Hybrid Metaheuristics

The research field of hybrid metaheuristics is today established as a reference field in the areas of optimization and problem solving. Hybrid metaheuristics have a strong impact on applications because they provide efficient and powerful problem-solving techniques for optimization problems in science and industry. The interdisciplinary research community with scientists from various backgrounds provides a fertile environment where innovative echniques are presented and discussed. The International Workshop on Hybrid Metaheuristics (HM) pursues the direction of combining application-oriented and fundamental research. This is demonstrated by the papers in the proceedings of this eighth edition of HM. The contributions selected for this volume represent an important sample of current research in hybrid metaheuristics. It is worth emphasizing that the selected papers cover both theoretical and experimental results, including new paradigmatic hybrid solvers, and automatic design approaches as well as applications to logistics and public transport. As is the tradition of the workshop, special care was exercised in the review process: out of 30 submissions received, 16 papers were selected on the basis of the reviews by the Program Committee members and evaluations by the Program Chairs. Reviews were in great depth: reviewers provided authors with constructive suggestions for improvement. Special thanks are extended to the Program Committee members who devoted their time and effort. We believe that this selection of papers will be of interest not only to researchers working in the area of optimization and problem solving. We hope that, by showing the success of ideas generated from connections between different research fields, we can stimulate the cross-fertilization between computer science, mathematics, engineering, biology, operation s research, economics, and others