Publications
$\ast$ means equal contribution, $\dagger$ indicates corresponding author
[MILP] A General Neural Backbone for Mixed-Integer Linear Optimization via Dual Attention,
Peixin Huang, Yaoxin Wu, Yining Ma, Cathy Wu, Wen Song, Wei Zhang.
International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), 2026. [Accepted][VRP] Learning to Segment for Vehicle Routing Problems,
Wenbin Ouyang, Sirui Li, Yining Ma $\dagger$, Cathy Wu.
International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), 2026. Oral (top 1%) [Paper][VRP] Towards Efficient Constraint Handling in Neural Solvers for Routing Problems,
Jieyi Bi, Zhiguang Cao, Jianan Zhou, Wen Song, Yaoxin Wu, Jie Zhang, Yining Ma $\dagger$, Cathy Wu.
International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), 2026. [Code & Paper][VRP] RADAR: Learning to Route with Asymmetry-aware Distance Representations,
Hang Yi, Ziwei Huang, Yining Ma, Zhiguang Cao.
International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), 2026. [Paper][MAPF] Learning-guided Prioritized Planning for Lifelong Multi-Agent Path Finding in Warehouse Automation,
Han Zheng, Yining Ma $\dagger$, Brandon Araki, Jingkai Chen, Cathy Wu.
Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research (JAIR), vol. 85, no. 28, pp. 1-44, 2026. [Code & Paper] [🎉 MIT News][LLM] LLaMoCo: Instruction Tuning of Large Language Models for Optimization Code Generation,
Zeyuan Ma, Yue-Jiao Gong, Hongshu Guo, Jiacheng Chen, Yining Ma $\dagger$, Zhiguang Cao, Jun Zhang.
IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation (TEVC), 2026. [Paper][Interpretability] Probing Neural Combinatorial Optimization Models,
Zhiqin Zhang, Yining Ma, Zhiguang Cao, Hoong Chuin Lau.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), 2025. Spotlight (top 3%) [Code & Paper][BBO] DesignX: Human-Competitive Algorithm Designer for Black-Box Optimization,
Hongshu Guo, Zeyuan Ma, Yining Ma, Xinglin Zhang, Wei-Neng Chen, Yue-Jiao Gong.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), 2025. [Paper][BBO] [Benchmark] MetaBox-v2: A Unified Benchmark Platform for Meta-Black-Box Optimization,
Zeyuan Ma, Yue-Jiao Gong, Hongshu Guo, Wenjie Qiu, Sijie Ma, Hongqiao Lian, Jiajun Zhan, Kaixu Chen, Chen Wang, Zhiyang Huang, Zechuan Huang, Guojun Peng, Ran Cheng, Yining Ma.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), 2025. [Code & Paper] [MetaEvo Homepage 🚩][MTMDVRP] SHIELD: Multi-task Multi-distribution Vehicle Routing Solver with Sparsity and Hierarchy,
Yong Liang Goh, Zhiguang Cao, Yining Ma, Jianan Zhou, Mohammed Haroon Dupty, Wee Sun Lee.
International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), 2025. [Paper][FJSP] Learning-Guided Rolling Horizon Optimization for Long-Horizon Flexible Job-Shop Scheduling,
Sirui Li, Wenbin Ouyang, Yining Ma, Cathy Wu.
International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), 2025. [Code & Paper] [🎉 MIT News][BBO] ConfigX: Modular Configuration for Evolutionary Algorithms via Multitask Reinforcement Learning,
Hongshu Guo, Zeyuan Ma, Jiacheng Chen, Yining Ma, Zhiguang Cao, Xinglin Zhang, Yue-Jiao Gong.
AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), 2025. Oral (top 5%) [Code & Paper][COP] [Library] RL4CO: an Extensive Reinforcement Learning for Combinatorial Optimization Benchmark,
Federico Berto $\ast$, Chuanbo Hua $\ast$, Junyoung Park $\ast$, Laurin Luttmann $\ast$, Yining Ma, Fanchen Bu, Jiarui Wang, Haoran Ye, Minsu Kim, Sanghyeok Choi, Nayeli Gast Zepeda, André Hottung, Jianan Zhou, Jieyi Bi, Yu Hu, Fei Liu, Hyeonah Kim, Jiwoo Son, Haeyeon Kim, Davide Angioni, Wouter Kool, Zhiguang Cao, Qingfu Zhang, Joungho Kim, Jie Zhang, Kijung Shin, Cathy Wu, Sungsoo Ahn, Guojie Song, Changhyun Kwon, Kevin Tierney, Lin Xie, Jinkyoo Park.
ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD), 2025. Oral (top 1%) [Code & Paper] [Documentation] [AI4CO Homepage 🚀][VRP] Diversity Optimization for Travelling Salesman Problem via Deep Reinforcement Learning,
Qi Li, Zhiguang Cao, Yining Ma, Yaoxin Wu, Yue-Jiao Gong.
ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD), 2025. [Code & Paper][MARL] Decision-making with Speculative Opponent Models,
Jing Sun, Shuo Chen, Cong Zhang, Yining Ma, Jie Zhang.
IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems (TNNLS), 2024. [Code & Paper][VRP] Learning to Handle Complex Constraints for Vehicle Routing Problems,
Jieyi Bi, Yining Ma $\dagger$, Jianan Zhou, Wen Song, Zhiguang Cao, Yaoxin Wu, Jie Zhang.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), 2024. [Code & Paper][VRP] Efficient Neural Collaborative Search for Pickup and Delivery Problems,
Detian Kong $\ast$, Yining Ma $\ast$, Zhiguang Cao, Tianhu Yu, Jianhua Xiao.
IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (TPAMI), vol. 46, no. 12, pp. 11019-11034, 2024. [Code & Paper] [🎉 NKU News][MTVRP] MVMoE: Multi-Task Vehicle Routing Solver with Mixture-of-Experts,
Jianan Zhou, Zhiguang Cao, Yaoxin Wu, Wen Song, Yining Ma, Jie Zhang, Xu Chi.
International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), pp. 61804-61824, 2024. [Code & Paper][VRP] Hierarchical Neural Constructive Solver for Real-world TSP Scenarios,
Yong Liang Goh, Zhiguang Cao, Yining Ma, Yanfei Dong, Mohammed Haroon Dupty, Wee Sun Lee.
ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD), pp. 884-895, 2024. [Paper][RecSys] Disentangled Multi-interest Representation Learning for Sequential Recommendation,
Yingpeng Du, Ziyan Wang, Zhu Sun, Yining Ma, Hongzhi Liu, Jie Zhang.
ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD), pp. 677-688, 2024. [Paper][BBO] SYMBOL: Generating Flexible Black-Box Optimizers through Symbolic Equation Learning,
Jiacheng Chen, Zeyuan Ma, Hongshu Guo, Yining Ma, Jie Zhang, Yue-Jiao Gong.
International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), 2024. [Code & Paper][BBO] Deep Reinforcement Learning for Dynamic Algorithm Selection: A Proof-of-Principle Study on Differential Evolution,
Hongshu Guo, Yining Ma, Zeyuan Ma, Jiacheng Chen, Xinglin Zhang, Zhiguang Cao, Jun Zhang, Yue-Jiao Gong.
IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics: Systems (SMCA), vol. 54, no. 7, pp. 4247-4259, 2024. [Paper][FedRL] FedHQL: Federated Heterogeneous Q-Learning,
Flint Xiaofeng Fan, Yining Ma, Zhongxiang Dai, Cheston Tan, Bryan Kian Hsiang Low, Roger Wattenhofer.
International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS), Extended Abstract, pp. 2810-2812, 2023. [Paper][Planning] MTrajPlanner: A Multiple-Trajectory Planning Algorithm for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles,
Yue-Jiao Gong, Ting Huang, Yining Ma, Sang-Woon Jeon, Jun Zhang.
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems (TITS), vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 3714-3727, 2023. [Code & Paper][MOCOP] Neural Multi-Objective Combinatorial Optimization with Diversity Enhancement,
Jinbiao Chen, Zizhen Zhang, Zhiguang Cao, Yaoxin Wu, Yining Ma, Te Ye, Jiahai Wang.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), pp. 39176-39188, 2023. [Code & Paper][BBO] [Benchmark] MetaBox: A Benchmark Platform for Meta-Black-Box Optimization with Reinforcement Learning,
Zeyuan Ma, Hongshu Guo, Jiacheng Chen, Zhenrui Li, Guojun Peng, Yue-Jiao Gong, Yining Ma, Zhiguang Cao.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), pp. 10775-10795, 2023. Oral (top 1%) [Code & Paper] [Documentation] [MetaEvo Homepage 🚩][VRP] Learning to Search Feasible and Infeasible Regions of Routing Problems with Flexible Neural k-Opt,
Yining Ma, Zhiguang Cao, Yeow Meng Chee.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), pp. 49555-49578, 2023. [Code & Paper][COP] [Invited Review] A Review on Learning to Solve Combinatorial Optimisation Problems in Manufacturing,
Cong Zhang $\ast$, Yaoxin Wu $\ast$, Yining Ma $\ast$, Wen Song, Le Zhang, Zhiguang Cao, Jie Zhang.
IET Collaborative Intelligent Manufacturing (CIM), vol. 5, no. 1, pp. e12072, 2023. [Paper][VRP] Learning Feature Embedding Refiner for Solving Vehicle Routing Problems,
Jingwen Li $\ast$, Yining Ma $\ast$, Zhiguang Cao, Yaoxin Wu, Wen Song, Jie Zhang, Yeow Meng Chee.
IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems (TNNLS), vol. 35, no. 11, pp. 15279-15291, 2023. [Code & Paper][VRP] Learning Generalizable Models for Vehicle Routing Problems via Knowledge Distillation,
Jieyi Bi $\ast$, Yining Ma $\ast$, Jiahai Wang, Zhiguang Cao, Jinbiao Chen, Yuan Sun, Yeow Meng Chee.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), pp. 31226-31238, 2022. Spotlight [Code & Paper][VRP] Deep Reinforcement Learning for Solving the Heterogeneous Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem,
Jingwen Li, Yining Ma, Ruize Gao, Zhiguang Cao, Andrew Lim, Wen Song, Jie Zhang.
IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics (TCYB), vol. 52, no. 12, pp. 13572-13585, 2022. [Code & Paper][FedRL] Fault-Tolerant Federated Reinforcement Learning with Theoretical Guarantee,
Xiaofeng Fan, Yining Ma, Zhongxiang Dai, Wei Jing, Cheston Tan, Kian Hsiang Low.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), pp. 1007-1021, 2021. [Code & Paper][VRP] Efficient Neural Neighborhood Search for Pickup and Delivery Problems,
Yining Ma $\ast$, Jingwen Li $\ast$, Zhiguang Cao, Wen Song, Hongliang Guo, Yuejiao Gong, Yeow Meng Chee.
International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), pp. 4776-4784, 2022. [Code & Paper][VRP] Learning to Iteratively Solve Routing Problems with Dual-Aspect Collaborative Transformer,
Yining Ma, Jingwen Li, Zhiguang Cao, Wen Song, Le Zhang, Zhenghua Chen, Jing Tang.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), pp. 11096-11107, 2021. [Code & Paper][Planning] Path Planning for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles: An Ant Colony Algorithm Incorporating Alarm Pheromone,
Yining Ma, Yue-Jiao Gong, Chu-Feng Xiao, Ying Gao, Jun Zhang.
IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (TVT), vol. 68, no. 1, pp. 141-154, 2019. [Paper]
Patent
Intelligent video content server deployment method system,
China Invention Grant (No. CN108616401B), 2018. [Link]Learning-Guided Prioritized Planning for Lifelong Multi-Agent Path Finding in Warehouse Automation (pending), 2026.