SoCS 2023: The 16th International Symposium on Combinatorial Search Aquapalace Hotel Prague Prague, Czechia, July 14-16, 2023

Heuristic search and other forms of combinatorial search and optimization are a very active areas of research in artificial intelligence, robotics, planning, discrete optimization and other areas of computer science and operations research. The International Symposium on Combinatorial Search (SoCS) is meant to bring researchers in such areas together to exchange their ideas and cross-fertilize the field.

SoCS serves researchers and submissions in all fields that use combinatorial search, including artificial intelligence, planning, robotics, constraint programming, meta-reasoning, operations research, navigation and bioinformatics. We especially invite submissions presenting real-world applications of heuristic search.

Papers exploring the boundaries between combinatorial search and planning & scheduling research are particularly welcome, given the co-location with ICAPS 2023

Submission Guidelines

We encourage researchers to submit three categories of papers to the symposium:

• Technical papers. Original long (up to 8 pages plus up to one page of references) and short (up to 4 pages plus up to one page of references) papers are the standard category.  We welcome technical papers that report substantial original research in search or in related areas that are not under review in other archival conferences or journals.
• Position papers. In addition to the main technical track, we encourage authors to submit original long  (up to 8 pages plus up to one page of references)  and short (up to 4 pages plus up to one page of references) position papers discussing ideas and concepts related to heuristic and combinatorial search. Examples of position papers could include thoughtful critiques or bold new perspectives of the field, historical perspectives and analysis, technical discussions of various implementation techniques, methodological contributions, and insightful reports on new and demanding applications.
• Extended abstracts. To foster the exchange of ideas at SoCS, we encourage authors to submit extended abstracts (up to 2 pages including references) of original work, work-in-progress, or work which has appeared in or is under review at other venues such as AAAI/ICAPS/IJCAI.  Most archival conferences do not consider a 2-page extended abstract as preventing submission of a full-length technical paper giving full details on the same work.

All accepted papers will be included in the proceedings.  Extended abstracts will likely be allocated poster presentation.

Submitted technical and position papers must be original, and not submitted concurrently to a journal or another conference. Double-blind reviewingwill be provided, so submitted papers must omit author names and affiliations. Extended abstracts representing previously-published work do not need to omit authors; concurrently-submitted work should omit authors. Papers must use the latest template, and must be submitted as PDF.

The paper submission is a two-step process. First, the paper abstract needs to be registered in EasyChair by the Paper abstract submissiondeadline. Then, the full paper in PDF is due by the Paper submission deadline.  Remember, without registering your abstract on time, you will not be allowed to submit the paper later.

SoCS will not accept any technical or position paper which, at the time of submission, is under review for or has already been published or accepted for publication in a journal or another conference. Authors are also required not to submit their technical or position papers elsewhere during SoCS' s review period. These restrictions apply only to journals and conferences, not to workshops and similar specialized presentations with a limited audience and without archival proceedings. Authors will be required to confirm that their submissions conform to these requirements at the time of submission.

List of Topics

• Adversarial search
• Analysis of search algorithms
• Automated synthesis of lower bounds
• Bounding and pruning techniques
• Combinatorial optimization
• Combinatorial puzzles
• Continuous problem solving
• Constraint search
• External-memory and parallel search
• Incremental and active learning in search
• Deep learning in heuristics and search
• Machine learning for or in search algorithms
• Metareasoning and search
• Methodology and critiques of current practice
• Model-based search
• Portfolios of search algorithms
• Problem compilation
• Problem solving using search
• Random vs. systematic search strategy selection
• Real-life applications
• Real-time search
• Reinforcement learning and search
• Search in goal-directed problem solving
• Search space discretization for continuous state-space problems
• Search-based diagnosis
• Search in boolean satisfiability
• Search in machine learning and big data analytics
• Search methods in robotics
• Self-configuring and self-tuning algorithms
• Symmetry handling
• Time, memory, and solution quality trade-offs

Conference Chairs

• Roman Barták, Charles University, Czech Republic
• Oren Salzman, Technion, Israel
• Wheeler Ruml, University of New Hampshire, USA

Venue

SoCS 2023 will take place at Aquapalace Hotel Prague that is part of an exceptional European water park. The 231 rooms in the 4* Superior category provide a pleasant experience for families with children or a comfortable base for wellness stays. Two hotel restaurants serve excellent Czech and international cuisine. An integral part of the hotel is a modern and technologically advanced conference center with 11 variable halls and lounges, which is suitable for conferences, exhibitions, and other corporate meetings. In addition, the direct connection with the water park allows for a completely unique experience.