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Recent Advances in Combinatorial Optimization2026HT, 6.0 credits
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Course plan
Introduction
In this seminar, each participant will present a paper related to their
research, with the aim of introducing the other students to a specific topic
adjacent to the presenter's PhD.
The goal is two-fold: first, to sharpen the students' presentation skills and
ease, as well as their abilities to efficiently talk about recent advances in
their fields. Second, to get introductions to a broad range of topics related
to the course's subject, in order to promote the cross-fertilization of ideas
between adjacent areas, so that students can benefit from it for their own
research.
Recommended for
PhD students specializing in a field related to discrete optimization
No of lectures
Depending on the number of participants, we will have between 5 and 8 lectures.
Goals
The aim of the course is to get an overview of the recent trends and advancements in various areas related to combinatorial optimization. We will thoroughly discuss a set of recent publications from the field, and put them in context to past developments.
Prerequisites
A solid background in computer science and mathematics is required. In particular, the students would benefit from knowledge about linear algebra and discrete maths (logic, combinatorics and graph theory), but also algorithms, data structure, and complexity theory.
Organization
The course is run as a weekly seminar in which up to two participants present their respective papers, and lead a following discussion on the topic. Each presentation should span about 20 to 30 minutes, with 20 additional minutes of discussion.
Content
In this seminar, we cover recent works in various fields of combinatorial optimization, including planning and scheduling, heuristic search, constraint programming, mathematical programming, among others.
Literature
A selection of recent papers will be provided on the course webpage. Participants are more than welcome to suggest papers beyond the provided options.
Examination
Each participant will have to do the following:
- Choose and present a research article of their choice
- Read two articles presented by peers, and assume the roles of the opponent
and champion of the paper
A student who champions (resp. opposes) a paper has to highlight its qualities
(resp. flaws), and respond to the criticisms (resp. praises) of the person who
opposes (resp. champions) it. The goal is to foster discussions about the
paper.
In addition, each participant is expected to take part in the discussion about
the papers that are presented at each session.
Examiner
Arnaud Lequen
Credits
6
Page responsible: Anne Moe
