Journals (Peer-Reviewed Published/To Appear)

*corresponding/main author.

1. R. Qu*, E. K. Burke, B. McCollum, L.T.G. Merlot, and S.Y. Lee. A Survey of Search Methodologies and Automated System Development for Examination Timetabling. Journal of Scheduling, 12(1): 55-89, 2009. doi: 10.1007/s10951-008-0077-5, .pdf
   The top 0.1% cited paper in Computer Science by ISI Essential Science Indicators (Oct 2009)
   (Bibliography on Exam Timetabling) (Note: this survey is still being updated. Please send any updates to me.)
   
   
2. R. Qu* and E. K. Burke. Hybridisations within a Graph Based Hyper-heuristic Framework for University Timetabling Problems. Journal of Operational Research Society (JORS), 60, 1273-1285, 2009. doi: 10.1057/jors.2008.102, .pdf.
   
   
3. R. Qu* E.K. Burke and B.McCollum. Adaptive Automated Construction of Hybrid Heuristics for Exam Timetabling and Graph Colouring Problems. European Journal of Operational Research (EJOR), 198(2): 392-404, 2009, doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2008.10.001, .pdf.
   
   
4. E. K. Burke, J. Li and R. Qu. A Hybrid Model of Integer Programming and Variable Neighbourhood Search for Highly-Constrained Nurse Rostering Problems. European Journal of Operational Research (EJOR), 203(2), 484-493, 2010. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2009.07.036, .pdf
   
   
5. E.K. Burke, T. Curtois, R. Qu and G. Vanden Berghe. A Scatter Search for the Nurse Rostering Problem. Journal of Operational Research Society (JORS), doi: 10.1057/jors.2009.118 .pdf 2009.
   
   
6. P. Brucker, E.K. Burke, T. Curtois, R. Qu* and G. Vanden Berghe. A Shift Sequence Based Approach for Nurse Scheduling and a New Benchmark Dataset. Journal of Heuristics, doi: 10.1007/s10732-008-9099-6, 2009 .pdf.
   
   
7. B. McCollum, P. McMullan, B. Paechter, R. Lewis, A. Schaerf, L. Di Gaspero, A. J. Parkes, R. Qu, E. Burke. Setting the Research Agenda in Automated Timetabling: The Second International Timetabling Competition. INFORMS Journal of Computing, doi: 10.1287/ijoc.1090.0320
   
   
8. E. K. Burke, J. Li and R. Qu. Pareto-Based Optimization for Multi-objective Nurse Scheduling. Annals of OR. doi: 10.1007/s10479-009-0590-8, 2009. .pdf.
   
   
9. E. K. Burke, A. J. Eckersley, B. McCollum, S. Petrovic and R. Qu*. Hybrid Variable Neighbourhood Approaches to University Exam Timetabling. Accepted by European Journal of Operational Research (EJOR), .pdf, 2010. doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2010.01.044
   
   
10. B. McCollum, P. McMullan, E.K. Burke, A.J. Parkes, R. Qu, A New Model for Automated Examination Timetabling, 2009. accepted by Annals of OR, 2009. .pdf
    
    
11. E.K. Burke, T.E. Curtois, G. Post, R. Qu and B. Veltman, A Hybrid Heuristic Ordering and Variable Neighbourhood Search for the Nurse Rostering Problem, European Journal of Operational Research (EJOR), 188(2), 330-341, 2008. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2007.04.030, .pdf.
    The top 1% cited paper in Computer Science by ISI Essential Science Indicators (Oct 2009)
    
    
12. E. K. Burke, B. McCollum, A. Meisels, S. Petrovic and R. Qu* A Graph-Based Hyper Heuristic for Educational Timetabling Problems. European Journal of Operational Research (EJOR), 176: 177-192, 2007. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2005.08.012, .pdf
    The top 0.1% cited paper in Computer Science by ISI Essential Science Indicators (Oct 2009)
    
    
13. E. Burke, S. Petrovic, R. Qu*, Case Based Heuristic Selection for Timetabling Problems. Journal of Scheduling, 9: 115-132, 2006. doi: 10.1007/s10951-006-6775-y, .pdf.
    The top 1% cited paper in Computer Science by ISI Essential Science Indicators (Oct 2009)
    
    
14. E.K. Burke, B. MacCarthy, S. Petrovic, R. Qu*. Multiple-Retrieval Case-Based Reasoning for Course Timetabling Problems. Journal of Operations Research Society (JORS), 57(2): 148-162, 2006. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601970 .pdf
    
    
15. E.K. Burke, B. MacCarthy, S. Petrovic, R. Qu*. Structured Cases in Case-Based Reasoning - Re-using and Adapting Cases for Time-tabling Problems. Knowledge-Based Systems, 13(2-3): 159-165, 2000. doi: 10.1016/S0950-7051(00)00057-5. .pdf
    
    

Journals (Under Review)

• R. Qu*, Y. Xu, J. Castro, D. Landa-Silva. Particle Swarm Optimization for the Steiner Tree in Graph and Delay-Constrained Multicast Routing Problems. under revision at Swarm Intelligence, 2009.
  
  
• E.K. Burke, J. Li, S. Petrovic and R. Qu. Embedding Goal Programming within a Falling Tide Algorithm: a New Attempt to Solve Nurse Rostering with both Hard and Soft Constraints. under revision at Information & Management, 2009.
  
  
• E.K. Burke, T. Curtois, R. Qu and G. Vanden Berghe. A Time Pre-defined Variable Depth Search for Nurse Rostering. Technical Report NOTTCS-TR-2007-6, School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham. .pdf 2008.
  
  
• R. Qu, Y. Xu, A Simulated Annealing based Genetic Local Search Algorithm for Multi-objective Multicast Routing Problems, under review, 2009.
  
  
• Burke E.K., Li J. and Qu R. The Application of Neural Network and Logistic Regression in the Hyper-heuristic Search, 2009
  
  
• E.K. Burke, N. Pham, R. Qu, J. Yellen. Linear Combinations of Heuristics for Examination Timetabling, 2009.
  
  
• Burke E.K, Pham N., Qu R. A Univariate Marginal Distribution based Hyper-heuristic for Three-Dimensional Strip Packing Problems, 2009.
  
  
• R. Qu, B. Berry, Landscape Analysis on Capital Budgeting and Knacpsack Problems, 2009.
  
  

Book Chapters/Edited Books/Journal Editorial:

1. R. Qu (ed.) Proceedings of the 25th Workshop of the UK PLANNING AND SCHEDULING Special Interest Group (PlanSIG2006), December, 2006, Nottingham, UK. ISSN 1368-5708. online proceedings available here
   
   
2. R. Qu, M. Fox and D. Long (Guest editors). Special Issue of Artificial Intelligence Planning and Scheduling at Journal of Scheduling, 12(3), June, 2009. editorial
   
   
3. E.K. Burke, M. Dror, S. Petrovic, R. Qu*, Hybrid Graph Heuristics within a Hyper-heuristic Approach to Exam Timetabling Problems. B.L. Golden, S. Raghavan and E.A. Wasil (eds.). The Next Wave in Computing, Optimization, and Decision Technologies. Springer. Jan 2005. .pdf
   
   

Refereed Conference papers:

1. F. He and R. Qu, Constraint-directed Local Search to Nurse Rostering Problems, 6th International Workshop on Local Search Techniques in Constraint Satisfaction (LSCS 2009), CP'09, 20 September 2009, Lisbon, Portugal. .pdf
   
   
2. R. Qu, F. He and E.K. Burke, Hybridizing Integer Programming Models with an Adaptive Decomposition Approach for Exam Timetabling Problems, The 4th Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2009 (MISTA 2009), pp. 435-446, 10-12 August 2009, Dublin, Ireland. .pdf
   
   
3. Y. Xu and R. Qu, A GRASP approach for the delay-constrained multicast routing problem, The 4th Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2009 (MISTA 2009), pp. 93-104, 10-12 August 2009, Dublin, Ireland. .pdf
   
   
4. E.K. Burke, R. Qu and A. Soghier, Adaptive Selection of Heuristics within a GRASP for Exam Timetabling Problems, The 4th Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2009 (MISTA 2009), pp. 409-423, 10-12 August 2009, Dublin, Ireland. .pdf
   
   
5. G. Ochoa, R. Qu and E.K. Burke, Analyzing the Landscape of a Graph Based Hyper-heuristic for Timetabling Problems, The Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'09), pp. 341-348, 8-12 July, Montreal, Canada, .pdf
   
   
6. G. Baskaran, A. Bargiela and R. Qu, Hierarchical Method for Nurse Rostering based on Granular Pre-processing of Constraints, The 23rd EUROPEAN Conference on Modelling and Simulation, 9-12 June 2009, Madrid, Spain. .pdf
   
   
7. S. Khatijah Nor Abdul Rahim, A. Bargiela, Rong Qu, Granular Modelling of Exam to Slot Allocation, The 23rd EUROPEAN Conference on Modelling and Simulation, 9-12 June 2009, Madrid, Spain. .pdf
   
   
8. R. Qu, F. He, A Hybrid Constraint Programming Approach for Nurse Rostering Problems, Allen T., Ellis R. and Petridis M. (eds.) Applications and Innovations in Intelligent Systems XVI. The Twenty-eighth SGAI International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI-2008), pp. 211-224, Cambridge, England, 9-11 December 2008. .pdf
   
   
9. R. Qu, Y. Xu, G. Kendall, A Variable Descent Search Algorithm for Delay-Constrained Least-Cost Multicast Routing. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5851, pp. 15-29, .pdf Learning and Intelligent OptimizatioN (LION 3), Trento, Italy, Jan 14-18, 2009. LION3 online publication.
   
   
10. N.R. Sabar, M. Ayob, G. Kendall and R. Qu. Roulette wheel graph colouring for solving examination timetabling problems. The 3rd Annual International Conference on Combinatorial Optimization and Applications (COCOA'09), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5573, pp. 463-470. .pdf
    
    
11. J.R. Carrington, N. Pham, R. Qu, J. Yellen. An Enhanced Weighted Graph Model for Examination / Course Timetabling. Proceedings of 26th Workshop of the UK Planning and Scheduling Special Interest Group 2007 (PlanSIG 2007), 9-16, Prague, Czech Republic, Dec, 2007. .pdf
    
    
12. R. Qu and E.K. Burke. Adaptive Decomposition and Construction for Examination Timetabling Problems. Proceedings of the 3rd Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2007 (MISTA 2007), pp. 418-425, Aug, 2007, Paris, France. .pdf
    
    
13. S. Abdullah, U. Aickelin, E.K. Burke, A. Mohamed Din and R. Qu. Investigating a Hybrid Metaheuristic for Job Shop Rescheduling, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 4828, pp. 357-368, 2007. .pdf
    
    
14. M. Ayob, A. Malik, S. Abdullah, A.R. Hamdan, G. Kendall and R. Qu. Solving a Practical Examination Timetabling Problem: A Case Study In: O. Gervasi and M. Gavrilova (Eds.): Lecture Notes in Computer Science 4707, Part III, pp. 611–624, 2007. .pdf
    
    
15. R. Qu and E. K. Burke Hybrid Variable Neighbourhood Hyper-heuristics for Exam Timetabling Problems. Proceedings of Metaheuristic International Conference 2005 (MIC 2005), Vienna, Austria, Aug 2005. .pdf (Note: there are updated results of this paper, which are different from the published ones. Please refer to the paper at this web page for the latest results.)
    
    
16. P. Brucker, R. Qu, E. K. Burke and G. Post. A Decomposition, Construction and Post-processing Approach for a Specific Nurse Rostering Problem. Proceedings of the 2nd Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2005 (MISTA 2005), pp. 397-406. New York, USA, Jul 2005. .pdf
    
    
17. E. K. Burke, A. J. Eckersley, B. McCollum, S. Petrovic and R. Qu Analysing Similarity in Exam Timetabling. Proceedings of the 5th International Series of Conferences on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling 2004 (PATAT 2004), pp. 89-106. Pittsburgh, USA, Aug 2004. .pdf
    
    
18. E. Burke, A. Eckersley, B. McCollum, S. Petrovic, R. Qu, Using Simulated Annealing to Study Behaviour of Various Exam Timetabling Data Sets. Proceedings of Metaheuristic International Conference 2003 (MIC 2003), Kyoto, Japan, Aug 2003. .pdf
    
    
19. E. Burke, A. Eckersley, B. McCollum, S. Petrovic, R. Qu, Similarity Measures for Exam Timetabling Problems. Proceedings of the 1st Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2003 (MISTA 2003), pp. 120-136. Nottingham, UK, Aug 2003. .pdf
    
    
20. E.K. Burke, S. Petrovic, R. Qu. Case-Based Heuristic Selection for Examination Timetabling. Proceedings of Asia-Pacific Conference on Simulated Evolution and Learning (SEAL'02), pp. 277-281. Singapore, Nov, 2002. data set .pdf
    
    
21. E.K. Burke, B. MacCarthy, S. Petrovic, R. Qu. Knowledge Discovery in Hyper-heuristic Using Case-Based Reasoning on Course Timetabling. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2740, pp. 276-287, 2003. Also available in the Proceedings of PATAT'02, 90-103. Aug, 2002. .pdf
    
    
22. S. Petrovic, R. Qu. Case-Based Reasoning as a Heuristic Selector in a Hyper-Heuristic for Course Timetabling Problems. Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information Engineering Systems and Allied Technologies, Volume 82, pp. 336-340. IOS Press. .pdf
    
    
23. E.K. Burke, B. MacCarthy, S. Petrovic, R. Qu. Case-based Reasoning in Course Timetabling: An Attribute Graph Approach. Case-Based Reasoning Research and Development, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 2080, pp. 90-104, 2001. .pdf
    
    
24. E.K. Burke, B. MacCarthy, S. Petrovic, R. Qu. Structured Cases in Case-Based Reasoning - Re-using and Adapting Cases for Time-tabling Problems. Proceedings of Expert Systsms 1999 (ES99), awarded as one of the six best technical papers. .pdf
    
    

Reports/Others:

• A number of School of CS technical report can be found here
  
  
• Benchmark problems site:
  • Exam Timetabling Resources: a Bibliography on Exam Timetabling, (1995 - now) and Becnhmark Exam Timetabling Datasets.
  • Capital Budgeting Resources: a Bibliography on meta-heuristics in capital budgeting and Becnhmark Datasets (under construction)
  
  
• The Second International Timetabling Competition: Examination Timetabling Track.
  
  
• Preference Based Optimisation for Examination Timetabling Problems.
  
  

Theses

• PhD Thesis. Case-Based Reasoning on for Course Timetabling Problems. University of Nottingham, Oct, 2002.
• BSc Thesis. Development of the Communication Control for a BBS-98 Distributed System. Jul, 1996. XiDian University, P. R. China.
  
  

Selected presentations at conferences and ASAP/invited seminars

• Recent Research on Nurse Rostering and Other Ongoing Research in Scheduling and Optimisation, Xi'an, China, March, 2008. .pdf.
• Recent Research on Nurse Rostering at ASAP Group , Atoss, Munich, Germany, 17th-18th, September, 2007.pdf
• Summer School Course on Hyper-heuristics. Invited summer school course (with Dr G. Ochoa), Istanbul Technology University, Turkey, 31st July - 3rd August 2007. (lecture slides on request). .pdf
• Observations of a Graph-Based Hyper-heuristic to Timetabling Problems. University of Osnabruck, Germany. Nov 2004 .pdf