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Search with evolutionary ruin and stochastic rebuild: a theoretic framework and a case study on exam timetabling (2014)
Journal Article
Li, J., Bai, R., Shen, Y., & Qu, R. (in press). Search with evolutionary ruin and stochastic rebuild: a theoretic framework and a case study on exam timetabling. European Journal of Operational Research, 242(3), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2014.11.002

This paper presents a state transition based formal framework for a new search method, called Evolutionary Ruin and Stochastic Recreate, which tries to learn and adapt to the changing environments during the search process. It improves the performanc... Read More about Search with evolutionary ruin and stochastic rebuild: a theoretic framework and a case study on exam timetabling.

A learning-guided multi-objective evolutionary algorithm for constrained portfolio optimization (2014)
Journal Article
Lwin, K., Qu, R., & Kendall, G. (2014). A learning-guided multi-objective evolutionary algorithm for constrained portfolio optimization. Applied Soft Computing, 24, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asoc.2014.08.026

Portfolio optimization involves the optimal assignment of limited capital to different available financial assets to achieve a reasonable trade-off between profit and risk objectives. In this paper, we studied the extended Markowitz's mean-variance p... Read More about A learning-guided multi-objective evolutionary algorithm for constrained portfolio optimization.

On minimizing coding operations in network coding based multicast: an evolutionary algorithm (2014)
Journal Article
Xing, H., Qu, R., Bai, L., & Ji, Y. (2014). On minimizing coding operations in network coding based multicast: an evolutionary algorithm. Applied Intelligence, 41(3), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10489-014-0559-4

In telecommunications networks, to enable a valid data transmission based on network coding, any intermediate node within a given network is allowed, if necessary, to perform coding operations. The more coding operations needed, the more coding resou... Read More about On minimizing coding operations in network coding based multicast: an evolutionary algorithm.

A two-stage stochastic mixed-integer program modelling and hybrid solution approach to portfolio selection problems (2014)
Journal Article
He, F., & Qu, R. (2014). A two-stage stochastic mixed-integer program modelling and hybrid solution approach to portfolio selection problems. Information Sciences, 289, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2014.08.028

In this paper, we investigate a multi-period portfolio selection problem with a comprehensive set of real-world trading constraints as well as market random uncertainty in terms of asset prices. We formulate the problem into a two-stage stochastic mi... Read More about A two-stage stochastic mixed-integer program modelling and hybrid solution approach to portfolio selection problems.

Workforce scheduling and routing problems: literature survey and computational study (2014)
Journal Article
Castillo-Salazar, J. A., Landa-Silva, D., & Qu, R. (2016). Workforce scheduling and routing problems: literature survey and computational study. Annals of Operations Research, 239(1), 39-67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-014-1687-2

In the context of workforce scheduling, there are many scenarios in which personnel must carry out tasks at different locations hence requiring some form of transportation. Examples of these type of scenarios include nurses visiting patients at home,... Read More about Workforce scheduling and routing problems: literature survey and computational study.

Adaptive selection of heuristics for improving exam timetables (2014)
Journal Article
Burke, E., Qu, R., & Soghier, A. (2014). Adaptive selection of heuristics for improving exam timetables. Annals of Operations Research, 218(1), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-012-1140-3

This paper presents a hyper-heuristic approach which hybridises low-level heuristic moves to improve timetables. Exams which cause a soft-constraint violation in the timetable are ordered and rescheduled to produce a better timetable. It is observed... Read More about Adaptive selection of heuristics for improving exam timetables.

Network flow models for intraday personnel scheduling problems (2014)
Journal Article
Brucker, P., & Qu, R. (2014). Network flow models for intraday personnel scheduling problems. Annals of Operations Research, 218(1), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-012-1234-y

Personnel scheduling problems can be decomposed into two stages. In the first stage for each employee the working days have to be fixed. In the second stage for each day of the planning period an intraday scheduling problem has to be solved. It consi... Read More about Network flow models for intraday personnel scheduling problems.

Computational study for workforce scheduling and routing problems (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Castillo-Salazar, J. A., Landa-Silva, D., & Qu, R. (2014). Computational study for workforce scheduling and routing problems.

We present a computational study on 112 instances of the Workforce Scheduling and Routing Problem (WSRP). This problem has applications in many service provider industries where employees visit customers to perform activities. Given their similarity,... Read More about Computational study for workforce scheduling and routing problems.

A path-oriented encoding evolutionary algorithm for network coding resource minimization (2013)
Journal Article
Xing, H., Qu, R., Kendall, G., & Bai, R. (2014). A path-oriented encoding evolutionary algorithm for network coding resource minimization. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 65(8), https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2013.79

Network coding is an emerging telecommunication technique, where any intermediate node is allowed to recombine incoming data if necessary. This technique helps to increase the throughput, however, very likely at the cost of huge amount of computation... Read More about A path-oriented encoding evolutionary algorithm for network coding resource minimization.

A simulated annealing based genetic local search algorithm for multi-objective multicast routing problems (2013)
Journal Article
Xu, Y., Qu, R., & Li, R. (2013). A simulated annealing based genetic local search algorithm for multi-objective multicast routing problems. Annals of Operations Research, 260(1), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-013-1322-7

This paper presents a new hybrid evolutionary algorithm to solve multi-objective multicast routing problems in telecommunication networks. The algorithm combines simulated annealing based strategies and a genetic local search, aiming at a more flexib... Read More about A simulated annealing based genetic local search algorithm for multi-objective multicast routing problems.

A nondominated sorting genetic algorithm for bi-objective network coding based multicast routing problems (2013)
Journal Article
Xing, H., & Qu, R. (2013). A nondominated sorting genetic algorithm for bi-objective network coding based multicast routing problems. Information Sciences, 233, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2013.01.014

Network coding is a new communication technique that generalizes routing, where, instead of simply forwarding the packets they receive, intermediate nodes are allowed to recombine (code) together some of the data packets received from different incom... Read More about A nondominated sorting genetic algorithm for bi-objective network coding based multicast routing problems.

Particle swarm optimization for the Steiner tree in graph and delay-constrained multicast routing problems (2013)
Journal Article
Qu, R., Xu, Y., Castro-Gutierrez, J., & Landa-Silva, D. (2013). Particle swarm optimization for the Steiner tree in graph and delay-constrained multicast routing problems. Journal of Heuristics, 19(2), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10732-012-9198-2

This paper presents the first investigation on applying a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to both the Steiner tree problem and the delay constrained multicast routing problem. Steiner tree problems, being the underlining models of many ap... Read More about Particle swarm optimization for the Steiner tree in graph and delay-constrained multicast routing problems.

Domain transformation approach to deterministic optimization of examination timetables (2013)
Journal Article
Abdul Rahim, S., Bargiela, A., & Qu, R. (2013). Domain transformation approach to deterministic optimization of examination timetables. Artificial Intelligence Research, 2(1), https://doi.org/10.5430/air.v2n1p122

In this paper we introduce a new optimization method for the examinations scheduling problem. Rather than attempting direct optimization of assignments of exams to specific time-slots, we perform permutations of slots and reassignments of exams upon... Read More about Domain transformation approach to deterministic optimization of examination timetables.

A time predefined variable depth search for nurse rostering (2013)
Journal Article
Burke, E., Curtois, T., Qu, R., & Vanden Berghe, G. (2013). A time predefined variable depth search for nurse rostering. INFORMS Journal on Computing, 25(3), https://doi.org/10.1287/ijoc.1120.0510

This paper presents a variable depth search for the nurse rostering problem. The algorithm works by chaining together single neighbourhood swaps into more effective compound moves. It achieves this by using heuristics to decide whether to continue ex... Read More about A time predefined variable depth search for nurse rostering.

A survey of workforce scheduling and routing (2012)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Castillo-Salazar, A., Landa-Silva, D., & Qu, R. (2012). A survey of workforce scheduling and routing.

In the context of workforce scheduling, there are many scenarios in which personnel must carry out tasks at different locations hence requiring some form of transportation. Examples of these type of scenarios include nurses visiting patients at home,... Read More about A survey of workforce scheduling and routing.

A survey of search methodologies and automated system development for examination timetabling (2008)
Journal Article
Qu, R., Burke, E., McCollum, B., Merlot, L., & Lee, S. (2008). A survey of search methodologies and automated system development for examination timetabling. Journal of Scheduling, 12(1), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10951-008-0077-5

Examination timetabling is one of the most important administrative activities that takes place in all academic institutions. In this paper, we present a critical discussion of the research on exam timetabling which has taken place in the last decade... Read More about A survey of search methodologies and automated system development for examination timetabling.

Hybridizations within a graph based hyper-heuristic framework for university timetabling problems (2008)
Journal Article
Qu, R., & Burke, E. (2008). Hybridizations within a graph based hyper-heuristic framework for university timetabling problems. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 60(9), https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2008.102

A significant body of recent literature has explored various research directions in hyper-heuristics (which can be thought as heuristics to choose heuristics). In this paper, we extend our previous work to construct a unified graph-based hyper-heuris... Read More about Hybridizations within a graph based hyper-heuristic framework for university timetabling problems.

A graph-based hyper heuristic for timetabling problems (2007)
Journal Article
Burke, E., MacCloumn, B., Meisels, A., Petrovic, S., & Qu, R. (2007). A graph-based hyper heuristic for timetabling problems. European Journal of Operational Research, 176(1), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2005.08.012

This paper presents an investigation of a simple generic hyper-heuristic approach upon a set of widely used constructive heuristics (graph coloring heuristics) in timetabling. Within the hyperheuristic framework, a Tabu Search approach is employed to... Read More about A graph-based hyper heuristic for timetabling problems.