PATAT 2014

Dear Practitioner,

Are you a professional involved in timetabling of lectures and exams at universities or other schools? You may then be aware that the 10th International Conference on the Practice and Theory of Timetabling (PATAT) will be held in York during 26-29 August 2014.

Applications of timetabling can be found almost everywhere. University and school timetabling is an area where it has become customary to make use of computer-based systems to build consistent and optimal timetables around student and staff preferences. However, there are still issues and challenges that create gaps between what practitioners need and the functionality of available IT systems. An important aim of PATAT is to address these issues by encouraging the developing and reporting of innovative leading edge optimization techniques.

PATAT is a forum that brings together practitioners and researchers to exchange experience and ideas. In 2014, we will once again organize a dedicated practical stream, on the 27th of August, where vendors and practitioners alike will be able to give presentations and participate in discussions on relevant timetabling issues. In addition to the important matter of sharing experiences and discussing best practices, individuals will get the opportunity to feed challenges and issues into the research arena. It is often quoted that the sources of new knowledge is fusion: bringing together people with different ideas to work on the same problem. This fusion of research and practice is an absolute central theme to PATAT's overall aims.

We are therefore requesting your involvement. Would you be willing to attend, give a presentation, demonstrate a commercial software application, lead a discussion, or merely to participate? If so please let us know before 30 June 2014 which is also the early registration deadline to allow us time to put the timetable together. Although all are welcome to register for the full conference and networking events, it is hoped that the 1 day registration will encourage as many practitioners as possible to attend the PATAT conference. We are particularly interested in presentations regarding:

• Best practices
• Experiences
• Challenges
• Solutions
• Ideas

Speakers should send us a 1-2 page abstract of their topic to Barry McCollum: by 7th July. Please visit our website at www.patatconference.org/patat2014/ for more information about the conference and to access our registration system. Questions can also be sent directly to the organizers of PATAT 2014.

We are looking forward to hearing from you,