The Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling (2012)

This special volume is focused upon a selection of the papers that were presented at the 9th International Conference on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling (PATAT) in Son, Norway, between 28th and 31st August, 2012. The PATAT conferences are held biennially. This is the third occasion that we have employed the Annals of Operations Research as the forum for a revised and selected collection of papers. The first and second PATAT special volumes of this journal (Volumes 194 and 218) represented the 7th and 8th conferences, held in Montreal in 2008 and in Belfast in 2010, respectively. The PATAT series has been running since 1995. It has been held in Scotland, Canada (twice), Germany, Belgium, USA, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, and England. The series acts as a bridge between disciplines and as a bridge between science and practice. Its focus is on all aspects of timetabling research and practice across personnel rostering, educational timetabling, sports scheduling and transportation timetabling. The conference in Son had over 90 delegates from all over the world. We had 4 plenary presentations, 49 standard talks, and 11 practitioner presentations. All the presenters were invited to submit revised papers to this special volume. Additionally, a public announcement was circulated