Real-world optimisation
There is a gap between academic theory and practice in the area of mathematical programming. Often, such research has no practical application. The EU-funded OPTALI (Optimization and its applications in learning and industry) project guided research towards real-world problems, while also making optimisation techniques work in practice. The group fostered collaboration between academia and industry, including support for young researchers, via exchanges and other knowledge transfer activities. Team members established a study programme and suitable environment for international research. Participating experienced researchers gave almost 60 lectures, sharing fundamental knowledge in relevant programming skills. OPTALI arranged for 35 young researchers to collaboratively work abroad on optimisation methods, for several months each. The fields of study included robust optimisation, transportation, healthcare, evacuation and scheduling. Such research produced numerous conference talks and papers. The project also organised two summer schools and two industry days. As a result of the OPTALI project, the research area has become better aligned with real-world applications.