Description

Leader of the group Networks and Optimization: Guido Schäfer.

In today’s society, complex systems surround us. From transport and traffic, to behavioral economics and operations management, real-world applications often demand that we identify simple, optimal solutions among a huge set of possibilities. Our research group Networks and Optimization (N&O) does fundamental research to tackle such challenging optimization problems. 

We develop algorithmic methods to solve complex optimization problems efficiently. Our research provides efficient algorithms to some of the most challenging problems, for example, in planning, scheduling and routing. To come up with the best optimization algorithms, we combine and extend techniques from different disciplines in mathematics and computer science. 

N&O covers a broad spectrum of optimization aspects. Our expertise ranges from discrete to continuous optimization and applies to centralized and decentralized settings. We focus on both problem-specific methods and universal toolkits to solve different types of optimization problems. The key in our investigations is to understand and exploit combinatorial structures, such as graphs, networks, lattices and matroids. Our research is of high scientific impact and contributes to various fields.

In several cooperations with industry partners, the algorithmic techniques that we develop in our group have proven useful to solve complex real-world problems. We are always interested in new algorithmic challenges arising in real-world applications and are open to new cooperations.

 

Watch our group video to get a glimpse of our activities.

 

 

 

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Vacancies

News

Monique Laurent elected as Fellow of SIAM

Monique Laurent elected as Fellow of SIAM

CWI researcher Monique Laurent is elected as a Fellow of the international Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics – SIAM. This prestigious Fellowship honours SIAM members who have made outstanding contributions to these fields. Laurent, who is a member of the management team of CWI and a professor at Tilburg University, receives the fellowship for her contributions to discrete and polynomial optimization and revealing interactions between them.

Monique Laurent elected as Fellow of SIAM - Read More…

Rubicon grants for David de Laat and Alessandro Zocca

Rubicon grants for David de Laat and Alessandro Zocca

CWI researchers David de Laat and Alessandro Zocca both received an NWO Rubicon grant. De Laat will study new techniques to compute optimal packings at MIT for one year, and Zocca will study renewables and uncertainty in future power systems at Caltech for two years. NWO granted these subsidies to 22 young, highly promising research talents to gain international research experience at foreign top institutes.

Rubicon grants for David de Laat and Alessandro Zocca - Read More…

Members

Associated Members

Publications

Current projects with external funding

  • Continuous Methods in Discrete Optimization
  • Networks
  • New Frontiers in Lattice Algorithms and Design
  • Verbeteren van de efficiency en prestatie van logistieke processen in de binnenvaart
  • Wiskundecluster DIAMANT
  • Approximation Algorithms, Quantum Information and Semidefinite Optimization (AQSO)
  • Mixed-Integer Non-Linear Optimisation Applications (MINOA)
  • Vóórkomen en voorkómen van incidenten op het spoor (PPS Prorail)
  • Quantum Software Consortium (QSC)
  • Societal Impact Games (SocialACT)

Related partners

  • Alma Mater Studiorum-Universita di Bologna
  • Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt
  • CNR Pisa
  • CNRS
  • CTVrede
  • IBM
  • Prorail
  • Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelmus Universitaet Bonn
  • Stanford University
  • Technische Universität Dortmund
  • Tilburg University
  • Technische Universiteit Eindhoven
  • Technische Universiteit Delft
  • Universiteit Leiden
  • Universiteit van Amsterdam
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam