Two doctoral students from URJC, awarded at the Spanish Computer Science Congress

Javier Yuste and Sergio Cavero present, together with 10 other researchers, the latest work by the GRAFO group, belonging to the Rey Juan Carlos University

The doctoral students of the Rey Juan Carlos University, Javier Yuste and Sergio Cavero, have been awarded by the Spanish Congress of Informatics (CEDI) in its sixth edition, held in Malaga from September 22 to 24. The researchers participated in the congress along with 10 other members of the GRAFO group (Group for Research in Algorithms For Optimization), a high-performance group belonging to the URJC.

This is the first time that Javier and Sergio participate together in a face-to-face conference on computing and optimization, their area of ​​specialization: “It was a very rewarding and motivating experience, being able to know what people are working on and present your work the same way, it is something that encourages you to continue doing things ”, explains Javier Yuste, who acknowledges that they did not expect to win the award.

For Sergio, “the fact that they give you an award is always gratifying and encourages a lot to continue because in the end the life of a doctoral student is hard and there are many hours working” and he adds that “it is good” that the congresses reward this type of things since they are not always recognized directly.

A recognition of the work of an entire group and the university

The two doctoral students have been awarded in the MAEB category (Metaheuristics, Evolutionary Algorithms and Bioinspired), but, in addition, the GRAFO research group has participated in a total of eight papers, presenting a total of four thesis projects, presenting three works featured and publishing unpublished work in a volume of Springer’s ‘Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence’ series.

“In the end, these two awards are not so much an individual recognition of our work, but rather the work of the group and the university,” explains Javier Yuste. “Those numbers come to say that the group is doing important work, not only in research, but also in training, which requires money and time. All this would not be possible without the university, which is where the group is embarked ”, he concludes.

The GRAFO research group is focused on Optimization, an area that seeks to improve day-to-day situations through algorithms such as delivery routes, the reduction of consumption in transport and other practical habits.