A clique-based algorithm for constructing feasible timetables

Constructing a feasible solution, where the focus is on 'hard' constraints only, is an important part of solving timetabling problems. For the University Course Timetabling Problem, we propose a heuristic algorithm to schedule events to timeslots based on cliques, each representing a set of events that could be scheduled in the same timeslot, which the algorithm constructs. Our algorithm has been tested on a set of well-known instances, and the experimental results show that our algorithm is efficient and can compete with other effective algorithms. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.postprin