Personal profile
Research overview
My main research interest is Constraint Programming (CP). I have been working on the automated constraint modelling tool Conjure and on high-level modelling/reformulation research through Conjure. For more details about Conjure see GitHub: https://github.com/conjure-cp
I am also very interested in applications of CP to specific problems. I have worked on applications in areas including Computer Science (data mining, cloud computing, network science), Mathematics, Economics and Logistics.
I am interested in a variety of other things including programming languages research (especially functional programming), data linkage, algorithm selection & configuration, and the intersection of ML/statistics and CP.
Previous PhD students: Patrick Spracklen, Gökberk Koçak, Xu Zhu
Current PhD students: Erdem Kuş, Andrew Schwabe, Yiğit Yazıcılar
Profile Keywords
Constraint Programming, Data Linkage, Applications of Machine Learning
Teaching activity
I taught some of our core CS modules for first and second years:
- CS1003 - Programming with Data
- CS2003 - The Internet and the Web: Concepts and Programming
And honours & post-graduate level modules:
- CS4402 - Constraint Programming
- CS5929 - Discrete Optimisation
- CS4303 - Video Games
- CS5001 - Object-Oriented Modelling, Design and Programming
I enjoy supervising students at various levels including undergraduate projects, masters dissertations, and PhD students. I am also leading a VIP (Vertically Integrated Projects) called "Artificial Intelligence for Decision Making". VIPs are ongoing projects that can be taken by students for several semesters. See the general VIP webpage for more details.
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Faster symmetry breaking constraints for abstract structures
Akgün, Ö., Chang, M. S., Gent, I. P. & Jefferson, C., 14 Mar 2026, Proceedings of the 40th annual AAAI conference on artificial intelligence. Koenig, S., Jenkins, C. & Taylor, M. (eds.). Washington, DC: AAAI Press, p. 14132-14139 8 p. (Proceedings of the AAAI conference on artificial intelligence; vol. 40, no. 17).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
Open AccessFile -
Breaking the symmetries of indistinguishable objects
Akgun, O., Chang, M. S., Gent, I. P. & Jefferson, C. A., 2025, Integration of constraint programming, artificial intelligence, and operations research: 22nd international conference, CPAIOR 2025, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, November 10–13, 2025, proceedings, Part I. Tack, G. (ed.). Cham: Springer, p. 152-168 (Lecture notes in computer science; vol. 15762).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
Open AccessFile -
Composable constraint models for permutation enumeration
Hoffmann, R., Akgun, O. & Jefferson, C., 22 Jan 2025, In: Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science. 26, 1, 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Solver-aided expansion of loops to avoid generate-and-test
Dewally, N. & Akgün, Ö., 11 Aug 2025, ModRef 2025 - The 24rd workshop on constraint modelling and reformulation (ModRef). p. 1-13 13 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
Open Access -
TabID: automatic identification and tabulation of subproblems in constraint models
Akgun, O., Gent, I. P., Jefferson, C. A., Kiziltan, Z., Miguel, I. J., Nightingale, P., Salamon, A. Z. & Ulrich-Oltean, F., 30 Mar 2025, In: Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research. 82, p. 1999-2056 58 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile
Datasets
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Memory consistency models using constraints (dataset)
Akgun, O. (Creator), Hoffmann, R. (Creator) & Sarkar, S. (Creator), GitHub, 16 Aug 2018
https://github.com/stacs-cp/ModRef2018-MCM
Dataset
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stacs-cp/composable-permutation-patterns (All versions)
Akgun, O. (Creator) & Hoffmann, R. (Creator), Zenodo, 2023
Dataset: Software
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Towards reformulating Essence specifications for robustness (code)
Akgun, O. (Creator), GitHub, 2021
https://github.com/stacs-cp/ModRef2021-robustness
Dataset: Software
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Projects
- 2 Finished
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ADR UK Programme: University of Edinburgh 2022-2026 ADR UK Programme
Dearle, A. (PI), Akgun, O. (CoI) & Kirby, G. (CoI)
Economic and Social Research Council
1/04/22 → 31/03/26
Project: Standard
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Modelling and Optimisation with Graphs: Modelling and Optimisation with Graphs
Jefferson, C. (PI) & Akgun, O. (CoI)
1/07/17 → 31/10/20
Project: Standard
Activities
- 4 Participation in or organising a public festival/exhibition/event
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Doors Open @ Computer Science 2026
Hoffmann, R. (Chair of organising committee), Morrison, D. (Member of organising committee), Ross, K. (Member of organising committee), Ardati, A. A. (Participant), Dearle, A. (Participant), Connor, R. (Participant), Claydon, B. (Participant), Sturdee, M. (Participant), Miguel, A. R. (Participant), Manataki, A. (Participant), Myles, C. G. G. (Participant), Harris-Birtill, D. C. C. (Participant), Balasubramaniam, D. (Participant), Brady, E. C. (Participant), Ye, J. (Participant), Clarke, L. (Participant), Young, M. (Participant), Chang, M. S. (Participant), Akgun, O. (Participant), Gent, I. P. (Participant), Jefferson, C. A. (Participant), Konovalov, O. (Participant), Nickson, Z. (Participant), Woodville-Price, T. (Participant), Donnelly, P. (Participant), To, S. H. (Participant), Spink, T. (Participant), Ren, Q. (Participant), McKechnie, M. (Participant), Redina, P. (Participant), Martin, N. (Participant), Mccurry, A. (Participant), Donaldson, D. (Participant), McCann, P. (Participant), Crowe, S. (Participant), Michalovits, S. (Participant), Terry, S. (Participant), Rosales Sanabria, A. (Participant), Nowshadi, Z. A. (Participant), Lin, Q. (Participant), Fogwill, M. (Participant), Sullivan, J. (Participant), Cardwell, K. (Participant), Kerlaff, K. (Participant), Chan, T. (Participant), Gronda Garrigues, P. (Participant), Janik, V. (Participant), Oswald, J. (Participant), Ellis, A. (Participant), Novozhylova, M. (Participant), Chub, O. (Participant), Shevchenko, V. (Participant), Boiar, Y. (Participant), Schrempf, P. (Participant), Murray, M. (Participant), Nederhof, M. (Participant), Dobson, S. (Participant), Johnston, A. (Participant), Aitken, L. (Participant), Kirby, G. (Participant), Babazadeh, K. (Participant), Hansen, T. E. (Participant), Boyd, K. (Participant), Telford, H. (Participant), Vesely, K. (Participant), Tronciu, V. (Participant), Huica, T. (Participant), Soe, S. (Participant), Abdul Khadeer, M. S. (Participant), Silva De Oliveira, R. (Participant), McGowan, J. (Participant), Doshi, A. (Participant) & Loughney, J. P. (Participant)
28 Apr 2026Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a public festival/exhibition/event
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Doors Open @ Computer Science 2025
Hoffmann, R. (Chair of organising committee), Ross, K. (Member of organising committee), Ardati, A. A. (Participant), Dearle, A. (Participant), Connor, R. (Participant), Claydon, B. (Participant), Miller, A. (Participant), Sturdee, M. (Participant), Miguel, A. R. (Participant), Manataki, A. (Participant), Cassidy, C. A. (Participant), Pisani, S. (Participant), Brown, C. M. (Participant), Barwell, A. D. (Participant), Myles, C. G. G. (Participant), Harris-Birtill, D. C. C. (Participant), Morrison, D. (Participant), Balasubramaniam, D. (Participant), Dang, N. T. T. (Participant), Brady, E. C. (Participant), Terzic, K. (Participant), Kadi, H. A. (Participant), Oliver, I. A. (Participant), Kennedy, S. E. (Participant), Espasa Arxer, J. (Participant), Ye, J. (Participant), Clarke, L. (Participant), Jacques, J. T. (Participant), Young, M. (Participant), Chang, M. S. (Participant), Akgun, O. (Participant), Gent, I. P. (Participant), Jefferson, C. A. (Participant), Konovalov, O. (Participant), Loughney, J. P. (Participant), Letham, R. (Participant), Metcalfe, T. (Participant), Henderson, T. (Participant), Zhang, J. (Participant), Nguyen, R. (Participant), Halite, A. (Participant), Leal Teixeira Gondim Simao, A. (Participant), Ozkaya, A. (Participant), Powell, V. (Participant), Watson, H. (Participant), Nickson, M. (Participant), Sullivan, J. (Participant) & Michalovits, S. (Participant)
1 May 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a public festival/exhibition/event
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Doors Open @ Computer Science 2024
Hoffmann, R. (Chair of organising committee), Ross, K. (Member of organising committee), Halite, A. (Participant), Mann, A. (Participant), Dearle, A. (Participant), Banks, A. (Participant), Lin, A. (Participant), Boyce, A. (Participant), Manataki, A. (Participant), Singh, A. (Participant), Huang, A. (Participant), Eccles, B. J. (Participant), Claydon, B. (Participant), Varghese, B. (Participant), Clues, C. (Participant), Naughton, C. (Participant), Brown, C. M. (Participant), Myles, C. G. G. (Participant), Kennedy, D. (Participant), Morrison, D. (Participant), Saikumar, D. (Participant), Balasubramaniam, D. (Participant), Brady, E. C. (Participant), Jenkins, E. (Participant), Spillane, E. (Participant), Leitner, F. (Participant), Haywood, G. T. (Participant), Rasheed, H. (Participant), Waller, J. (Participant), Herbert, J. (Participant), Espasa Arxer, J. (Participant), Williamson, J. (Participant), Loughney, J. (Participant), Zhang, J. (Participant), Wang, R. (Participant), Garriock, K. (Participant), Davies, K. (Participant), Clarke, L. (Participant), Laverty, L. (Participant), Andrei, M. (Participant), Young, M. (Participant), Chang, M. S. (Participant), Martin, N. (Participant), Dewally, N. (Participant), Akgun, O. (Participant), Ng, P. (Participant), Connor, R. (Participant), Letham, R. (Participant), Kirkpatrick, R. (Participant), McQuistin, S. (Participant), Yuan, V. (Participant), Tronciu, V. (Participant), Law, Y. N. (Participant) & Zhang, Y. (Participant)
11 Apr 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a public festival/exhibition/event
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Doors Open @ Computer Science 2023
Hoffmann, R. (Chair of organising committee), Ross, K. (Member of organising committee), Boyd, K. M. (Member of organising committee), Miller, A. H. D. (Participant), Miguel, A. R. (Participant), Varghese, B. (Participant), Brown, C. M. (Participant), Jefferson, C. A. (Participant), Harris-Birtill, D. C. C. (Participant), Balasubramaniam, D. (Participant), Brady, E. C. (Participant), Kirby, G. N. C. (Participant), Gent, I. P. (Participant), Jacques, J. T. (Participant), Espasa Arxer, J. (Participant), Ye, J. (Participant), Terzic, K. (Participant), Fang, L. (Participant), Nederhof, M. J. (Participant), Young, M. (Participant), Dang, N. T. T. (Participant), Konovalov, O. (Participant), Akgun, O. (Participant), Connor, R. (Participant), Dearle, A. (Participant), Filgueira, R. (Participant), Zhu, X. (Participant), Bhatti, S. (Participant), Dobson, S. A. (Participant), Mann, P. S. (Participant), Sarkar, S. (Participant), Kelsey, T. (Participant) & Spink, T. (Participant)
11 Apr 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a public festival/exhibition/event
Press/Media
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Celebrating Our First Workshop: The Role of Universities in the Ethical Digital Nation
Ardati, A. A., Ross, K., Voss, A., MacKenzie, M. L., Akgun, O., Pagliari, C. & Venters, T.
25/10/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Other