Student Workshop

The student workshop at GECCO (Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference) 2017 aims to provide a platform for graduate and undergraduate students to present their research on the topic at GECCO in Berlin, Germany. This multi-session workshop supports students with their scientific work and facilitates their inclusion in the research community. Our call for papers can be found on the Call for Student Workshop page.

At the workshop, students receive valuable feedback on the quality of their work and their presentation style. This is assured by constructive discussions after each talk led by a mentor panel of established researchers. Students are encouraged to use this opportunity for guidance on future research directions.

In addition, we provide opportunities to:

  • present the work to the whole conference audience at the poster session,
  • receive a best paper award, and,
  • network and discuss ideas during and after the workshop.


We hope that the variety of covered topics (all topics at GECCO) will catch the attention of a wide range of conference attendees, who will learn about fresh research ideas and meet young researchers with related interests. Even when not submitting or presenting, students are encouraged to attend the workshop to learn of and from the work of their colleagues and broaden their (scientific) horizons.

... so, submit your work or encourage your students to do so!

General information on GECCO workshops can be found here. For some impressions of last year's workshop, check the corresponding website or our Twitter.

Important Dates

  • Workshop submission deadline: March 27, 2017
  • Decision notification: April 15, 2017
  • Camera-ready submission: April 27, 2017
  • Author registration deadline: Mai 1, 2017
  • GECCO workshops: July 15, 2017 10:40-18:00 (Topas 1)

Mentor Panel

We are excited to announce that Christine Zarges (Aberystwyth University, UK), Carlos A. Coello Coello (CINVESTAV-IPN, México) and Bill Langdon (University College London, UK) will be on our mentor panel.

Preliminary Programme

SessionTitleAuthors
1On Binary Unbiased Operators Returning Multiple OffspringNina Bulanova (ITMO University), Maxim Buzdalov (ITMO University)
Reinforcement Learning Based Dynamic Selection of Auxiliary Objectives with Preservation of the Best Found SolutionIrina Petrova (ITMO University), Arina Buzdalova (ITMO University)
Ant Colony Optimization with Human-computer Cooperative Strategy for Two-echelon Vehicle Routing ProblemXueming Yan (South China University of Technology), Zhifeng Hao (Foshan University), Han Huang (South China University of Technology), Hongyue Wu (South China University of Technology)
Optimization Networks for Real-World Production and Logistics ProblemsViktoria Hauder (University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Heuristic and Evolutionary Algorithms Laboratory), Andreas Beham (University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Heuristic and Evolutionary Algorithms Laboratory), Michael Affenzeller (University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Heuristic and Evolutionary Algorithms Laboratory)
Evaluation of Heavy-tailed Mutation Operator on Maximum Flow Test Generation ProblemVladimir Mironovich (ITMO University), Maxim Buzdalov (ITMO University)
2An Investigation of Topological Choices in FS-NEAT and FD-NEAT on XOR-based Problems of Increased ComplexityEvgenia Papavasileiou (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, imec), Bart Jansen (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, imec)
Hierarchical Surrogate Modeling for Illumination AlgorithmsAlexander Hagg (Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences)
Hybridisation of Artificial Bee Colony algorithm on Four Classes of Real-valued Optimisation FunctionsMudita Sharma (University of York), Dimitar Kazakov (University of York)
Variable Selection as a Non-Completely Decomposable Problem: A Case Study in Multivariate CalibrationLauro de Paula (Federal University of Goiás), Anderson Soares (Federal University of Goiás), Telma Soares (Federal University of Goiás), Clarimar Coelho (Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás)
A Genetic Representation for Outline ShapesPaul Lapok (Edinburgh Napier University), Alistair Lawson (Edinburgh Napier University), Ben Paechter (Edinburgh Napier University)
3Econometric Genetic Programming Outperforms Traditional Econometric Algorithms for Regression TasksAndré Novaes (PUC-Rio), Ricardo Tanscheit (PUC-Rio), Douglas Dias (UERJ)
Genetic Programming meets Linear Algebra How genetic programming can be used to find improved iterative numerical methodsReza Gholami M. (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg), Harald Köstler (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)
Binary and Multi-class Classification with Mixed-type Cartesian Genetic ProgrammingKarlo Knezevic (University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing), Stjepan Picek (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Julian Miller (University of York)
A Comparison of Semantic-Based Initialization Methods for Genetic ProgrammingHammad Ahmad (Washington and Lee University), Thomas Helmuth (Washington and Lee University)
Presentation of affiliated eventsAnnouncements, Women@GECCO workshop, COST Action ImAppNIO

For Accepted Authors

With the acceptance of your paper, you

  • have a slot in the workshop to present your paper
  • and can also participate with a poster in the regular GECCO poster session.

We will have sessions with 5 papers (see preliminary schedule above), so you will have 15 minutes for your presentation and 5 minutes for discussion. Poster requirements will be made available here as well.

Please consider the reviewers' comments carefully and amend your paper to its publishable camera-ready version. You will receive a copyright form from Linklings with your DOI soon as well as submission instructions for the camera-ready version. Deadline for camera-ready submissions is April 27, 2017. The page limit is still 4 pages!

At least one of the authors of the accepted paper has to register by May 1, 2017. At least one author or affiliate is required to attend GECCO and present the paper. If you are having visa issues or any other trouble regarding attendance, let us know as soon as possible. Please note that there are student travel grants available in case you have trouble funding the trip as well as lots of other opportunities for students. We do not issue visa invitation letters. The GECCO conference does however offer visa support letters. See the second to last point in the FAQ section for more info.

Until April 27, also please

  • update your submission to the camera-ready version on EasyChair
  • and let us know whether you want to participate with your own poster in the poster session or not.

Programme Committee

Thanks for your reviews!

  • Samineh Bagheri (Cologne University of Applied Sciences)
  • Tinkle Chugh (University of Jyvaskyla)
  • Edgar Covantes Osuna (University of Sheffield)
  • Erik Dovgan (Jožef Stefan Institute)
  • Bogdan Filipič (Jožef Stefan Institute)
  • Tobias Glasmachers (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
  • Roman Kalkreuth (TU Dortmund University)
  • Sven Koitka (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund)
  • Sebastian Krey (Cologne University of Applied Sciences)
  • Bill Langdon (University College London)
  • Malika Mehdi (University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene)
  • Mohand Said Mezmaz (University of Mons)
  • Gregor Papa (Jožef Stefan Institute)
  • Jorge Perez Heredia (University of Sheffield)
  • Alma A. M. Rahat (University of Exeter)
  • Feng Shi (Central South University)
  • Vida Vukašinović (Jožef Stefan Institute)
  • John Alasdair Warwicker (University of Sheffield)
  • Martin Zaefferer (Cologne University of Applied Sciences)
  • Christine Zarges (Aberystwyth University)


Contact Information

Any questions? Check the information provided here FIRST. If your question is unanswered still, do not hesitate to contact the organisers either by Twitter or email.

Organisers

  • Boris Naujoks (TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences, Germany)
  • Vanessa Volz (TU Dortmund University, Germany)


We also encourage you to read about the benefits of being a student when attending GECCO (including information on scholarships, travel grants and room sharing), the SIGEVO Summer School, as well as the Women@GECCO workshop for newcomers in GECCO-related research of all genders.

Women@GECCO Workshop

The Women@GECCO Workshop is a venue where students and junior researchers from different under-represented cohorts in Evolutionary Computation (EC) interact in an informal setting with more established women researchers on various issues related to fostering and balancing one’s professional and social life, as well as on inserting oneself in the EC community.

This year, the workshop expands its focus from “by women for women” to “GECCO women welcome EC newcomers”. Students of any gender are therefore encouraged to attend the Women@GECCO Workshop on Saturday, July 15, 2017 after the regular workshop/tutorial slots. See here for more information on the program and keynote speakers (Vanessa Volz, Justyna Petke and Anna I Esparcia-Alcázar).