Parallel Problem Solving from Nature (PPSN) is a peer-reviewed research conference focusing on the topic of natural computing. As such it includes a wide scope of computer science. It originated in 1990 and has been held biennially across European locations ever since. Papers selected for PPSN conferences are presented as posters and published in proceedings in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science series. PPSN conferences also include presentations by keynote speakers representing diverse viewpoints in the field, tutorials given by experts, and workshops for discussion of topics that may not be fully represented in the main conference. These activities that should advance the field of natural computing probably explain why PPSN gained an A-ranking in the 2023 CORE computer science conference ranking system, reflecting its importance as a venue in which computer science researchers can participate.

Origin The idea behind PPSN emerged around 1989-1990 when Bernard Manderick, Reinhard Männer, Heinz Mühlenbein, and Hans-Paul Schwefel, realised they shared a common field of study that was not covered by the conferences on Operations Research, Physics, or Computer Science they attended regularly.Günter Rudolph's PPSN page at TU Dortmund, https://ls11-www.cs.tu-dortmund.de/rudolph/ppsn [accessed Jul 24 2020]

The field of genetic algorithms had already been established in the form of the ICGA conference in 1985, but the founders of PPSN wanted a wider focus, with algorithms that included problem solving, parallel computing and the use of natural metaphors (such as Darwinian evolution or Boltzmann dynamics).

The success of the first PPSN event at Dortmund encouraged its organisers to start a biennial conference series, as a European counterpart to the American-based ICGA (which in 1999 merged with the Genetic Programming conference to give rise to GECCO).

Analogies to natural processes included the thermodynamic process of annealing, immune systems and neural networks, as well as other paradigms, with Darwinian evolution being by far the most frequently used metaphor.

In this way, evolutionary algorithms and evolutionary computation became the common denominator for the PPSN approach to problem solving by mimicking biological principles like populations, birth, death, mutation, recombination, and natural selection.

History So far, eighteen PPSN conferences have been held. The table below describes their dates, locations and cites their websites and proceedings, where accessible. The importance of Dortmund, as the location of the Technical University of Dortmund (:de:Technische Universität Dortmund), where the conference originated, as the location of many successor conferences and as the location of on-going relevant research, should not be understated.

+Parallel Problem Solvings from Nature (PPSN) ConferencesYearDatesLocationWebsiteWhere conference websites are shown as "No" they are not accessible at the time of updating this article in 2025. Where conference websites are shown as "Yes" a reference is given to the site.ProceedingsProceedings are listed by their Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series numbers, except where they were not published in that series. Where the conference proceedings covered more than one volume, they are shown.1990 1–3 October Dortmund No LNCS 496Parallel Problem Solving from Nature, 1st Workshop, PPSN I, Dortmund, Germany, October 1–3, 1990, Proceedings. Hans-Paul Schwefel, Reinhard Männer (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 496, Springer 1991, 1992 28–30 September Brussels No PPSN IIParallel Problem Solving from Nature 2, PPSN-II, Reinhard Männer, Bernard Manderick (Eds.), Brussels, Belgium, September 28–30, 1992. Elsevier 1992, 1994 9–14 October Jerusalem No LNCS 866Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN III, International Conference on Evolutionary Computation. The Third Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature, Yuval Davidor, Hans-Paul Schwefel, Reinhard Männer (Eds.), Jerusalem, Israel, October 9–14, 1994, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 866, Springer 1994, 1996 22–26 September Berlin No LNCS 1141Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN IV, International Conference on Evolutionary Computation. The 4th International Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature, Hans-Michael Voigt, Werner Ebeling, Ingo Rechenberg, Hans-Paul Schwefel (Eds.), Berlin, Germany, September 22–26, 1996, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 1141, Springer 1996, 1998 27–30 September Amsterdam No LNCS 1498Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN V, 5th International Conference, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, September 27–30, 1998, Proceedings. A. E. Eiben, Thomas Bäck, Marc Schoenauer, Hans-Paul Schwefel (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 1498, Springer 1998, 2000 16–20 September Paris No LNCS 1917Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN VI, 6th International Conference, Paris, France, September 18–20, 2000, Proceedings. Marc Schoenauer, Kalyanmoy Deb, Günter Rudolph, Xin Yao, Evelyne Lutton, Juan Julián Merelo Guervós, Hans-Paul Schwefel: (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 1917, Springer 2000, 2002 7–11 September Granada No LNCS 2439Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN VII, 7th International Conference, Granada, Spain, September 7–11, 2002, Proceedings. Juan Julián Merelo Guervós, Panagiotis Adamidis, Hans-Georg Beyer, José Luis Fernández-Villacañas Martín, Hans-Paul Schwefel: (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2439, Springer 2002, 2004 18–22 September Birmingham No LNCS 3242Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN VIII, 8th International Conference, Birmingham, UK, September 18–22, 2004, Proceedings. Xin Yao, Edmund K. Burke, José Antonio Lozano, Jim Smith, Juan Julián Merelo Guervós, John A. Bullinaria, Jonathan E. Rowe, Peter Tiño, Ata Kabán, Hans-Paul Schwefel (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 3242, Springer 2004, 2006 9–13 September Reykyavik No LNCS 4193Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN IX, 9th International Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland, September 9–13, 2006, Proceedings. Thomas Philip Runarsson, Hans-Georg Beyer, Edmund K. Burke, Juan Julián Merelo Guervós, L. Darrell Whitley, Xin Yao (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 4193, Springer 2006, 2008 13–17 September Dortmund Yes LNCS 5199Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN X, 10th International Conference Dortmund, Germany, September 13–17, 2008, Proceedings. Günter Rudolph, Thomas Jansen, Simon M. Lucas, Carlo Poloni, Nicola Beume (Eds.). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5199, Springer 2008, 2010 11–15 September Krakow Yes LNCS 6238,Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN XI, 11th International Conference, Kraków, Poland, September 11–15, 2010, Proceedings, Part I. Robert Schaefer, Carlos Cotta, Joanna Kolodziej, Günter Rudolph (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 6238, Springer 2010, LNCS 6239Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN XI, 11th International Conference, Kraków, Poland, September 11–15, 2010, Proceedings, Part II. Robert Schaefer, Carlos Cotta, Joanna Kolodziej, Günter Rudolph (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 6239, Springer 2010, 2012 1–5 September Taormina No LNCS 7491,Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN XII, 12th International Conference, Taormina, Italy, September 1–5, 2012, Proceedings, Part I. Carlos A. Coello Coello, Vincenzo Cutello, Kalyanmoy Deb, Stephanie Forrest, Giuseppe Nicosia, Mario Pavone (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 7491, 2012, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-32937-1 LNCS 7492Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN XII, 12th International Conference, Taormina, Italy, September 1–5, 2012, Proceedings, Part II. Carlos A. Coello Coello, Vincenzo Cutello, Kalyanmoy Deb, Stephanie Forrest, Giuseppe Nicosia, Mario Pavone (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 7492, 2012 doi:10.1007/978-3-642-32937-12014 13–17 September Ljubljana No LNCS 8672Parallel Problem Solving from Nature – PPSN XIII 13th International Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 13–17, 2014. Proceedings. Thomas Bartz-Beielstein, Jürgen Branke, Bogdan Filipič, Jim Smith (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series 8672, 2014, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-10762-22016 17–21 September Edinburgh Yes LNCS 9921Parallel Problem Solving from Nature – PPSN XIV 14th International Conference, Edinburgh, UK, September 17–21, 2016, Proceedings. Julia Handl, Emma Hart, Peter R. Lewis, Manuel López-Ibáñez, Gabriela Ochoa, Ben Paechter (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 9921, 2016, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-45823-62018 8–12 September Coimbra No LNCS 11101,Parallel Problem Solving from Nature – PPSN XV. 15th International Conference, Coimbra, Portugal, September 8–12, 2018, Proceedings, Part I. Anne Auger, Carlos M. Fonseca, Nuno Lourenço, Penousal Machado, Luís Paquete, Darrell Whitley (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 11101, 2018, , doi:10.1007/978-3-319-99253-2 LNCS 11102Parallel Problem Solving from Nature – PPSN XV. 15th International Conference, Coimbra, Portugal, September 8–12, 2018, Proceedings, Part II. Anne Auger, Carlos M. Fonseca, Nuno Lourenço, Penousal Machado, Luís Paquete, Darrell Whitley (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 11102, 2018, , doi:10.1007/978-3-319-99259-4 2020 5–9 September Leiden No LNCS 12269,Parallel Problem Solving from Nature – PPSN XVI 16th International Conference, PPSN 2020, Leiden, The Netherlands, September 5–9, 2020, Proceedings, Part I. Thomas Bäck, Mike Preuss, André Deutz, Hao Wang, Carola Doerr, Michael Emmerich, Heike Trautmann (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 12269, 2020, , doi:10.1007/978-3-030-58112-1 LNCS 12270Parallel Problem Solving from Nature – PPSN XVI 16th International Conference, PPSN 2020, Leiden, The Netherlands, September 5–9, 2020, Proceedings, Part II. Thomas Bäck, Mike Preuss, André Deutz, Hao Wang, Carola Doerr, Michael Emmerich, Heike Trautmann (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 12270, 2020, , doi:10.1007/978-3-030-58115-2 2022 10–14 September Dortmund No LNCS 13398, LNCS 133992024 14–18 September Hagenberg Yes LNCS 15148,Parallel Problem Solving from Nature – PPSN XVIII 18th International Conference, PPSN 2024, Hagenberg, Austria, September 14–18, 2024, Proceedings, Part I. Michael Affenzeller, Stephan M. Winkler, Anna V. Kononova, Heike Trautmann, Tea Tušar, Penousal Machado, Thomas Bäck (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 15148, 2024, , doi:10.1007/978-3-031-70055-2 LNCS 15149,Parallel Problem Solving from Nature – PPSN XVIII 18th International Conference, PPSN 2024, Hagenberg, Austria, September 14–18, 2024, Proceedings, Part II. Michael Affenzeller, Stephan M. Winkler, Anna V. Kononova, Heike Trautmann, Tea Tušar, Penousal Machado, Thomas Bäck (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 15149, 2024, , doi:10.1007/978-3-031-70068-2 LNCS 15150,Parallel Problem Solving from Nature – PPSN XVIII 18th International Conference, PPSN 2024, Hagenberg, Austria, September 14–18, 2024, Proceedings, Part III. Michael Affenzeller, Stephan M. Winkler, Anna V. Kononova, Heike Trautmann, Tea Tušar, Penousal Machado, Thomas Bäck (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 15150, 2024, , doi:10.1007/978-3-031-70071-2 LNCS 15151Parallel Problem Solving from Nature – PPSN XVIII 18th International Conference, PPSN 2024, Hagenberg, Austria, September 14–18, 2024, Proceedings, Part IV. Michael Affenzeller, Stephan M. Winkler, Anna V. Kononova, Heike Trautmann, Tea Tušar, Penousal Machado, Thomas Bäck (Eds). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 15151, 2024, , doi:10.1007/978-3-031-70085-9 2026 29 August-2 September Trento Yes Pending

Organisation