Application of the grouping genetic algorithm to University Course Timetabling

University Course Timetabling-Problems (UCTPs) involve the allocation of resources (such as rooms and timeslots) to all the events of a university, satisfying a set of hard-constraints and, as much as possible, some soft constraints. Here we work with a well-known version of the problem where there seems a strong case for considering these two goals as separate sub-problems. In particular we note that the satisfaction of hard constraints fits the standard definition of a grouping problem. As a result, a grouping genetic algorithm for finding feasible timetables for "hard" problem instances has been developed, with promising results.