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Real-world university course timetabling at the International Timetabling Competition 2019

Author

Listed:
  • Tomáš Müller

    (Purdue University)

  • Hana Rudová

    (Masaryk University)

  • Zuzana Müllerová

    (UniTime, s.r.o.)

Abstract

The paper discusses the organization of the International Timetabling Competition (ITC 2019), which intends to motivate further research on complex university course timetabling problems coming from practice. Thanks to the UniTime timetabling system, we have collected a strong set of benchmark instances with diverse characteristics for the competition. The key novelty lies in the combination of student sectioning with standard time and room assignment of particular course events. The paper analyzes the real-world course timetabling problems present in the competition. The characteristics of thirty competition instances are described together with their representative features, which are discussed institution by institution. The existing solvers are described and compared based on their competition, current, and time-limited results whenever available. As of October 2023, the competition website has about 490 registered users from 66 countries worldwide and is kept up to date with new results.

Suggested Citation

  • Tomáš Müller & Hana Rudová & Zuzana Müllerová, 2025. "Real-world university course timetabling at the International Timetabling Competition 2019," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 247-267, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jsched:v:28:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10951-023-00801-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10951-023-00801-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alexandre Lemos & Pedro T. Monteiro & Inês Lynce, 2022. "Introducing UniCorT: an iterative university course timetabling tool with MaxSAT," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 371-390, August.
    2. Gerhard Post & Jeffrey Kingston & Samad Ahmadi & Sophia Daskalaki & Christos Gogos & Jari Kyngas & Cimmo Nurmi & Nysret Musliu & Nelishia Pillay & Haroldo Santos & Andrea Schaerf, 2014. "XHSTT: an XML archive for high school timetabling problems in different countries," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 218(1), pages 295-301, July.
    3. Ceschia, Sara & Di Gaspero, Luca & Schaerf, Andrea, 2023. "Educational timetabling: Problems, benchmarks, and state-of-the-art results," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 308(1), pages 1-18.
    4. Barry McCollum & Andrea Schaerf & Ben Paechter & Paul McMullan & Rhyd Lewis & Andrew J. Parkes & Luca Di Gaspero & Rong Qu & Edmund K. Burke, 2010. "Setting the Research Agenda in Automated Timetabling: The Second International Timetabling Competition," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 120-130, February.
    5. Gerhard Post & Samad Ahmadi & Sophia Daskalaki & Jeffrey Kingston & Jari Kyngas & Cimmo Nurmi & David Ranson, 2012. "An XML format for benchmarks in High School Timetabling," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 194(1), pages 385-397, April.
    6. Michael Lindahl & Matias Sørensen & Thomas R. Stidsen, 2018. "A fix-and-optimize matheuristic for university timetabling," Journal of Heuristics, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 645-665, August.
    7. Gerhard Post & Luca Gaspero & Jeffrey H. Kingston & Barry McCollum & Andrea Schaerf, 2016. "The Third International Timetabling Competition," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 239(1), pages 69-75, April.
    8. Efstratios Rappos & Eric Thiémard & Stephan Robert & Jean-François Hêche, 2022. "A mixed-integer programming approach for solving university course timetabling problems," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 391-404, August.
    9. Rasmus Ø. Mikkelsen & Dennis S. Holm, 2022. "A parallelized matheuristic for the International Timetabling Competition 2019," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 429-452, August.
    10. Dennis S. Holm & Rasmus Ø. Mikkelsen & Matias Sørensen & Thomas J. R. Stidsen, 2022. "A graph-based MIP formulation of the International Timetabling Competition 2019," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 405-428, August.
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