Call for papers

New frontiers in evolutionary computation for real-world optimization: Smart initialization and dynamic operators

IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC) 2025

June 8 – 12, 2025, Hangzhou, China

Overview and Scope

This special session brings together researchers and practitioners from diverse fields of evolutionary computation to explore cutting-edge techniques for enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of evolutionary algorithms. By focusing on three key areas—intelligent initialization, dynamic operators, and performance indicators—this session aims to address the complex challenges posed by real-world optimization problems.

We invite contributions that showcase innovative approaches to:

  •  Improve algorithm performance: Develop techniques to accelerate convergence and enhance solution quality.
  •  Enhance algorithm adaptability: Design algorithms that can dynamically adjust to changing environments and problem constraints.
  •  Improve algorithm scalability: Explore methods to handle large-scale and complex optimization problems efficiently.

The scope of this session encompasses both theoretical and practical advancements in evolutionary computation. We encourage submissions that integrate adaptive methods and intelligent techniques to address the following:

  •  Real-world problem solving: Develop algorithms that can effectively tackle real-world challenges, particularly those with stringent resource constraints.
  •  Scalability and efficiency: Explore strategies to improve the scalability and computational efficiency of evolutionary algorithms.
  •  Solution quality: Design techniques to achieve high-quality solutions, even in complex and dynamic environments.

By fostering the exchange of ideas and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, this session aims to advance the state-of-the-art in evolutionary computation and inspire future research directions.

Topics of Interest

Authors are invited to submit their original and unpublished work to this special session; the topics of interest (but not limited) are the following:

Initialization techniques

  • Strategies for generating high-quality initial solutions
  • Data-driven and knowledge-based initialization methods
  • Impact of intelligent initialization on convergence speed and solution quality
  • Low-discrepancy sequences

Dynamic operators for adaptive evolutionary algorithms

  • Evolutionary and adaptive operators that adjust during the search
  • Operator selection and self-adaptation mechanisms
  • The effect of hybridization in combining different operator strategies
  • Decision-making for evolutionary computation
  • Machine learning in evolutionary computation
  • Fuzzy systems in evolutionary computation
  • Reinforcement learning in evolutionary algorithms

Search Guidance Indicators

  • Development of indicators to guide exploration vs. exploitation balance
  • Using performance metrics and indicators to adapt search direction
  • Indicator-based approaches for enhancing robustness in dynamic environments

** In all cases, applications to real problems and numerical benchmarks are encouraged.

Submission Guidelines

Please follow the submission guidelines from the IEEE CEC 2025 Submission Website. Special session papers are treated the same as regular conference papers. Please specify that your paper is for the Special Session on New frontiers in evolutionary computation for real-world optimization: Smart initialization and dynamic operators. All papers accepted and presented at CEC 2025 will be included in the conference proceedings published by IEEE Explore and indexed in different databases.

Important Dates

January 15, 2025: Paper Submission Deadline
March 15, 2025: Paper Acceptance Notification
May 1. 2025: Final Paper Submission & Early Registration Deadline
June 8-12, 2025: Conference Date

More information: https://www.cec2025.org/

Organizers