berkhout, Alessandro Zocca, Jeroen Pruyn and Rob van der Mei. I obtained my MSc in Business Analytics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, specializing in Optimization of Business Processes.

My research interests are centered around operations research, stochastic programming, and mathematical optimization — with applications ranging from ship pipe routing and gas networks to emergency healthcare.

News

Oct 2026 Started as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Business and Management Science at NHH.
Sep 2026 Submitted my PhD thesis, Decision-Making Under Uncertainty: Tending an Optimization Garden.
Mar 2026 New preprint: LOTUS, a warm-start framework for dual decomposition in large-scale two-stage stochastic programs.
Mar 2026 New preprint: A fast heuristic for stochastic Steiner tree problems.
Mar 2026 Software release: SteinerPy, an open-source solver for Steiner tree and forest optimization problems.

Publications

2026

LOTUS: A warm-start framework for powering dual decomposition in large-scale two-stage stochastic programs E. Cornielje, B. Markhorst, A. Zocca, R. van der Mei — arXiv preprint
A fast heuristic for stochastic Steiner tree problems B. Markhorst, A. Zocca, J. Berkhout, R. van der Mei — arXiv preprint
Optimizing gas entry-exit capacity utilization under uncertainty B. Markhorst, R. Buijs, R. Egging-Bratseth, R. van der Mei — Computational Management Science

2025

Optimizing mobile stroke unit deployment: a strategic case study in the greater Oslo area B. Markhorst, C. Jagtenberg, M. R. Hov, R. van der Mei, K. Larsen — European Stroke Journal
Future-proof ship pipe routing: navigating the energy transition B. Markhorst, J. Berkhout, A. Zocca, J. Pruyn, R. van der Mei — Ocean Engineering

2024

TULIP: A two-step warm start method used for solving large-scale stochastic mixed-integer problems B. Markhorst, M. Leitner, J. Berkhout, A. Zocca, R. van der Mei — under review at Networks
Sailing through uncertainty: ship pipe routing and the energy transition B. Markhorst, J. Berkhout, A. Zocca, J. Pruyn, R. van der Mei — Proceedings of the 15th International Marine Design Conference

2021

A data-driven digital application to enhance the capacity planning of the COVID-19 vaccination process B. Markhorst, T. Zver, N. Malbasic, R. Dijkstra, D. Otto, R. van der Mei, D. Moeke — Vaccines

Software

Open-source packages that make our algorithms accessible to the public.

SteinerPy Exact, open-source solver for Steiner tree and forest optimization problems.
APRpy Benchmarking toolkit for automated pipe routing problems.
BRAIN Dashboard for finding a suitable base station for a mobile stroke unit.
SJORS Problem-based scenario generation for stochastic programming (coming soon).

Talks

Evaluating problem-based scenario generation in stochastic programming — StochMod, Amsterdam, Jun 2026
Strategic deployment of a mobile stroke unit in Oslo — Prehospital Acute Brain Symposium, Oslo, May 2026
Evaluating problem-based scenario generation in stochastic programming — Obergurgl Workshop, Austria, Dec 2025
A fast heuristic for stochastic Steiner tree problems — GOR Annual Conference, Bielefeld, Aug 2025
TULIP: warm starts for large-scale stochastic mixed-integer problems — ICSP, Paris, Jul 2025
TULIP: warm starts for large-scale stochastic mixed-integer problems — EURO, Leeds, Jun 2025
TULIP: warm starts for large-scale stochastic mixed-integer problems — LNMB Conference, Soesterberg, Jan 2025
TULIP: warm starts for large-scale stochastic mixed-integer problems — Obergurgl Workshop, Austria, Dec 2024
Future-proof ship pipe routing: navigating the energy transition — EURO, Copenhagen, Jul 2024 (session chair)
Sailing through uncertainty: ship pipe routing and the energy transition — IMDC, Amsterdam, Jun 2024
Robust ship pipe routing: navigating the energy transition — Obergurgl Workshop, Austria, Dec 2023
Air cargo truck scheduling at a major European airline — EURO, Espoo, Jul 2022

Teaching & supervision

Teaching assistant — Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Project Optimization of Business Processes (MSc)
Project Big Data (BSc)
Business Simulation (BSc)

Thesis supervision — VU Amsterdam & CWI

Roos van Andel (2026) — Strategic deployment of a mobile stroke unit in Oslo MSc Business Analytics, with Alessandro Zocca
Larson Beemster (2026) — Optimizing gas entry-exit capacity utilization under uncertainty MSc Business Analytics, with Alessandro Zocca
Emma Cornielje (2025) — TULIP 2.0: combining scenario reduction and Lagrangian relaxation MSc Mathematics, with Alessandro Zocca
Rens van Baars (2025) — Beyond coverage: allocating mobile stroke units based on health outcomes MSc Transport & Supply Chain Management, with Caroline Jagtenberg
Two BSc groups (2025) — Sustainable tourism management with Amsterdam & Partners BSc Business Analytics, with Joris Slootweg
BSc group (2022) — KLM cargo delivery BSc Business Analytics, with Ger Koole

CV

Education

Doctoral research, Stochastics department, CWI & VU Amsterdam Thesis submitted September 2026: Decision-Making Under Uncertainty: Tending an Optimization Garden
MSc Business Analytics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 2022 — Optimization of Business Processes
BSc Business Analytics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 2020
St. Ignatiusgymnasium, Amsterdam cum laude

Professional experience

Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Business and Management Science, NHH Oct 2026 – present
Research intern, CWI Jan – Jul 2022
Logistics analyst, GGD-GHOR / CWI / VU Mar – Jun 2021
Software engineering intern, TONOS Care Dec 2020 – Jan 2021

Academic service

Reviewer for Computer-Aided Design, Journal of Applied Mathematics and Computing, and Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine
Organizer of the departmental PhD meeting on mental health and PhD life 2022 – 2025, with Jeroen van Kasteren