The MESS Metaheuristic Competition 2024 is an international event that will take place from July 15 to 18, 2024, in Catania, Italy. Organized within the framework of the Metaheuristics Summer School (MESS) 2024, the competition is open to master’s students, PhD candidates, post-doctoral researchers, academics, and professionals, with the aim of fostering the development of advanced solutions for complex optimization problems.

The MESS Metaheuristic Competition 2024 represents a unique opportunity to experiment with new optimization techniques, interact with field experts, and contribute to internationally relevant research. Through our platform, the competition management is handled in an innovative and effective way, providing participants with an interactive and engaging experience.

The Competition Problem

The competition challenges participants to develop metaheuristic solutions for a specific optimization problem. The problem details, including the provided datasets and solution requirements, are available in the dedicated section on the official competition website: https://fourclicks.eu/fck/mess2024/frontend/#/home/info

Participants, either individually or in teams, are required to propose innovative algorithms capable of solving the problem efficiently, leveraging combinatorial optimization techniques, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing.

To facilitate competition management and ensure a smooth experience for participants, we have developed a dedicated web platform. The website offers:

• A user registration and management system to enable participation in the competition
• Access to competition materials, including problem description, datasets, and rules
• A solution submission panel, allowing participants to upload and test their algorithms
• An interactive dashboard with real-time updates on rankings and competition progress