Heuristic Optimization | Gdańsk University of Technology

UNIVERSITY:

• RWTH Aachen

SUBJECT AREA:

• Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence

CATEGORY:

• Instructor paced Courses

OFFERED TO:

• MSc Students
   

Description

The course Heuristic Optimization is a fully virtual course.

Expected learning outcomes

After taking this course, students are able to (1) understand basic concepts of the development of effective and efficient metaheuristics, (2) understand and implement greedy algorithms, local search algorithms, and the most important metaheuristic paradigms, (3) adapt these algorithms to solve routing problems, and (4) design reasonable numerical experiments to fine-tune the parameters of a metaheuristic and to assess its performance.

Prerequisites

Operations Research 1 or similar knowledge helpful

Learning Opportunity Structure

Lectures and exercise sessions are given following the inverted classroom paradigm. Video recordings of the lectures focusing on the course topics are made available on Moodle. Advanced discussion of the material as well as the chance to ask questions to the lecturer takes place in regular online lecture live sessions. The lecture is accompanied by exercises. Sample solutions will be presented in online exercise live sessions and made available for download afterward. Questions about both exercises and lectures can additionally be asked and discussed in a forum on Moodle. Additionally, programming exercises in Python are provided to help students deepen their understanding of the course material through self-study.
 

Please note: The recordings and other materials will be made available over time and then remain available until the end of the semester. The live sessions will not be recorded.

Type of Assessment

100% Exam + quizzes via DYNEXITE (quizzes only give bonus points)

How to enroll

To enroll in the course, write an e-mail to the ENHANCE Team at RWTH: enhance@rwth-aachen.de using your student e-mail address. In this e-mail, please state

• your full name
• your home university
• your study program

RWTH students can regularly register via RWTHonline.
 

Further Information

There are 7 lectures, 5 exercise sessions between October 13 and December 23, 2025. Plus, there will be 1 exam question session before the exam. Exams will be in February, March. Dates will be communicated in due time.

Course page

APPLY for Heuristic Optimization

ECTS: 5 ECTS

EQF: 7

LANGUAGE: English

APPLICATION PERIOD: Aug 01, 2025 - Aug 31, 2025

PLACES AVAILABLE: limited

FORM OF PARTICIPATION: Online

TEACHING PERIOD: Oct 13, 2025 - Dec 23, 2025

DURATION: 1 Semester (e.g. 10 weeks, 10 meeting)