The university course timetabling problem (CTTP) involves assigning a given number of events into a limited number of timeslots and rooms under a given set of constraint. The objective is to satisfy the hard constraints (essential requirements) and minimise the violation of soft constraints (desirable requirements). In this study, we apply three algorithms to the CTTP problem: Great Deluge, Sim...

The design of course timetables for academic institutions is a very difficult job due to the huge number of possible feasible timetables with respect to the problem size. This process contains lots of constraints that must be taken into account and a large search space to be explored, even if the size of the problem input is not significantly large. Different heuristic approaches have been prop...

This work was carried out in collaboration between both authors. Author KP designed the study, wrote the protocol and supervised the work. Authors KP and ZG carried out all laboratories work and performed the statistical analysis. Author KP managed the analyses of the study. Author KP wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Author ZG managed the literature searches and edited the manuscript. B...

Due to the good performance of current SAT (satisfiability) and MaxSAT (maximum satisfiability) solvers, many real-life optimization problems such as scheduling can be solved by encoding them into Max-SAT. In this paper we tackle the course timetabling problem of the department of mathematics, Cairo University by encoding it into Max-SAT. Generating timetables for the department by hand has pro...

The timetabling problem is concerned with the allocation, subject to constraints, of given resources to objects in space and time in such way as to satisfy as nearly as possible a set of desirable objectives. This problem is known to be NP-complete and as such only combinatorial optimization methods can guarantee an optimal timetable. In this paper we propose a sector-based genetic algorithm fo...

Timetabling is a typical application of constraint programming whose task is to allocate activities to slots in available resources respecting various constraints like precedence and capacity. In this paper we present a basic concept, a constraint model, and a solution algorithm for interactive timetabling. Interactive timetabling combines automated timetabling (the computer allocates the activ...

We consider an academic timetabling and rostering problem involving periodic retraining of large numbers of employees at an Australian electricity distributor. This problem is different from traditional high-school and university timetabling problems studied in the literature in several aspects. We propose a three-stage heuristic consisting of timetable generation, timetable improvement, and tr...

This paper studies a real faculty course timetabling problem of Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FCSIT), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). FCSIT offers 5 four-year programmes. Each programme has own set of courses but some courses are required by more than one programme. List of courses for each semester of all programmes are planned and suggested by faculty as in cou...

Abstract—Course timetabling problems occur every semester in a university which includes the allocation of resources (subjects, lecturers and students) to a number of fixed rooms and timeslots. The assignment is carried out in a way such that there are no conflicts within rooms, students and lecturers, as well as fulfilling a range of constraints. The constraints consist of rules and policies s...