Projects

James Sakal is currently researching with CEMPS.

In its most generic sense, the University Course Timetabling Problem (UCTP) refers to a class of problems for which an assignment and schedule of lectures is sought for a particular university in order to create a working timetable. A satisfactory solution is one that is both feasible with regard to certain physical constraints and desirable from an operational point of view. It has been considered as a subset of a wider class of problems known as Education Timetabling Problems, which also includes School Timetabling and Examination Timetabling. Despite some fundamental differences in the models used, ideas about tackling one category of problem have frequently influenced research into another. For example, the use of genetic algorithms, as applied to the Examination Timetabling Problem by Colorni et al. has also proved a fertile research direction for the UCTP in recent years. Babaei et al. relate the UCTP as first being described in the literature by Gotlib. Since then, a diversity of approaches has been employed to find optimal or satisfactory solutions to various formulations of the problem. Methodologies have included Logic and Integer Programming, Graph Colouring, Tabu Search, Simulated Annealing as well as nature-inspired metaheuristics such as Ant Colony Optimisation/Optimiser (ACO). Multi-phase hybrids of different techniques have proved particularly popular in recent years.

http://eprofile.exeter.ac.uk/jamessakal

http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/computer-science/staff/js1188