Due to a number of requests, the deadline for SLS 2009 has been
extended to
April 15, 2009.
Website: http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/sls2009/
Publication: Accepted papers are published in the Lecture Notes in
Computer Science (LNCS) series of Springer Verlag.
SLS 2009 is a forum for all researchers that are interested in a sound
methodology for the design, implementation and analysis of stochastic
local search algorithms and metaheuristics.
SLS 2009 seeks for high-quality manuscripts that report on research,
applications of SLS algorithms, and recent developments on topics
related to the workshop. All papers will be peer reviewed.
Workshop Chairs:
Thomas Stuetzle, IRIDIA, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
Mauro Birattari, IRIDIA, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
Holger H. Hoos, CS Department, UBC, Vancouver, Canada
P.S.: Due to some server problems, the webpage was offline for about two days; these problems have been solved. Apologies for the inconveniences caused by this.
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Engineering Stochastic Local Search Algorithms
---
Designing, Implementing and Analyzing Effective Heuristics
SLS 2009
3-5 September, 2009. Brussels, Belgium
More details and up-to-date information at
iridia.ulb.ac.be/sls2009
Scope of the Workshop
======================
Stochastic local search (SLS) algorithms are among the most powerful
techniques for solving computationally hard problems in many areas
of computing science, operations research and engineering. SLS
techniques range from rather simple constructive and iterative
improvement algorithms to general-purpose SLS methods, also widely
known as metaheuristics, such as ant colony optimization,
evolutionary computation, iterated local search, memetic algorithms,
simulated annealing, tabu search and variable neighbourhood search.
In recent years, it has become evident that the development of
effective SLS algorithms is a highly complex engineering process
that typically combines aspects of algorithm design and
implementation with empirical analysis and problem-specific
background knowledge. The difficulty of this process is in part due
to the complexity of the problems being tackled and in part due to
the large number of degrees of freedom researchers and practitioners
face when developing SLS algorithms.
This development process needs to be assisted by a sound methodology
that adresses the issues arising in the phases of algorithm design,
implementation, tuning and experimental evaluation. In addition,
more research is required to understand which SLS techniques are
best suited for particular problem types and to better understand
the relationship between algorithm components, parameter settings,
problem characteristics and performance.
Relevant Research Areas
========================
The aim of this workshop is to stress the importance of an
integration of relevant aspects of SLS research into a more coherent
engineering methodology and to bring together researchers that work
in various fields, including computing science, operations research,
metaheuristics, algorithmics, statistics and application areas.
SLS 2009 solicits contributions dealing with any aspect of
engineering stochastic local search algorithms. Typical, but not
exclusive, topics of interest are:
+ Methodological developments for the implementation of SLS
algorithms (engineering procedures, integration of tools in the
SLS engineering process, ...)
+ In-depth experimental studies of SLS algorithms (behavior of SLS
algorithms, comparison of SLS algorithms, ...), problem
characteristics (search space analysis, ...) and their
impact on algorithm performance.
+ Tools for the assistance in the development process of SLS
algorithms (software libraries, automatic and semi-automatic
tuning procedures, learning techniques, ...).
+ Case studies in the principled development of well designed
SLS algorithms for practically relevant problems.
+ Aspects that become relevant when moving from "classical"
NP-hard problems to those including multiple objectives,
stochastic information or dynamically changing data.
+ New algorithmic developments (usage of AI/OR techniques, large
scale neighbourhood searches, new SLS methods, data structures,
distributed algorithms, ...)
+ Theoretical analysis of SLS behaviour and their impact
on algorithm design (analysis of operators, dynamic behaviour
of SLS algorithms, ...)
Publication Details
====================
The workshop proceedings will be published in Springer's Lecture
Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series.
Best Paper Award
=================
A best paper award will be presented at the workshop.
Important Dates
===============
Extended submission deadline 15 April, 2009
Notification of acceptance 22 May, 2009
Camera ready copy 5 June, 2009
Workshop 3-5 September, 2009
SLS 2009 Workshop Committee
============================
General Chairs
Thomas Stuetzle, IRIDIA, CoDE, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
Mauro Birattari, IRIDIA, CoDE, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
Holger H. Hoos, CS Department, UBC, Vancouver, Canada
