[Opt-Net] First Call for Papers - PATAT 2016: The 11th International Conference on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling

[Luca Di Gaspero]

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CALL FOR PAPERS

11th International Conference on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling
PATAT 2016
23-26 August, 2016 in Udine, Italy
http://www.patatconference.org/patat2016/
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AIM AND SCOPE
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The International Series of Conferences on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling (PATAT) is held biennially as a forum for both researchers and practitioners of timetabling to exchange ideas. PATAT 2016 which is the eleventh in the conference series will be held in Udine, Italy.

Whether it is sporting events, educational institutions, transportation or employee management the construction of efficient timetables which provide the maximum in way of flexibility for all constituent parts is as important as it is challenging. An increasingly important aspect within organisations is an automated approach which optimises all aspects of resource usage. In doing so a number of quantitative and qualitative challenges must be dealt with from both a technical and practical perspective.

An important aim of the conference is to align the needs of practitioners and the objectives of researchers. This is achieved through the presentation and application of leading edge research techniques. Practitioners and Researchers alike are encouraged to present their work and experiences with the overall goal of developing efficient and practical solutions. With this goal in mind, at PATAT 2016, researchers and practitioners will be brought together through a number of key presentations and workshops.

Topics of interest and themes of the conference include, but not limited to:

- Educational Timetabling               - Artificial Intelligence
- Timetabling in Transport              - Graph Colouring
- Employee Rostering                    - Resource Capacity Planning
- Sports Timetabling                    - Parallel/Distributed Computing
- Timetabling in Healthcare             - Hybrid Methods (e.g., Memetic 
- Mathematical Programming                Computing, Matheuristics)
- Constraint-Based Methods              - Machine Learning (e.g., Data Mining,
- Expert Systems                          Classifier Systems, Neural Networks)
- Knowledge Based Systems               - Multi-objective Approaches
- Fuzzy Systems                         - Multi-criteria Decision Making
- Heuristic Search                      - Foundational Studies (e.g.,
- Metaheuristics (e.g., Evolutionary      Complexity Issues)
  Computation, Simulated Annealing,     - Timetabling Tools and Applications
  Tabu Search, Ant Colony Methods)        (e.g., Interactive
- Systems to Build Systems (e.g.,         and Batch Systems, 
  Hyper-heuristics,                       Standard Data Formats,
  Algorithm Portfolios)                   Ontologies, Experiences)

PUBLICATION
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Authors are invited to submit their work in one of three categories:

1) Full papers: Authors should submit papers describing significant, original and unpublished work. 

2) Abstracts: People who wish to give a talk (e.g. practitioners, researchers with preliminary or incomplete papers) but do not want to submit a full paper can submit abstracts of up to 1000 words.

3) System demonstrations: Authors can also submit an abstract, describing the major properties and contribution of implemented and/or commercial timetabling systems.

All submissions will be peer reviewed by at least three members of the programme committee. Accepted papers will be invited for an oral presentation at the event and included in the PATAT 2016 proceedings after they are presented.

JOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUE
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Authors of all three categories will be invited to submit extended versions of their original work as full papers for consideration to be published in a Special Issue of the Annals of Operations Research.

IMPORTANT DATES
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Paper Submission Deadline:   26 February, 2016
Notification of Acceptance:  29 April, 2016
Early Registration Closes:   1 July, 2016
Conference:                  23-26 August, 2016
 
PROGRAMME CO-CHAIRS
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Edmund Burke, Queen Mary University of London (UK)
e.burke(ATT)qmul.ac.uk

Luca Di Gaspero, University of Udine (IT)
luca.digaspero(ATT)uniud.it

Barry McCollum, Queen's University Belfast (UK)
b.mccollum(ATT)qub.ac.uk

Ender Özcan, University of Nottingham (UK)
ender.ozcan(ATT)nottingham.ac.uk

Andrea Schaerf, University of Udine (IT)
schaerf(ATT)uniud.it

PROGRAMME COMMITTEE
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Panayiotis Alefragis, TEI Mesologiou, Greece
Hesham Alfares, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Saudi Arabia
Sara Ceschia, Università degli Studi di Udine, Italy
Marco Chiarandini, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Patrick De Causmaecker, KU Leuven, Belgium
Dominique De Werra, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Michel Gendreau, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada
Bernard Gendron, Université de Montréal, Canada
Graham Kendall, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Jeffrey H. Kingston, School of Information Technologies, University of Sydney, Australia
Raymond Kwan, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Rhydian Lewis, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Jingpeng Li, University of Stirling, United Kingdom
Paul McMullan, Queen's University of Belfast, United Kingdom
Amnon Meisels, Ben-Gurion University, Israel
Tomas Muller, Purdue University, United States
Nysret Musliu, TU Wien, Austria
Ben Paechter, Napier University, United Kingdom
Andrew J. Parkes, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Erwin Pesch, University of Siegen, Germany
Sanja Petrovic, The University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Nelishia Pillay, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Gerhard Post, Universiteit Twente, The Netherlands
Jean-Yves Potvin, Université de Montréal, Canada
Rong Qu, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Celso Ribeiro, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brasil
Atle Riise, SINTEF ICT, Norway
Louis-Martin Rousseau, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada
Hana Rudová, Masarykova Univerzita, Czech Republic
Jonathan Thompson, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Paolo Toth, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università degli Studi di Bologna, Italy
Michael Trick, Carnegie Mellon University, United States
Pascal Van Hentenryck, University of Michigan, United States
Greet Vanden Berghe, KU Leuven, Belgium
Mike Wright, Lancaster University, United Kingdom

ORGANISING COMMITTEE
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Sara Ceschia, University of Udine (IT)
Luca Di Gaspero, University of Udine (IT)
Andrea Schaerf, University of Udine (IT)
Tommaso Urli, NICTA (AU)