PACE 2016

In 2016 the first edition of the Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments 

Challenge (PACE) was launched.

Goal

The goal of PACE is to investigate the applicability of algorithmic ideas studied and developed in the subfields of multivariate, fine-grained, parameterized, or fixed-parameter tractable algorithms. In particular, it aims to

• provide a bridge between the theory of design and analysis of algorithms and the algorithm engineering practice,
• inspire new theoretical developments,
• investigate the competitiveness of analytical and design frameworks developed in the communities,
• produce universally accessible libraries of implementations and repositories of benchmark instances, and
• encourage the dissemination of these findings in scientific papers.

Format of the challenge

The challenge consists of two tracks:

 

Track A: the Tree Width Problem
Track A has a broad scope including the call for algorithms that may solve the problem heuristically and for generators of hard instances.

 

Track B: the Feedback Vertex Set Problem
Track B aims for fixed-parameter algorithms that need to solve the Feedback Vertex Set problem exactly and has a fixed evaluation criterion.

 

For each track, participation in the challenge essentially means submitting a program for the respective problem. The best three submissions will were arwarded with a prize.

The winners of the 1st PACE competition were presented on 24 August 2016 in Aarhus, Denmark during the 11th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2016), which was part of the larger ALGO 2016 week of co-located conferences and workshops.

 

PACE is supported by NETWORKS