In recent years genetic algorithms have emerged as a useful tool for the heuristic solution of complex discrete optimisation problems. In particular there has been considerable interest in their use in tackling problems arising in the areas of scheduling and timetabling. However, the classical...

This paper combines the idea of a hierarchical distributed genetic algorithm with different interagent partnering strategies. Cascading clusters of sub-populations are built from bottom up, with higher-level sub-populations optimising larger parts of the problem. Hence higher-level...

We propose a variation of the standard genetic algorithm that incorporates social interaction between the individuals in the population. Our goal is to understand the evolutionary role of social systems and its possible application as a non-genetic new step in evolutionary algorithms. In...

This paper presents a new type of genetic algorithm for the set covering problem. It differs from previous evolutionary approaches first because it is an indirect algorithm, i.e. the actual solutions are found by an external decoder function. The genetic algorithm itself provides this decoder...

This paper examines the use of a hierarchical coevolutionary genetic algorithm under different partnering strategies. Cascading clusters of sub-populations are built from the bottom up, with higher-level sub-populations optimising larger parts of the problem. Hence higher-level sub-populations...

Biomarkers which predict patient's survival can play an important role in medical diagnosis and treatment. How to select the significant biomarkers from hundreds of protein markers is a key step in survival analysis. In this paper a novel method is proposed to detect the prognostic biomarkers of...

This thesis investigates the use of problem-specific knowledge to enhance a genetic algorithm approach to multiple-choice optimisation problems. It shows that such information can significantly enhance performance, but that the choice of information and the way it is included are important...