COST Action CA15140

Working Group 1: Theory-Driven Applications

Working Group 1 is tasked with the development of novel theory-driven practical paradigms. The starting point for WG1 are existing theoretical results and insights and the task is to use those to create practical guidelines, tangible advice and help for the application of nature-inspired search and optimisation heuristics. WG1 is at the heart of the COST Action, implementing one aspect of the main objective of bridging the gap between theory and practice; it concentrates on the direction pushing from theory to practice. Its activities include providing and maintaining those parts of the COST Action's Internet website that directly relate to this task, namely providing practical guidelines, tangible advice and help for the application of nature- inspired search and optimisation heuristics. To promote its goals and results, the Action will organise tutorials at the main international conferences in the field such as Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference – GECCO and the International Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN. It will significantly contribute to the summer school and the joint workshop with industry partners. Another important task for WG1 is support for Early Career Investigators as well as broadening participation. It will actively reach out to all concerned groups and provide active support for PhD students and Postdocs, providing networking opportunities and actively helping to establish contacts with existing research groups and senior researchers in the field. It will pay particular attention to equal representation of all genders and ethnic groups and coordinate with existing initiatives in the field (e.g. ACM-W and Women@GECCO) to promote these goals. One main contribution in this area is the organisation of the summer school with a specific focus on the training of participants from Inclusiveness Target Countries.