Today, Prof. Thomas Weise joined the COnfiguration and SElection of ALgorithms group (COSEAL). COSEAL is an international group of researchers with focus on algorithm selection and algorithm configuration. These two topics are very closely related to our research direction Rigorous Performance Analysis of Algorithms, in particular to the Optimization Benchmarking project.
In order to find the best way to solve an optimization problem, we need to use the best algorithm and the best setup of this algorithm. Algorithm setups have both static and dynamic components, both of which are vital for the algorithm performance. Static parameters do not change during the algorithm run, common examples are (static) population sizes of Evolutionary Algorithms or the tabu tenure of Tabu Search. Dynamic parameters can change all the time, either according to a fixed schedule (like the temperature in Simulated Annealing) or in a self-adaptive way (like the mutation step size in a (1+1) Evolution Strategy with the 1/5th rule). We may also choose the algorithm to apply based on some problem features or dynamically assign runtime to different algorithms based on their progress, i.e., construct some form of meta-algorithm. COSEAL aims to find good algorithm configurations, both dynamic and static, as well as algorithm selection methods.
Where does benchmarking come into play? First, better techniques for benchmarking may lead to better policies for dynamic algorithm configuration. Second, in order to know whether a static or dynamic algorithm parameters and algorithm selection methods work well over different problems, we need benchmarking. Third, benchmarking may tell us the strengths and weaknesses of a setup or algorithm.
Due to this close relationship, several other members of COSEAL also join in the programme committee and even the chairing team of our International Workshop on Benchmarking of Computational Intelligence Algorithms (BOCIA).