Pietro S. Oliveto

EPSRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Theoretical Computer Science

School of Computer Science,
The University Of Birmingham,
Edgbaston,
Birmingham B15 2TT, U.K.

Phone: +44 121 414 3734
Email: P.S.Oliveto@cs.bham.ac.uk

(Last update: 15 July 2013)

Current Occupation

I am an EPSRC funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Theoretical Computer Science at the University of Birmingham in the School of Computer Science.

My main research interests are in randomised search heuristics and randomised algorithms in general, with strong emphasis on runtime analysis and computational complexity.

News, Recent & Forthcoming Events

- 7th Workshop on Theory of Randomised Search Heuristics (ThRaSH 2013)
- 13-14 September 2013 in Aberystwyth, Wales. ( abstract submission deadline: 31 July, 2013)
- Theory Special Session at CEC 2013 on
- Theoretical Foundations of Bio-inspired Computation (Special Session)
- ( FINAL submission deadline: 15 March 2013 )
- June 20 - 23, 2013, Cancun, Mexico
- I'll be giving Runtime Analysis introductory tutorials at CEC 2013, 20 June 2013, Cancun, Mexico (4 hour tutorial) and at GECCO 2013 (with P. K. Lehre), 6 July 2013, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2 hour tutorial) .
- Theoretical Foundations of Bio-inspired Computation (Chair)
- IEEE CIS Task Force (Link)
- P.S. Oliveto, X. Yao
- A Gentle Introduction to the Time Complexity Analysis of Evolutionary Algorithms (4 hour runtime analysis tutorial) (Download Slides)
- World Congress on Computational Intelligence (WCCI 2012), Brisbane, Australia (10 June 2012, 13:00-17:00).

Book Chapters

- P.S. Oliveto, X. Yao.
- Runtime Analysis of Evolutionary Algorithms for Discrete Optimization.
- In Theory of Randomized Search Heuristics~Foundations and Recent Developments, pp. 21-52.
- B. Doerr and A. Auger editors, World Scientific, February 2011. (World Scientific)
- A. Athanasiou, M. De Felice, G. Oliveto, P. S. Oliveto.
- Dynamical Modeling and Parameter Identification of Seismic Isolation Systems by Evolution Strategies.
- In Computational Intelligence, Studies in Computational Intelligence series N.465, pp. 101-118.
- K. Madani, A. Dourado, A. Rosa, J. Felipe (Eds), Springer-Verlag, 2013.

Refereed Journal Papers

- P.S.Oliveto, C.Witt.
- On the Runtime Analysis of the Simple Genetic Algorithm.
- Theoretical Computer Science (Elsevier), 2013. (In press)
- DOI: 10.1016/j.tcs.2013.06.015
- P.S.Oliveto, C.Witt.
- Simplified Drift Analysis for Proving Lower Bounds in Evolutionary Computation.
- Algorithmica (Springer),
- Vol. 59 (3), 369-386, 2011.
- T.Friedrich, P.S.Oliveto, D.Sudholt, C.Witt.
- Analysis of Diversity-Preserving Mechanisms for Global Exploration.
- Evolutionary Computation, (ECJ),
- Vol. 17 (4), 455-476, 2009.
- P.S.Oliveto, J.He, X.Yao.
- Analysis of the (1+1)-EA for Finding Approximate Solutions to Vertex Cover Problems.
- IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation (IEEE TEVC),
- Vol. 13 (5), 1006-1029, 2009.
- P.S.Oliveto, J.He, X.Yao.
- Time Complexity of Evolutionary Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization: A Decade of Results.
- International Journal of Automation and Computing (IJAC)
- Vol. 4 (3), 281-293, 2007.

Refereed Conference Publications

- P.S.Oliveto, C. Zarges.
- Analysis of Diversity Mechanisms for Robust Optimisation in Dynamic Environments with Low Frequencies of Change.
- In Proceedings of the 2013 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'13),
- Amsterdam, the Netherlands, July 6-10, 2013. (To appear)
- P.S.Oliveto, C. Witt.
- Improved Runtime Analysis of the Simple Genetic Algorithm.
- In Proceedings of the 2013 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'13),
- Amsterdam, the Netherlands, July 6-10, 2013. (To appear)
- T. Jansen, P.S.Oliveto, C. Zarges.
- Approximating Vertex Cover Using Edge-Based Representations.
- In Proceedings of Foundations of Genetic Algorithms XII (FOGA'13),
- Adelaide, Australia, January 16-20, 2013. (To appear)
- P.S.Oliveto, C. Witt.
- On the Runtime Analysis of the Simple Genetic Algorithm.
- In Proceedings of the 2012 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'12),
- Philadelphia, USA, July 7-11, 2012.
- A. Athanasiou, M. De Felice, G. Oliveto, P. S. Oliveto
- Evolutionary Algorithms for the Identification of Structural Systems in Earthquake Engineering.
- In Proceedings of the International Conference on Evolutionary Computation Theory and Applications (ECTA'11),
- Paris, france, October 24-26, 2011.(Best paper nomination)
- T. Jansen, P. S. Oliveto, C. Zarges
- On the Analysis of the Immune Inspired B-Cell Algorithm for the Vertex Cover Problem.
- In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Artificial Immune Systems (ICARIS'11),
- Cambridge, UK, July 18-21, 2011. (Best paper award)
- F. Neumann, P. S. Oliveto, G. Rudolph, D. Sudholt
- On the Effectiveness of Crossover for Migration in Parallel Evolutionary Algorithms.
- In Proceedings of the 2011 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'11),
- Dublin, Ireland, July 12-16, 2011.
- S. Kratsch, P.K. Lehre, F. Neumann, P.S. Oliveto
- Fixed Parameter Evolutionary Algorithms and Maximum Leaf Spanning Trees: A Matter of Mutation.
- In Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature (PPSN'10),
- Krakow, Poland, September 11-15, 2010.
- T. Kötzing, P. K. Lehre, F. Neumann, P. S. Oliveto.
- Ant colony optimization and the minimum cut problem.
- In Proceedings of the 2010 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'10),
- Portland, Oregon, July 7-11, 2010.
- A. Chandra, P. S. Oliveto, X. Yao.
- Co-evolution of Optimal Agents for the Alternating Offers Bargaining Game.
- In Proceedings of the European Conference on the Applications of Evolutionary Computation (EvoApplications 2010),
- Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, April 7-9, 2010.
- F.Neumann, P.S.Oliveto, C. Witt.
- Theoretical Analysis of Fitness-Proportional Selection - Landscapes and Efficiency.
- In Proceedings of the 2009 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'09),
- Montreal, Canada, July 8-12, 2009.
- P.S.Oliveto, P.K.Lehre, F.Neumann.
- Theoretical Analysis of Rank-based Mutation - Combining Exploration and Exploitation.
- In Proceedings of the IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation 2009(CEC'09),
- Trondheim, Norway, May 18-21, 2009. (Best student paper nomination)
- P.S.Oliveto, C.Witt.
- Simplified Drift Analysis for Proving Lower Bounds in Evolutionary Computation.
- In Proceedings of the Parallel Problem Solving from Nature (PPSN'08),
- Dortmund, Germany, September 13-17, 2008. (Best paper nomination)
- T. Friedrich, P.S.Oliveto, D.Sudholt, C.Witt.
- Theoretical Analysis of Diversity Mechanisms for Global Exploration.
- In Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'08),
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA, July 12-16, 2008. (Best paper award)
- P.S.Oliveto, J.He, X.Yao.
- Analysis of Population-based Evolutionary Algorithms for the Vertex Cover Problem.
- In Proceedings of the IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence (WCCI'08),
- Hong Kong, June 1-6, 2008. Pictures
- P.S.Oliveto, J.He, X.Yao.
- Evolutionary Algorithms and the Vertex Cover Problem .
- In Proceedings of the IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC'07),
- Singapore, September 25-28, 2007. Pictures

Co-Chair of the IEEE CEC 2013 Special Session on "Theoretical Foundations of Bio-inspired Computation"

Programme Committees

Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'08 ,GECCO'09, GECCO'10, GECCO'11), GECCO'12, GECCO'13).
IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC'07,WCCI'08,CEC'09,WCCI'10, CEC'11, CEC'13)
2009 Foundations Of Genetic Algorithms (FOGA'09,FOGA'13)
2008 International Conference on Intelligence Computing (ICIC'08) (Reviewer)
International Conference in Parallel Problem Solving from Nature (PPSN-X,PPSN-XI )
IEEE Symposium on Foundations Of Computational Intelligence (First:FOCI'07,Second:FOCI'11,Third:FOCI'13)
Theory of Evolutionary Algorithms seminar, Schloss Dagstuhl, Germany, 27 January - 1 February, 2008. (Proceedings Collector)
Workshop Italiano di Vita Artificiale e Computazione Evolutiva (WIVACE'07,WIVACE'08) (Italian Workshop of artificial life and evolutionary computation).
8th European Conference on Evolutionary Computation in Combinatorial Optimisation ( EVOCOP'08) (Reviewer).
10th International Conference on Artificial Immune Systems ( ICARIS'11).
International Joint Conference on Computational Intelligence ( IJCCI'10, IJCCI'11).
International Workshop on Nature Inspired Cooperative Strategies for Optimization (NICSO'07).

Organising Committees

- 7th Workshop on Theory of Randomised Search Heuristics (ThRaSH 2013).
- 13-14 Septmber 2013, Aberystwyth, Wales.
- 27^th British Colloquium for Theoretical Computer Science (BCTCS'11)
- 18-21 April 2011, Birmingham, UK.
- Minisymposium on "Randomized Search Heuristics: Theoretical Aspects and Real World Applications" (Flyer)
- at SIAM Conference on Optimization (SiamOPT11) 16-19 May 2011, Darmstadt, Germany.
- 3rd Workshop on Theory of Randomised Search Heuristics (TRSH09).
- 19-20 October 2009, Birmingham, UK.

Journal reviewing

Guest Co-Editor of Journal of Computer Science and Technology (Springer), Special Issue on ''Evolutionary Computation''.

Theoretical Computer Science (Elsevier).
Journal of Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines (Springer).
Algorithmica (Springer).
IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks (IEEE-TNN).
Evolutionary Computation (MITpress).
Information Sciences (Elsevier).
IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation (IEEE-TEVC).
International Journal of Metaheuristics (Inderscience).
Artificial Intelligence (Elsevier).
Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence (Elsevier).
Natural Computing (Springer).
Information Processing Letters (Elsevier).
Soft Computing (Springer).

Grants

EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellowship in Theoretical Computer Science grant (2010-2013), `` Rigorous Runtime Analysis of Nature Inspired Meta-heuristics'' ( EP/H028900/1 )
EPSRC PhD+ Postdoctoral Fellowship grant (2009). ( EP/P502322/1)
IEEE student travel grant for the CEC'09 conference attendance.
IEEE student travel grant for the FOCI'07 conference attendance.

Workshops & Summer Schools

Fifth Workshop on the Theory of Randomized Search Heuristics (ThRaSH'2011), Copenhagen, Denmark, 8-9 July 2011.
Minisymposium on "Randomized Search Heuristics: Theoretical Aspects and Real World Applications" at SIAM Conference on Optimization (SiamOPT11) 16-19 May 2011, Darmstadt, Germany.
2011 Artificial Immune Systems seminar, Schloss Dagstuhl , Germany, 25 April - 29 April, 2011.
27th British Colloquium for Theoretical Computer Science (BCTCS2011), Birmingham, UK, 18-21 April 2011.
2010 Theory of Evolutionary Algorithms seminar, Schloss Dagstuhl , Germany,5 September - 10 September, 2010.
Fourth Workshop on the Theory of Randomized Search Heuristics (ThRaSH'2010), Paris, France, 24-25 March 2010.
Third Workshop on the Theory of Randomized Search Heuristics (TRSH3), Birmingham, UK, 19-20 October 2009.
MOMiNE 2009 International Summer School (MOMINE'09), Cetraro, Cosenza, Italy, 1-11 September, 2009.
(Tutorial on runtime analysis of EAs)
Second Workshop on the Theory of Randomized Search Heuristics (TRSH2), Dortmund, Germany 13 September 2008.
2008 Theory of Evolutionary Algorithms seminar, Schloss Dagstuhl , Germany, 27 January - 1 February, 2008.
First Workshop on the Theory of Randomized Search Heuristics (TRSH), Wroclaw, Poland 14-15 July 2007. Pictures
Workshop on local Search, University Of Birmingham, Birmingham, Uk, July 2006.

Visiting Research

Department of Algorithms and Logic (algolog) at Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Lyngby, Denmark, 24 June - 10 July 2011.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA) at University of Catania(UNICT), Catania, Italy 2-10 May 2011.
Department of Algorithms and Complexity (D1) at Max-Planck-Institut Fuer Informatik (MPI), Saarbruecken, Germany, 15-25 November 2010.
At&t Research Labs (At&t), Florham Park, NJ,USA, May 2010 -- July 2010.
Department of Algorithms and Logic (algolog) at Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Lyngby, Denmark, February 2010.
Department of Algorithms and Complexity (D1) at Max-Planck-Institut Fuer Informatik (MPI), Saarbruecken, Germany, November 2009.
Efficient Algorithms and Complexity Theory Institute (Lehrstuhl Informatik 2) at the Department of Computer Science (Facultaet Informatik) of the University of Dortmund (Techinsche Universitaet Dortmund) October 2007 - April 2008.