Optimisation and Constraint Programming

Constraint programming is one of the core techniques in AI for solving hard combinatorial problems that arise in many applications such as scheduling, resource allocation, verification, diagnosis, product configuration, and planning, to name but a few. Closely related is the field of optimisation, in which one wishes to not only find a solution in the presence of a set of constraints, but to also select the best solution from amongst many. Many applications of optimisation and constraint programming relate to the problem of making complex choices subject to complex prefer ences or uncertainties. The CRT has an international reputation in fields such as constraint programming, logic programming, satisfiability, and operations research.