Call for Abstracts: Local Search Workshop, April 2002, London UK

[Andrew Tuson <andrewt@soi.city.ac.uk>]

Hi,

The deadline for submissions to this workshop is not far away. I look
forward to seeing you there!

Dr Andrew Tuson MA(Oxon) MSc(Edin) PhD(Edin) MRSC (andrewt@soi.city.ac.uk)

Lecturer, Department of Computing, City University, London, UK.

***************

Operational Research Society (UK): Local Search Study Group

Two Day Workshop on Local Search

16-17 April 2002, City University, London, UK

The aim of this workshop is to bring researchers and practitioners together
in an informal and mutually supportive environment to discuss the current,
and future, state-of-the art as well as how these developments relate to
commercial practice.

Location

More details about the venue can be found at http://www.city.ac.uk/

Programme and Scope

The event will include plenary sessions, and provide a number of technical
sessions, as well as a conference dinner. We seek contributions to the
technical programme, relevant to local search, especially in the following
areas:

Local Search Techniques, including but not limited to:

* Tabu search;
* Evolutionary algorithms;
* Simulated annealing;
* Scatter search
* Neural Networks;
* Constraint Satisfaction;
* Ant Systems, etc.

Local Search Applications, including but not limited to:

* Rostering;
* Frequency assignment;
* Vehicle routing and logistics;
* Time-tabling;
* Location problems;
* Cutting and Packing problems, etc.

Papers in any area relevant to local search will be considered on their
merits. Submissions describing real-world applications, or links between
local search and other related areas are especially welcome.

Plenaries

We are please to announce that we have two plenary speakers who will be of
interest to the local search community.

* Wim Nuijten, ILOG SA (Combining Local Search and Constraint
  Satisfaction)

* Thomas Stuetzle, Technical University of Darmstadt (Ant Colony
  Optimisation)

Submission and Routes to Publication

Submission is by abstract of length between 150 and 500 words. Submission
details are given below. A booklet of the abstracts of the accepted talks
will be made available on the day of the workshop. A special journal issue
on local search is being arranged.

Authors presenting at the workshop will be invited to submit papers after
the workshop for a special issue of the Journal of the Operational
Research Society. These papers will be considered in an additional round
of peer review.

Research students presenting papers will be eligible for a discounted
registration fee. Additional support for research students is being
sought.

Timetable and Deadlines

* Deadline for Submission of Abstracts: Friday November 16th 2001.
* Notification of Acceptance:           end November 2001.
* Invitation Programme Issued:          February 2002 newsletter.

Further details may be obtained from http://www.orsoc.org.uk/

Submission Details and Enquiries

Abstracts should be submitted using the Operational Research Society's
website at http://www.orsoc.org.uk/.

Alternatively, abstracts can be submitted by email to the submissions
co-ordinator (rsk@comp.leeds.ac.uk). In this case, authors should provide:

* Name and Affilation
* Address (postal and email)
* Abstract

General queries should be made to the Conference Chair (andrewt@soi.city.ac.uk)
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