The 2026 International Conference on Optimization: Techniques and Applications (ICOTA 2026) was successfully held in Shanghai from 10 to 12 April 2026. The conference was hosted by Shanghai University of Engineering Science and co-organised by the Operations Research Society of Shanghai, Curtin University (Australia), Shanghai University, Dalian University of Technology, Yunnan Normal University, and the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology.
At the opening ceremony, Professor Yongqi Lou, President of Shanghai University of Engineering Science, delivered an online welcome address. This was followed by keynote remarks from Professor Yuhong Dai, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of the Operations Research Society of China, and Professor Honglei Xu from Curtin University, Chairman of the Pacific Optimization Research Activity Group. The speakers highlighted the pivotal role of optimization technologies in advancing global scientific progress and driving industrial transformation, while expressing strong expectations for the conference’s academic exchange outcomes.

The opening ceremony was attended by a distinguished group of internationally renowned scholars, including Professor R. Tyrrell Rockafellar (University of Washington), Professor Kok‑Lay Teo (Sunway University), Professor Panos Pardalos (University of Florida), Professor Jie Sun (National University of Singapore), Professor Defeng Sun and Professor Xiaojun Chen (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Professor Zaiwen Wen (Peking University), Professor Yanqin Bai (Shanghai University), Professor Wenxun Xing (Tsinghua University), Professor Dachuan Xu (Beijing University of Technology), Professor Xinwei Liu (Hebei University of Technology), Professor Lingchen Kong (Beijing Jiaotong University), Professor Changjun Yu (Shanghai University), and Professor Lei Wang (Dalian University of Technology), among others. The ceremony was chaired by Professor Guoqiang Wang, Dean of the School of Mathematics, Physics & Statistics at Shanghai University of Engineering Science.
The conference focused on cutting‑edge developments in optimization, featuring seven plenary lectures, 25 special sessions, and eight thematic presentations. Participants engaged in in‑depth discussions on a wide range of forefront topics, including multi‑agent optimization stability, optimal control, polynomial optimization, integer programming, manifold optimization, stochastic optimization, non‑smooth and non‑convex optimization, matrix optimization, Riemannian optimization, and dynamical systems with optimization algorithms. In particular, the plenary sessions brought together several world‑leading scholars who shared breakthrough applications of optimization theory in artificial intelligence, intelligent manufacturing, and big data, generating strong interest and lively discussion among attendees.
The conference attracted nearly 300 experts, scholars, and researchers from over a dozen countries and regions, including China, the United States, Australia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Turkey, Norway, and Israel. With a strong emphasis on fostering early‑career researchers, the event drew a large number of young faculty members and graduate students from both domestic and international institutions. The conference not only provided a high‑level exchange platform for senior experts but also created valuable opportunities for young scholars to engage directly with leading international figures, highlighting the enduring vitality and global appeal of the ICOTA conference series.
Since its establishment in 1997, the ICOTA series has grown into one of the most influential international academic forums in the field of optimization. The successful hosting of ICOTA 2026 further strengthened Shanghai University of Engineering Science’s engagement with the global academic community and made a significant contribution to advancing theoretical innovation and international collaboration in optimization research.