- Email: [email protected]
Timetabling and Rostering
European Journal of Operational Research 153 (2003) 1–2 www.elsevier.com/locate/dsw
Editorial
Timetabling and Rostering
Welcome to this feature issue of EJOR on ‘‘Timetabling and Rostering’’. The areas of timetabling and rostering have generated significant scientific interest since the early days of computers and operational research. This interest has grown considerably over the years which is evidenced by the success of the EURO Working group on Automated TimeTabling (WATT) 1 and the international series of conferences on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling (PATAT). 2 This particular issue is closely associated with the WATT group. Indeed, it grew out of the 4th WATT workshop that was held in Rotterdam in July 2001 3 at the EURO XVIII conference. Of course, another compelling piece of evidence to support the statement that research activity in timetabling and rostering is currently very strong is the significant interest that this feature issue has generated. We are particularly pleased to present a broad spectrum of papers that range across sports timetabling, personnel rostering and educational timetabling. There has been some recent debate in the scheduling community about a gap between scheduling theory and practice. Closing this gap is one of the key research challenges that face us over the next few years. The challenge applies just as much to timetabling and rostering as it does to other scheduling problems. We were pleased to see
1 More details about WATT can be seen at http://www.asap.cs.nott.ac.uk/watt/index.html. 2 More details about the PATAT conferences can be found at http://www.asap.cs.nott.ac.uk/patat/patat-index.shtml. 3 More details about the workshop can be found at http://www.asap.cs.nott.ac.uk/watt/events/events.html.
that this goal is being addressed by papers in this issue. In particular, we have three case studies that concentrate upon the application of research knowledge to real world situations. Another key feature of recent research on timetabling and rostering is the multi-disciplinary nature of that research. Modern timetabling and rostering research lies at the interface of operational research and artificial intelligence. Scientists are moving across traditional disciplinary boundaries to influence (and be influenced by) different disciplines. This inter-disciplinary nature is very much reflected in the collection of papers that comprise this feature issue. We strongly believe that the future of timetabling and rostering lies in pursuing a multi-disciplinary approach and that the area is going to continue to attract the interest of scientists from across a range of disciplines. We are pleased to be able to contribute to the body of scientific knowledge in this area by presenting this collection of innovative and practically relevant papers. The papers that are presented in this feature issue have all been through a rigorous and demanding review process. The high scientific quality of the papers presented here is the result of a significant amount of hard work on the part of our Editorial Panel. This panel formed our pool of reviewers. Its membership is listed below and we would like to thank each of them for all their hard work. We should especially mention Diana French who provided invaluable administrative support with the assistance of Alison Payne. We would like to extend our thanks to both of them. We would also like to thank Professor Slowinski who was always willing to give us
0377-2217/$ - see front matter Ó 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0377-2217(03)00106-1
2
Editorial / European Journal of Operational Research 153 (2003) 1–2
support and advice throughout (from the preparation of the call for papers to putting the finishing touches to the issue). Finally, we would like to thank all the authors who submitted their papers to the feature issue. We appreciate their trust in us.
Edmund Burke Sanja Petrovic The University of Nottingham Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK E-mail addresses: [email protected] [email protected]
Editorial Panel Uwe Aickelin Hesham Alfares Patrice Boizumault Peter Brucker Xiaqiang Cai Mike Carter Patrick Decausmaecker Kathryn Dowsland Wilhelm Erben Martin Henz Graham Kendall Gilbert Laporte Vahid Lotfi Jeffrey Kingston Raymond Kwan Barry McCollum Amnon Meisels David Montana James Newall Ibrahim Osman Ben Paechter Jean-Yves Potvin Kirk Pruhs Colin Reeves Michael Trick Andrea Schaerf Jan Schreuder Danuta Sosnowska Jonathan Thompson Edward Tsang Reha Uzsoy Greet Vanden Berghe Dominique de Werra George White Mike Wright Jay Yellen
University of Bradford King Fahd University University of Caen University of Osnabrueck Chinese University of Hong Kong University of Toronto KaHo St.-Lieven Gower Optimal Algorithms Ltd. FH Konstanz––University of Applied Sciences National University of Singapore University of Nottingham University of Montreal University of Michigan-Flint University of Sydney University of Leeds Queens University of Belfast Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheeva BBN Technologies EventMAP Ltd. American University of Beirut Napier University University of Montreal University of Pittsburgh Coventry University Carnegie Mellon University Universita di Udine University of Twente Observatoire de Geneve University of Cardiff University of Essex Purdue University KaHo St.-Lieven EPF-Lausanne University of Ottawa Lancaster University Rollins College
UK Saudi Arabia France Germany China Canada Belgium UK Germany Singapore UK Canada USA Australia UK UK Israel USA UK Lebanon UK Canada USA UK USA Italy The Netherlands Switzerland UK UK USA Belgium Switzerland Canada UK USA
Editorial
Timetabling and Rostering
Welcome to this feature issue of EJOR on ‘‘Timetabling and Rostering’’. The areas of timetabling and rostering have generated significant scientific interest since the early days of computers and operational research. This interest has grown considerably over the years which is evidenced by the success of the EURO Working group on Automated TimeTabling (WATT) 1 and the international series of conferences on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling (PATAT). 2 This particular issue is closely associated with the WATT group. Indeed, it grew out of the 4th WATT workshop that was held in Rotterdam in July 2001 3 at the EURO XVIII conference. Of course, another compelling piece of evidence to support the statement that research activity in timetabling and rostering is currently very strong is the significant interest that this feature issue has generated. We are particularly pleased to present a broad spectrum of papers that range across sports timetabling, personnel rostering and educational timetabling. There has been some recent debate in the scheduling community about a gap between scheduling theory and practice. Closing this gap is one of the key research challenges that face us over the next few years. The challenge applies just as much to timetabling and rostering as it does to other scheduling problems. We were pleased to see
1 More details about WATT can be seen at http://www.asap.cs.nott.ac.uk/watt/index.html. 2 More details about the PATAT conferences can be found at http://www.asap.cs.nott.ac.uk/patat/patat-index.shtml. 3 More details about the workshop can be found at http://www.asap.cs.nott.ac.uk/watt/events/events.html.
that this goal is being addressed by papers in this issue. In particular, we have three case studies that concentrate upon the application of research knowledge to real world situations. Another key feature of recent research on timetabling and rostering is the multi-disciplinary nature of that research. Modern timetabling and rostering research lies at the interface of operational research and artificial intelligence. Scientists are moving across traditional disciplinary boundaries to influence (and be influenced by) different disciplines. This inter-disciplinary nature is very much reflected in the collection of papers that comprise this feature issue. We strongly believe that the future of timetabling and rostering lies in pursuing a multi-disciplinary approach and that the area is going to continue to attract the interest of scientists from across a range of disciplines. We are pleased to be able to contribute to the body of scientific knowledge in this area by presenting this collection of innovative and practically relevant papers. The papers that are presented in this feature issue have all been through a rigorous and demanding review process. The high scientific quality of the papers presented here is the result of a significant amount of hard work on the part of our Editorial Panel. This panel formed our pool of reviewers. Its membership is listed below and we would like to thank each of them for all their hard work. We should especially mention Diana French who provided invaluable administrative support with the assistance of Alison Payne. We would like to extend our thanks to both of them. We would also like to thank Professor Slowinski who was always willing to give us
0377-2217/$ - see front matter Ó 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0377-2217(03)00106-1
2
Editorial / European Journal of Operational Research 153 (2003) 1–2
support and advice throughout (from the preparation of the call for papers to putting the finishing touches to the issue). Finally, we would like to thank all the authors who submitted their papers to the feature issue. We appreciate their trust in us.
Edmund Burke Sanja Petrovic The University of Nottingham Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK E-mail addresses: [email protected] [email protected]
Editorial Panel Uwe Aickelin Hesham Alfares Patrice Boizumault Peter Brucker Xiaqiang Cai Mike Carter Patrick Decausmaecker Kathryn Dowsland Wilhelm Erben Martin Henz Graham Kendall Gilbert Laporte Vahid Lotfi Jeffrey Kingston Raymond Kwan Barry McCollum Amnon Meisels David Montana James Newall Ibrahim Osman Ben Paechter Jean-Yves Potvin Kirk Pruhs Colin Reeves Michael Trick Andrea Schaerf Jan Schreuder Danuta Sosnowska Jonathan Thompson Edward Tsang Reha Uzsoy Greet Vanden Berghe Dominique de Werra George White Mike Wright Jay Yellen
University of Bradford King Fahd University University of Caen University of Osnabrueck Chinese University of Hong Kong University of Toronto KaHo St.-Lieven Gower Optimal Algorithms Ltd. FH Konstanz––University of Applied Sciences National University of Singapore University of Nottingham University of Montreal University of Michigan-Flint University of Sydney University of Leeds Queens University of Belfast Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheeva BBN Technologies EventMAP Ltd. American University of Beirut Napier University University of Montreal University of Pittsburgh Coventry University Carnegie Mellon University Universita di Udine University of Twente Observatoire de Geneve University of Cardiff University of Essex Purdue University KaHo St.-Lieven EPF-Lausanne University of Ottawa Lancaster University Rollins College
UK Saudi Arabia France Germany China Canada Belgium UK Germany Singapore UK Canada USA Australia UK UK Israel USA UK Lebanon UK Canada USA UK USA Italy The Netherlands Switzerland UK UK USA Belgium Switzerland Canada UK USA