[{"date_updated":"2026-09-17T05:11:28Z","publication_status":"published","publication_identifier":{"issn":["2688-299X","2688-3007"]},"author":[{"first_name":"Elias","last_name":"Schede","full_name":"Schede, Elias"},{"first_name":"Moritz Vinzent","last_name":"Seiler","full_name":"Seiler, Moritz Vinzent"},{"id":"75006","full_name":"Mensendiek, Carolin","last_name":"Mensendiek","first_name":"Carolin"},{"first_name":"Kevin","last_name":"Tierney","full_name":"Tierney, Kevin"},{"orcid":"0000-0002-9788-8282","last_name":"Trautmann","first_name":"Heike","full_name":"Trautmann, Heike","id":"100740"}],"status":"public","year":"2026","title":"OPTICAT: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Instance-Specific Algorithm Configuration","doi":"10.1145/3844954","user_id":"15504","_id":"67161","publisher":"Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"article_number":"3844954","abstract":[{"text":"<jats:p>Optimization algorithms contain parameters that greatly influence their behavior. Finding the right settings for parameters through automated algorithm configuration has become a critical component of designing competitive algorithms. While traditional offline configurators tackle this problem by finding one configuration that works well for a set of instances, instance-specific algorithm configuration utilizes features of the instances to provide configurations that are tailored to each instance to maximize performance. We propose the first instance-specific algorithm configurator based on deep reinforcement learning that can be used in general algorithm configuration settings. Our method is able to handle large, mixed, discrete and continuous search spaces and only requires a small number of instances for training. Not only does it select an individual configuration for every instance, it also selects configurations from a much broader range. We show that our configurator provides improvements over the state-of-the-art instance-specific configurators ISAC++ and Hydra on a wide range of problem domains.</jats:p>","lang":"eng"}],"citation":{"apa":"Schede, E., Seiler, M. V., Mensendiek, C., Tierney, K., &#38; Trautmann, H. (2026). OPTICAT: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Instance-Specific Algorithm Configuration. <i>ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization</i>, Article 3844954. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3844954\">https://doi.org/10.1145/3844954</a>","ieee":"E. Schede, M. V. Seiler, C. Mensendiek, K. Tierney, and H. Trautmann, “OPTICAT: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Instance-Specific Algorithm Configuration,” <i>ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization</i>, Art. no. 3844954, 2026, doi: <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3844954\">10.1145/3844954</a>.","chicago":"Schede, Elias, Moritz Vinzent Seiler, Carolin Mensendiek, Kevin Tierney, and Heike Trautmann. “OPTICAT: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Instance-Specific Algorithm Configuration.” <i>ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization</i>, 2026. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3844954\">https://doi.org/10.1145/3844954</a>.","short":"E. Schede, M.V. Seiler, C. Mensendiek, K. Tierney, H. Trautmann, ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization (2026).","mla":"Schede, Elias, et al. “OPTICAT: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Instance-Specific Algorithm Configuration.” <i>ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization</i>, 3844954, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2026, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3844954\">10.1145/3844954</a>.","ama":"Schede E, Seiler MV, Mensendiek C, Tierney K, Trautmann H. OPTICAT: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Instance-Specific Algorithm Configuration. <i>ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization</i>. Published online 2026. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3844954\">10.1145/3844954</a>","bibtex":"@article{Schede_Seiler_Mensendiek_Tierney_Trautmann_2026, title={OPTICAT: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Instance-Specific Algorithm Configuration}, DOI={<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3844954\">10.1145/3844954</a>}, number={3844954}, journal={ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization}, publisher={Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)}, author={Schede, Elias and Seiler, Moritz Vinzent and Mensendiek, Carolin and Tierney, Kevin and Trautmann, Heike}, year={2026} }"},"publication":"ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization","department":[{"_id":"819"}],"type":"journal_article","date_created":"2026-09-17T05:10:53Z"},{"doi":"10.1145/3795095.3805136","user_id":"15504","editor":[{"full_name":"Trujillo, Leonardo","last_name":"Trujillo","first_name":"Leonardo"},{"full_name":"Hu, Ting","last_name":"Hu","first_name":"Ting"}],"page":"134–142","_id":"66670","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"publisher":"ACM","date_updated":"2026-08-06T07:00:02Z","status":"public","year":"2026","title":"Digging to the Ground Truth: Solving Multi-objective Gray-Box Optimization Problems through Hyperplane Elimination","author":[{"id":"75006","full_name":"Mensendiek, Carolin","last_name":"Mensendiek","first_name":"Carolin"},{"id":"102978","orcid":"0009-0008-9308-2418","first_name":"Oliver Ludger","last_name":"Preuß","full_name":"Preuß, Oliver Ludger"},{"id":"102977","last_name":"Rook","first_name":"Jeroen","full_name":"Rook, Jeroen"},{"full_name":"Chicano, Francisco","first_name":"Francisco","last_name":"Chicano"},{"last_name":"Whitley","first_name":"Darrell","full_name":"Whitley, Darrell"},{"id":"100740","full_name":"Trautmann, Heike","orcid":"0000-0002-9788-8282","last_name":"Trautmann","first_name":"Heike"}],"type":"conference","department":[{"_id":"819"}],"date_created":"2026-08-06T06:59:20Z","publication":"Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2026, Centro Internacional de Convenciones CIC-ANDE, San Jose, Costa Rica, July 13-17, 2026","citation":{"chicago":"Mensendiek, Carolin, Oliver Ludger Preuß, Jeroen Rook, Francisco Chicano, Darrell Whitley, and Heike Trautmann. “Digging to the Ground Truth: Solving Multi-Objective Gray-Box Optimization Problems through Hyperplane Elimination.” In <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2026, Centro Internacional de Convenciones CIC-ANDE, San Jose, Costa Rica, July 13-17, 2026</i>, edited by Leonardo Trujillo and Ting Hu, 134–142. ACM, 2026. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795095.3805136\">https://doi.org/10.1145/3795095.3805136</a>.","short":"C. Mensendiek, O.L. Preuß, J. Rook, F. Chicano, D. Whitley, H. Trautmann, in: L. Trujillo, T. Hu (Eds.), Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2026, Centro Internacional de Convenciones CIC-ANDE, San Jose, Costa Rica, July 13-17, 2026, ACM, 2026, pp. 134–142.","apa":"Mensendiek, C., Preuß, O. L., Rook, J., Chicano, F., Whitley, D., &#38; Trautmann, H. (2026). Digging to the Ground Truth: Solving Multi-objective Gray-Box Optimization Problems through Hyperplane Elimination. In L. Trujillo &#38; T. Hu (Eds.), <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2026, Centro Internacional de Convenciones CIC-ANDE, San Jose, Costa Rica, July 13-17, 2026</i> (pp. 134–142). ACM. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795095.3805136\">https://doi.org/10.1145/3795095.3805136</a>","ieee":"C. Mensendiek, O. L. Preuß, J. Rook, F. Chicano, D. Whitley, and H. Trautmann, “Digging to the Ground Truth: Solving Multi-objective Gray-Box Optimization Problems through Hyperplane Elimination,” in <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2026, Centro Internacional de Convenciones CIC-ANDE, San Jose, Costa Rica, July 13-17, 2026</i>, 2026, pp. 134–142, doi: <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795095.3805136\">10.1145/3795095.3805136</a>.","ama":"Mensendiek C, Preuß OL, Rook J, Chicano F, Whitley D, Trautmann H. Digging to the Ground Truth: Solving Multi-objective Gray-Box Optimization Problems through Hyperplane Elimination. In: Trujillo L, Hu T, eds. <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2026, Centro Internacional de Convenciones CIC-ANDE, San Jose, Costa Rica, July 13-17, 2026</i>. ACM; 2026:134–142. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795095.3805136\">10.1145/3795095.3805136</a>","bibtex":"@inproceedings{Mensendiek_Preuß_Rook_Chicano_Whitley_Trautmann_2026, title={Digging to the Ground Truth: Solving Multi-objective Gray-Box Optimization Problems through Hyperplane Elimination}, DOI={<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795095.3805136\">10.1145/3795095.3805136</a>}, booktitle={Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2026, Centro Internacional de Convenciones CIC-ANDE, San Jose, Costa Rica, July 13-17, 2026}, publisher={ACM}, author={Mensendiek, Carolin and Preuß, Oliver Ludger and Rook, Jeroen and Chicano, Francisco and Whitley, Darrell and Trautmann, Heike}, editor={Trujillo, Leonardo and Hu, Ting}, year={2026}, pages={134–142} }","mla":"Mensendiek, Carolin, et al. “Digging to the Ground Truth: Solving Multi-Objective Gray-Box Optimization Problems through Hyperplane Elimination.” <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2026, Centro Internacional de Convenciones CIC-ANDE, San Jose, Costa Rica, July 13-17, 2026</i>, edited by Leonardo Trujillo and Ting Hu, ACM, 2026, pp. 134–142, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795095.3805136\">10.1145/3795095.3805136</a>."}},{"page":"641–644","_id":"66711","series_title":"GECCO ’26 Companion","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"publisher":"Association for Computing Machinery","user_id":"15504","doi":"10.1145/3795101.3805368","status":"public","title":"Multi-Objective Pipeline Optimisation and Configuration of Automatic Train Operation Trajectories","year":"2026","publication_identifier":{"isbn":["9798400724886"]},"author":[{"id":"75006","first_name":"Carolin","last_name":"Mensendiek","full_name":"Mensendiek, Carolin"},{"full_name":"Zeipel, Henrik","last_name":"Zeipel","first_name":"Henrik"},{"id":"102978","full_name":"Preuß, Oliver Ludger","orcid":"0009-0008-9308-2418","last_name":"Preuß","first_name":"Oliver Ludger"},{"id":"105520","full_name":"Seiler, Moritz","last_name":"Seiler","first_name":"Moritz"},{"first_name":"Walter","last_name":"Sextro","full_name":"Sextro, Walter"},{"full_name":"Trautmann, Heike","last_name":"Trautmann","orcid":"0000-0002-9788-8282","first_name":"Heike","id":"100740"}],"date_updated":"2026-08-14T05:37:15Z","date_created":"2026-08-14T05:36:09Z","place":"New York, NY, USA","type":"conference","department":[{"_id":"819"}],"publication":"Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion","citation":{"short":"C. Mensendiek, H. Zeipel, O.L. Preuß, M. Seiler, W. Sextro, H. Trautmann, in: Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion, Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 2026, pp. 641–644.","chicago":"Mensendiek, Carolin, Henrik Zeipel, Oliver Ludger Preuß, Moritz Seiler, Walter Sextro, and Heike Trautmann. “Multi-Objective Pipeline Optimisation and Configuration of Automatic Train Operation Trajectories.” In <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion</i>, 641–644. GECCO ’26 Companion. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2026. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795101.3805368\">https://doi.org/10.1145/3795101.3805368</a>.","apa":"Mensendiek, C., Zeipel, H., Preuß, O. L., Seiler, M., Sextro, W., &#38; Trautmann, H. (2026). Multi-Objective Pipeline Optimisation and Configuration of Automatic Train Operation Trajectories. <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion</i>, 641–644. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795101.3805368\">https://doi.org/10.1145/3795101.3805368</a>","ieee":"C. Mensendiek, H. Zeipel, O. L. Preuß, M. Seiler, W. Sextro, and H. Trautmann, “Multi-Objective Pipeline Optimisation and Configuration of Automatic Train Operation Trajectories,” in <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion</i>, 2026, pp. 641–644, doi: <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795101.3805368\">10.1145/3795101.3805368</a>.","ama":"Mensendiek C, Zeipel H, Preuß OL, Seiler M, Sextro W, Trautmann H. Multi-Objective Pipeline Optimisation and Configuration of Automatic Train Operation Trajectories. In: <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion</i>. GECCO ’26 Companion. Association for Computing Machinery; 2026:641–644. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795101.3805368\">10.1145/3795101.3805368</a>","bibtex":"@inproceedings{Mensendiek_Zeipel_Preuß_Seiler_Sextro_Trautmann_2026, place={New York, NY, USA}, series={GECCO ’26 Companion}, title={Multi-Objective Pipeline Optimisation and Configuration of Automatic Train Operation Trajectories}, DOI={<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795101.3805368\">10.1145/3795101.3805368</a>}, booktitle={Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion}, publisher={Association for Computing Machinery}, author={Mensendiek, Carolin and Zeipel, Henrik and Preuß, Oliver Ludger and Seiler, Moritz and Sextro, Walter and Trautmann, Heike}, year={2026}, pages={641–644}, collection={GECCO ’26 Companion} }","mla":"Mensendiek, Carolin, et al. “Multi-Objective Pipeline Optimisation and Configuration of Automatic Train Operation Trajectories.” <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion</i>, Association for Computing Machinery, 2026, pp. 641–644, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3795101.3805368\">10.1145/3795101.3805368</a>."}},{"type":"conference","department":[{"_id":"819"}],"date_created":"2025-07-29T06:11:51Z","publication":"Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2025, NH Malaga Hotel, Malaga, Spain, July 14-18, 2025","citation":{"ieee":"O. L. Preuß, C. Mensendiek, J. Rook, J. Bossek, and H. Trautmann, “Automated Algorithm Configuration and Systematic Benchmarking for Heterogeneous MNK-Landscapes,” in <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2025, NH Malaga Hotel, Malaga, Spain, July 14-18, 2025</i>, 2025, pp. 58–66, doi: <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3712256.3726481\">10.1145/3712256.3726481</a>.","mla":"Preuß, Oliver Ludger, et al. “Automated Algorithm Configuration and Systematic Benchmarking for Heterogeneous MNK-Landscapes.” <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2025, NH Malaga Hotel, Malaga, Spain, July 14-18, 2025</i>, edited by Bogdan Filipic, ACM, 2025, pp. 58–66, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3712256.3726481\">10.1145/3712256.3726481</a>.","apa":"Preuß, O. L., Mensendiek, C., Rook, J., Bossek, J., &#38; Trautmann, H. (2025). Automated Algorithm Configuration and Systematic Benchmarking for Heterogeneous MNK-Landscapes. In B. Filipic (Ed.), <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2025, NH Malaga Hotel, Malaga, Spain, July 14-18, 2025</i> (pp. 58–66). ACM. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3712256.3726481\">https://doi.org/10.1145/3712256.3726481</a>","bibtex":"@inproceedings{Preuß_Mensendiek_Rook_Bossek_Trautmann_2025, title={Automated Algorithm Configuration and Systematic Benchmarking for Heterogeneous MNK-Landscapes}, DOI={<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3712256.3726481\">10.1145/3712256.3726481</a>}, booktitle={Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2025, NH Malaga Hotel, Malaga, Spain, July 14-18, 2025}, publisher={ACM}, author={Preuß, Oliver Ludger and Mensendiek, Carolin and Rook, Jeroen and Bossek, Jakob and Trautmann, Heike}, editor={Filipic, Bogdan}, year={2025}, pages={58–66} }","chicago":"Preuß, Oliver Ludger, Carolin Mensendiek, Jeroen Rook, Jakob Bossek, and Heike Trautmann. “Automated Algorithm Configuration and Systematic Benchmarking for Heterogeneous MNK-Landscapes.” In <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2025, NH Malaga Hotel, Malaga, Spain, July 14-18, 2025</i>, edited by Bogdan Filipic, 58–66. ACM, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3712256.3726481\">https://doi.org/10.1145/3712256.3726481</a>.","short":"O.L. Preuß, C. Mensendiek, J. Rook, J. Bossek, H. Trautmann, in: B. Filipic (Ed.), Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2025, NH Malaga Hotel, Malaga, Spain, July 14-18, 2025, ACM, 2025, pp. 58–66.","ama":"Preuß OL, Mensendiek C, Rook J, Bossek J, Trautmann H. Automated Algorithm Configuration and Systematic Benchmarking for Heterogeneous MNK-Landscapes. In: Filipic B, ed. <i>Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference, GECCO 2025, NH Malaga Hotel, Malaga, Spain, July 14-18, 2025</i>. ACM; 2025:58–66. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1145/3712256.3726481\">10.1145/3712256.3726481</a>"},"doi":"10.1145/3712256.3726481","user_id":"15504","editor":[{"full_name":"Filipic, Bogdan","first_name":"Bogdan","last_name":"Filipic"}],"page":"58–66","_id":"60812","publisher":"ACM","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"date_updated":"2025-07-29T06:12:28Z","status":"public","title":"Automated Algorithm Configuration and Systematic Benchmarking for Heterogeneous MNK-Landscapes","year":"2025","author":[{"id":"102978","full_name":"Preuß, Oliver Ludger","first_name":"Oliver Ludger","last_name":"Preuß","orcid":"0009-0008-9308-2418"},{"id":"75006","last_name":"Mensendiek","first_name":"Carolin","full_name":"Mensendiek, Carolin"},{"id":"102977","full_name":"Rook, Jeroen","first_name":"Jeroen","last_name":"Rook"},{"id":"102979","full_name":"Bossek, Jakob","orcid":"0000-0002-4121-4668","first_name":"Jakob","last_name":"Bossek"},{"first_name":"Heike","last_name":"Trautmann","orcid":"0000-0002-9788-8282","full_name":"Trautmann, Heike","id":"100740"}]}]