ACM SIGEVO
The ACM SIGEVO is a Special Interest Group of the Association of Computing Machinery for members of that organization who are practitioners, academics, students or others with interests in evolutionary computation and related algorithms. HistoryACM SIGEVO was founded in 2005 when the International Society for Genetic and Evolutionary Computation (ISGEC)[1] became an ACM Special Interest Group under its present title. The ISGEC had been formed in 1999 by the merger of the Genetic Programming conference organization with the International Conference on Genetic Algorithms (ICGA) leading to the first Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO).[2] MembershipMembers of this SIG pay a small fee in addition to the ACM membership fee[3]. In return they have access to a quarterly online newsletter[4], but more importantly can obtain reduced registration rates at the two conferences organised by ACM SIGEVO: GECCO[5] and the Foundations of Genetic Algorithms Workshop (FOGA)[6]. They can also access material on evolutionary computation and related topics in the ACM Digital Library[7]. In addition they can subscribe to email mailing lists in order to keep informed about news over time[8]. For students, ACM SIGEVO sponsors Travel Awards for attendance at the GECCO Conference and FOGA (the Foundations of Genetic Algorithms Workshop). ACM SIGEVO also sponsors a Graduate Student Workshop [8]. ACM also sponsors Awards to be competed for by attendees at the conferences it organises. ConferencesACM SIGEVO organises two major conferences in the field of evolutionary computation. The Genetic and Evolutionary Conference (GECCO) is held annually[5], while the Foundations of Genetic Algorithms Workshop (FOGA)[6] is held biennially. GECCOThe first GECCO conference was held prior to the formation of ACM SIGEVO[2] but since 2005 (see History above) it has been organised annually by ACM SIGEVO. The latest (2025) was held in Malaga, Spain[5][9]. The next (2026) will be held in San Jose, Costa Rica[10]. FOGAThe Foundations of Genetic Algorithms Workshop[11] started in 1990[12], prior to the formation of ACM SIGEVO. However since 2007 (there was no FOGA workshop in 2005 immediately after the foundation of ACM SIGEVO[13]) there have been FOGA workshops every other year. The latest was held in Leiden, the Netherlands[6][14]. Although the workshop title suggests that FOGA workshops only deal with genetic algorithms in fact the current workshops cover the theoretical foundations of all other evolutionary algorithms and related heuristics[13]. AwardsACM SIGEVO sponsors a number of awards. SIGEVO Outstanding Contribution AwardThe SIGEVO Outstanding Contribution Award commenced in 2023[15], and these awards are designed to recognise distinctive contributions to the field of evolutionary computation when evaluated over a period of at least 15 years. As a result many recipients to date are notable academics or industrial practitioners, and include Anne Auger, Kalyanmoy Deb, Stephanie Forrest, Emma Hart and Hans-Paul Schwefel. SIGEVO Dissertation AwardThe SIGEVO Dissertation Award recognises thesis research in the field of evolutionary computation completed at least by the year prior to a GECCO conference[16]. Theses are submitted and reviewed by a panel that selects one winner and a maximum of two honourable mentions. Awards will be made to the winner and any others at the next GECCO conference. SIGEVO Chair AwardThe SIGEVO Chair Award, established in 2016[17] is a lecture sponsored by ACM SIGEVO, to take place on the last day of the GECCO conference. It recognizes through the lectures that the lecturers are influential researchers in the field of evolutionary computation. The more recent lectures are available online. The 2024 Award winner was Una-May O'Reilly[18]. SIGEVO Impact AwardThe SIGEVO Impact Award looks back to the GECCO conference ten years earlier and recognizes up to three papers a year which are considered by the current ACM SIGEVO Executive Committee to have had significant impact over the period since their first publication at the GECCO conference. An example (originally published in GECCO 2010[19]) received this award in 2020[20]. GECCO Best Paper AwardThe ACM SIGEVO sponsors awards for the best papers presented at the GECCO conference. Because GECCO conferences have very many parallel tracks there are multiple awards recognising presentations in the different tracks. At GECCO 2025 Best Paper Awards were presented across 12 tracks[21]. FOGA Best Paper AwardThe ACM SIGEVO sponsors awards for the best papers presented at the FOGA workshop. Because FOGA operates on a single track, it is easier to compare papers. Since 2019 this Award has been made (suggesting only four awards up to the latest conference in 2025). ACM SIGEVO records the 2019 award[22][23]. Humie AwardThe Humies Awards are rewards for the best form of human-competitive results using evolutionary computation or related algorithms and published in the wider literature (they do not need to be published at a conference or in a journal sponsored by ACM SIGEVO or even the ACM.) They were established through a gift from John Koza and have been in operation from 2004 to the present. The link with ACM SIGEVO is that the winners of the competition (submissions are evaluated in advance) are presented with Humie Awards at GECCO conferences. The Humie Awards website[24] provides full details for the rules and how to submit entries to the competition. JournalsACM SIGEVO sponsors the main journal covering evolutionary computation published by the ACM: ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization[25]. ACM SIGEVO refers[26] to the preceding ISGEC organisation (see History above) as sponsoring two other important journals in the field:
While these journals continue to be important in the field, the wording on the website of ACM SIGEVO[26] suggests that ACM SIGEVO is not involved in their publication. References and notes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpeg){kind=small}
