Special Focus on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization
Special Focus on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization
The special focus has funds for research visits associated with the program, especially visits to enhance collaborations stemming from the activities associated with the DIMACS/Simons Collaboration on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization.
Visits can be by individuals or by small groups, and they can be hosted (subject to availability of space and other constraints) at DIMACS/Rutgers, a DIMACS partner location, the Simons Institute (typically limited to small groups during the summer only), or at any other appropriate location that supports new collaborations coming out of the Collaboration on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization. Collaboration with a local host is not required but is viewed as a plus.
Support for visits can take the form of roundtrip travel reimbursement and/or subsistence for housing and meals. Subsistence is limited to $2500/month and is prorated for shorter visits.
How to Apply:
To be considered for a research visit, applicants should submit a proposed visit plan to the special focus organizing committee. Small groups should submit a single combined proposal.
The proposal should include the following elements whenever possible:
- CV(s) for proposed visitor(s);
- A few words that state the topic or area of the proposed work; (something that could complete the sentence, During my visit, I will carry out research on …)
- A longer description of the planned research and its importance;
- The proposed location and dates of the visit;
- The name of a local host for the visit and an indication of the level of the host’s involvement in the research;
- A statement of what type of financial support (e.g. travel, lodging, or other living expenses) is needed; and
- When the visit stems from previous activities of the DIMACS/Simons Collaboration on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization, a description of the connection to those activities.
An email with the the subject “DIMACS/Simons Collaboration on Optimization Visitor Application” containing application materials should be sent to the special focus organizing committee at
Applications will be considered based on the intellectual merit of the proposed research, with additional attention to supporting collaborators who have not previously collaborated.
We encourage visits by junior researchers (students, postdocs, and new assistant professors) and a portion of funds for visitors are set aside for this purpose.
The DIMACS/Simons Collaboration on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization is a research coordination network (RCN) led by DIMACS and the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing to conduct activities devoted to advancing capabilities in optimization by promoting collaborations that bridge continuous and discrete optimization. The Collaboration features activities at both DIMACS and the Simons Institute, bringing together computer scientists, mathematicians, operations researchers, engineers, statisticians, and algorithm developers to advance both the foundations and applications of optimization.
Optimization tools and algorithms have transformed fields ranging from biology to finance, and they touch everyday lives through more efficient supply chains, better traffic management, and more secure power grids. New applications, particularly those stemming from machine learning and data science, are now challenging the field to solve larger and more complex problems on smaller devices in less time. The field is responding with innovative approaches leading to advances such as faster algorithms for maximum flow and near-real-time approximations, more efficient interior-point methods, and faster cutting-plane methods. Many of these breakthroughs bring together ideas from both continuous and discrete optimization. The DIMACS/Simons Collaboration on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization aims to accelerate progress by stimulating collaboration across the many communities of optimization.
The Collaboration kicks off with an intensive program on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization at the Simons Institute during the fall of 2017. This program is a “jumbo program” that is about twice the size of a typical program at the Simons Institute. The Simons program is immediately followed by the DIMACS Special Focus on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization, beginning in January 2018 and continuing for multiple years.
Beginning with a Boot Camp to introduce key themes, the Simons program brings together roughly 120 long-term participants (including students) in residence at the Simons Institute. The Simons program also includes workshops on:
- Discrete Optimization via Continuous Relaxation;
- Fast Iterative Methods in Optimization;
- Hierarchies, Extended Formulations and Matrix-Analytic Techniques; and
- Optimization, Statistics and Uncertainty.
The DIMACS program builds on the intensive activity of the Simons program to engage additional people, bringing researchers working in the theoretical computer science and algorithmic aspects of optimization together with others including mathematicians, operations researchers and industrial engineers working on large-scale mathematical programming approaches, machine learning researchers, and statisticians to advance both the practical performance of optimization methods and the foundational principles upon which they are built. It aims to advance the state of the art and of the practice of the foundations and applications of optimization via research visits, collaboration with additional activities and institutes, and seven additional workshops on the topics of:
- Optimization and Machine Learning;
- ADMM and Proximal Splitting Methods in Optimization;
- Randomized Numerical Linear Algebra, Statistics, and Optimization;
- Entropy & Optimization;
- Polynomial Optimization;
- Optimization in Distance Geometry; and
- Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming.
As the special focus progresses, new events and activities that align with the theme may be added. For the the most up-to-date list of special focus activities, please see the calendar for the Special Focus on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization.
An overarching goal of the RCN is to help facilitate broad collaborations. To help achieve this goal, the RCN is partnering with additional projects and institutes in coordinating and co-sponsoring activities. The workshop on Mixed Integer Nonlinear Optimization will be held at Polytechnique Montréal in collaboration with a month-long program on Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming sponsored by the Centre de Recherches Mathématiques (CRM). The workshop on Optimization and Machine Learning is being planned in collaboration with the TRIPODS Institute for Optimization and Learning at Lehigh University. Other workshops will coordinate with and relate to future programs at the Simons Institute on Foundations of Data Science and Geometry of Polynomials.
The DIMACS/Simons Collaboration on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization is led by a Steering Committee of:
- Farid Alizadeh, Rutgers University
- Tamra Carpenter, Rutgers University
- Shafi Goldwasser, UC Berkeley
- Stefanie Jegelka, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Jon Lee, University of Michigan
- Leo Liberti, CNRS
- Aleksander Mądry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Pablo Parrilo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Katya Scheinberg, Cornell University
- Nisheeth Vishnoi, Yale University
- Tamra Carpenter, Rutgers University
The DIMACS/Simons Collaboration on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number CCF-1740425.
Running 2018-2023
The DIMACS Special Focus on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization is part of the DIMACS/Simons Collaboration on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization, a Research Coordination Network led by DIMACS and the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing to advance both the foundations and practical capabilities of optimization algorithms and methods.
Optimization capabilities touch our everyday lives through more efficient supply chains, better traffic management, more secure power grids, and a host of other important applications. In the short history of the field of mathematical optimization, advances in underlying theory, practical implementation, and raw computing power have brought us from solving linear programs with a few hundred variables to those with more than a million. Widely available general-purpose solvers make sophisticated tools for linear, integer, and nonlinear programming broadly accessible to practitioners. New applications, particularly those stemming from machine learning and data science, are now challenging the field with issues related to uncertainty, scale, speed, and complexity. The field is meeting these challenges with innovative new methods improving performance guarantees that had stood for decades. Many of these innovations bring together ideas from both continuous and discrete optimization.
Historically, continuous and discrete optimization have followed largely distinct trajectories and drawn inspiration from different branches of mathematics. The study of discrete optimization is most closely associated with discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science, while continuous optimization is rooted in the well-developed mathematical theory of convex analysis and geometry. Despite their different perspectives, the interplay between discrete and continuous optimization has been and continues to be mutually beneficial. In the last decade, partly stimulated by the growth of machine learning and by the proliferation of massive datasets, new areas of research have emerged at the interface of continuous and discrete optimization and the flow between them is increasing. This expanded interface has already led to a number of breakthroughs in both areas, and the increasing pace of activity suggests that the time is right to accelerate progress by stimulating collaboration across the many communities of optimization.
The activities of the special focus will bring together computer scientists, mathematicians, operations researchers, engineers, statisticians, and algorithm developers with the aim of advancing the theoretical foundations and the practical performance of optimization methods in challenging real settings. The special focus will involve a large number of people in various scientific communities and expose them to new ideas, new problems, and new opportunities for collaboration.
Organizing Committee:
- Farid Alizadeh, Rutgers University
- Stefanie Jegelka, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Jon Lee, University of Michigan
- Leo Liberti, CNRS
- Aleksander Mądry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Katya Scheinberg, Cornell University
- Nisheeth Vishnoi, Yale University
- DIMACS Focal Point Person: Tamra Carpenter, DIMACS
Send an email to the organizers:
Opportunities to Participate:
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Calendar of Events: A variety of workshops and mini-workshops are part of the Special Focus.
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Research Visits: There are modest funds for research visits associated with the Special Focus or in support of collaborations stemming from the activities associated with the DIMACS/Simons Collaboration on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization. Visits can be hosted at Rutgers, at a DIMACS partner location, at the Simons Institute, or anywhere else appropriate that supports new collaborations coming out of the Collaboration on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization.
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Graduate Student Support: The Special Focus has funds set aside for graduate students interested in attending workshops. Students interested in attending Special Focus workshops are encouraged to apply to the workshop organizers or to the Special Focus organizers.
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Materials and Publications: We anticipate that activities of the Special Focus will be documented through slides and video of workshop presentations as well as research publications.
Join the Mailing List:
If you would like to receive updates and announcements about future activities you can subscribe to the mailing list for the Special Focus on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization. Alternatively, you can contact the DIMACS
Sponsorship:
The DIMACS Special Focus on Bridging Continuous and Discrete Optimization is supported by DIMACS and its partners, and by the National Science Foundation under grant number CCF-1740425.