This paper should be of interest not only to academic OR departments, but also to potential client organisations and students who are contemplating taking a Masters course, as an account is provided of how the Department of Management Science at Lancaster University prepares Master’s students for careers as OR practitioners. A significant aspect of this preparation is a 4-month consultancy project for an external client, which has been a key component of the Master’s course for over 40 years.
Following an historical background, the nature of the OR projects is described, together with summaries of recent typical projects. Our arrangements for setting up and managing projects follows, including the difficulties that have arisen from changing client organisational cultures, the increasingly multinational make-up of the student cohort and the competition for projects from similar courses. Supporting activities used to prepare students for projects are described, followed by discussion of the tricky problem of allocating students to the available projects. Finally the requirements for supervising students during the project are discussed, including the dissertation requirements, which include a strong element of reflection so as to enhance the project-learning experience.