Welcome to the home page of the Natural Computing Group at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS). The focus of our activities is on foundation and applications of computational paradigms gleaned from nature. Some examples include evolutionary algorithms, artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, ant colony optimization, swarm intelligence, simulated annealing, cellular automata, and molecular computing. We investigate fundamental aspects of those algorithms as well as their applications to practical problems, including e.g. medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical, physics, and engineering applications, as well as business applications ranging from portfolio optimization to forecasting. This website contains a wealth of information. The following pages may serve as a quick overview:
Thank you very much for your interest in our group. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have questions!
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bäck, Head Natural Computing Group