Hana Rudová co-chairs the International Symposium on Combinatorial Search
Photo: (Jakob Nordström, Jeremias Berg, Maria Garcia de la Banda, and Hana Rudová)
The 18th International Symposium on Combinatorial Search (SoCS) was held at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, from 12–15 August 2025. SoCS is a forum allowing paper submissions in all fields that use combinatorial search. This year’s event took place jointly with the International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP) and the International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT), which created a fruitful ecosystem for mutual exchange of ideas.
“It was a great honor for me to work with my colleagues to organize this traditional conference focused on heuristic search and combinatorial optimization. This year's edition was unique in its connection with the CP and SAT conferences, with the programs of all three conferences running simultaneously. Coordinating and preparing the conference was therefore very demanding, but the richness and diversity of the program was exceptional and allowed for the creation of new mutual connections and collaborations,” says Hana Rudová, head of the Department of Machine Learning and Data Processing at the Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, who co-chaired SoCS together with Maxim Likhachev (Carnegie Mellon University, USA) and Enrico Scala (University of Brescia, Italy) and led the Programme Committee.
Combinatorial search allows solving problems where there are countless possible options, like planning the non-conflicting routes for multiple robots or urban traffic control. Since checking every possibility would take far too long, researchers create strategies that help computers obtain results in a reasonable time frame or using a limited memory. These techniques are essential in many areas, from artificial intelligence and robotics to navigation and everyday decision-making.
The 2025 edition of the International Symposium on Combinatorial Search attracted 93 submissions, including long and short papers as well as extended abstracts. Following a rigorous review process by a 91-member Program Committee, 22 long papers, 9 short papers, and 15 extended abstracts were accepted for presentation. In addition, 19 students took part in the Doctoral Consortium, co-chaired by Lukáš Chrpa (Czech Technical University) and Francesco Percassi (University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom).
The joint program featured invited talks, tutorials, and a range of scientific sessions. Proceedings of the symposium are available online. With strong participation and support from academic and industry sponsors, the symposium once again confirmed its role as an important international meeting point for advancing the science of heuristic search and combinatorial optimization.
Author: Marta Vrlová, Office for External Relations and Partnerships at FI MU
Photo: Hélène Verhaeghe
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