Dr Sebastian Maier

Biographical Details

Sebastian Maier has been Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor) in Statistical Science at University College London (UCL) since June 2020. Before that he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Technology & Operations Management at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). In 2018, Sebastian was appointed Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Analysis of Time Series in the Department of Statistics at the London School of Economics (LSE). He received his PhD degree from Imperial College London in 2017, where he also worked as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Research Interests

Sebastian is interested in both the development and application of computational stochastic optimisation and data-driven statistical models to tackle real-life decision problems that involve decision making under uncertainty. Recent research projects have covered such areas as supply chain management, infrastructure investment appraisal, renewable energy commercialisation, district heating network planning, municipal solid waste management, and public policy analysis. For example, in his ESRC-funded impact project "Transforming UK infrastructure appraisal practice: The role of real option portfolios under uncertainty" Sebastian investigated improved decision making approaches as well as their application to a range of practical infrastructure problems of varying type, scope and scale.

Selected Publications

• Maier, S. (2020). Re-evaluating natural resource investments under uncertainty: An alternative to limited traditional approaches. Annals of Operations Research, in Press.
• Maier, S., Pflug, G.C., & Polak, J.W. (2020). Valuing portfolios of interdependent real options under exogenous and endogenous uncertainties. European Journal of Operational Research, 285(1), 133-147.
• Maier, S., Polak, J.W. and Gann, D.M. (2020). Valuing portfolios of interdependent real options using influence diagrams and simulation-and-regression: A multi-stage stochastic integer programming approach. Computers & Operations Research, 115, 104505.
• Lambert, R.S.C., Maier, S., Shah, N., & Polak, J.W. (2016). Optimal phasing of district heating network investments using multi-stage stochastic programming. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management, 9, 57-74.
• Maier, S., Street, A., & McKinnon, K. (2016). Risk-averse portfolio selection of renewable electricity generator investments in Brazil: An optimised multi-market commercialisation strategy. Energy, 115, 1331-1343.
• Maier, S., & Oliveira, L.B. (2014). Economic feasibility of energy recovery from solid waste in the light of Brazil's waste policy: The case of Rio de Janeiro. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 35, 484-498.