Host: Carsten Witt (https://www.imm.dtu.dk/~cawi/)
Hosting Institution: Technical University of Denmark
Suggested Topic: Theoretically guided research on optimal parameter settings and self-adjusting parameters in evolutionary algorithms and estimation of distribution algorithms
Host: Algirdas Lancinskas, http://www.lancinskas.com
Hosting Institution: Vilnius University (Lithuania)
Suggested Topic(s): Development of heuristics algorithms; Solution of facility location problems using heuristic algorithms; Benchmarking heuristic algorithms.
Host: Dr. Miguel Nicolau
http://www.ucd.ie/research/people/business/drmiguelnicolau/
Hosting Institution: University College Dublin, Ireland
Suggested Topic(s): Genetic Programming, GP benchmarking
More details: extend work on function sets and generalisation ability
Host: Carola Doerr (personal website: http://www-ia.lip6.fr/~doerr/)
Hosting Institution: Sorbonne University, Paris, France
Suggested Topics: Parameter Control, Online Algorithm Configuration and Selection, Benchmarking
Host: Vladimir Jaćimović
Hosting Institution: Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Montenegro
Suggested Topic(s): Computation and optimization based on self-organization in complex systems
More details: In Nature one can observe many fascinating phenomena of self-organization in large populations of mutually interacting individuals. Examples include fireflies that fire in sync, swarming fish, flocking birds and human audience clapping in unison after a good piece in theatre. The mechanisms of self-organization can be viewed as learning processes in large populations. I am interested in applications of various self-organization mechanisms to certain computation and optimization problems. One paradigmatic model of this kind is the famous Kuramoto model of coupled oscillators. Kuramoto model and its extensions have been used to design the methods of data clustering and community detection in complex networks.
There are also interesting models describing synchronization and swarming on higher dimensional Lie groups, such as special orthogonal groups SO(n) or the 3-sphere. Models of this kind appear in the theory of Distributed and cooperative control as distributed algorithms for the collective decision making in multi-agent systems. This has important applications in space navigation, formation flying and swarm control. I am interested in Geometric consensus theory, the subdiscipline that deals with consensus and coordination problems on compact Lie groups. In essence, Geometric consensus theory develops distributed algorithms for minimization of certain functions that are defined on Riemannian manifolds.