** Apologies for cross posting **

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*** SPECIAL SESSION CALL FOR PAPERS
*** IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS
(IEEE SMC 2013)
*** SPECIAL SESSION ON HYBRID METAHEURISTICS
*** 13-16 October 2013, Manchester, UK
*** http://www.smc2013.org/
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** Introduction/Call for Papers **

Metaheuristics, such as evolutionary algorithms, particle swarm
optimization, ant colony optimization and estimation of distribution
algorithms, have been successfully used to solve many hard problems
(continuous/discrete, mono/multi-objective, dynamic optimization,
optimization under uncertainty). However, in recent years, hybrid
metaheuristics have attracted a growing interest. In this new class of
algorithms, a smart combination of concepts and techniques from
different optimization methods is used. Hybridization is not
restricted to the combination of different metaheuristics but includes
the integration of artificial intelligence or operational research
techniques. For instance, techniques from mathematical programming,
constraint programming or exact methods can be incorporated into
metaheuristics. Such hybridizations can be used to take advantage of
strengths from different algorithms. Several examples in the
literature show that hybrid metaheuristics can provide a more robust
and efficient problem-solving, especially for real-world and
large-scale problems. We propose to focus this special session on
hybrid metaheuristics, especially on the evaluation of their
performances and on their applications.

** Indicative Topics/Areas **
Contributions solicited cover a variety of topics including but not limited to:

* Novel Combinations of Components from Different Metaheuristics
* Hybridization of Metaheuristics with AI/OR Techniques
* Theoretical Aspects of Hybridization
* Automated Parameter Tuning
* Cooperative Search
* Empirical and Statistical Comparison
* Benchmarking and New Empirical Results
* Parallel/Distributed Metaheuristic Implementations and Applications
* Software Libraries
* Applications in Continuous and Discrete Search Spaces
* Applications in Multi-Objective
* Dynamic and Noisy Problems
* Large-Scale Applications

** Important Dates **

15 April 2013 - Deadline for submission of full-length papers to
special sessions.
30 June 2013 - Acceptance/Rejection Notification.
31 July 2013 - Final camera-ready papers due in electronic form.

** Submission **

Manuscripts for a Special Session should NOT be submitted in
duplication to any other regular or special sessions and should be
submitted to SMC 2013 main conference online submission system on SMC
2013 conference website.
All submitted papers of Special Sessions have to undergo the same
review process (three completed reviews per paper).  The technical
reviewers for each Special Session paper will be members of the SMC
2013 Program Committee and qualified peer-reviewers to be nominated by
the Special Session organizers.

** Special Session organizers **

Pr. Patrick Siarry (Université Paris-Est Créteil, France)
Dr. Lhassane Idoumghar (Université de Haute-Alsace, France)
Dr. Julien Lepagnot (Université de Haute-Alsace, France)

** Organized by IEEE SMC TC on Hybrid Metaheuristics **


-- 
Julien LEPAGNOT
Associate professor in computer science / Maître de conférences en informatique
Université de Haute-Alsace - Laboratoire LMIA - Equipe MAGE (EA 3993)
4 rue des Frères Lumière, 68093 Mulhouse
Tel : +33 3 89 33 60 28