Luca Di Gaspero is an associate professor of information technology at the University of Udine and the founder and director of IOLab. His research spans local-search metaheuristics, constraint and mathematical programming, algorithm configuration, and experimental analysis. His current work investigates large language models as components of combinatorial optimization systems, from generative operators to problem representation and algorithm selection.

Research leadership and impact

He led the Problem Modelling and User Experience working group of the European COST Action ROAR-NET until March 2026 and continues to serve on the supervisory committee developing a shared API for randomized optimization algorithms. He is also the head of the University of Udine node of the CINI National Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Scheduling.

He was a member of the research units for PNRR FAIR – MaPSART, on automated reasoning, and PRIN IMHO, on integrated healthcare management. He led automated-reasoning activities in the SAFE maritime decision-support project and directed a multi-year collaboration with Danieli Automation on production scheduling for the steel industry.

Open-source optimization

He created EasyLocal++, a C++ framework for rapidly developing local-search algorithms, and later JuLES, its Julia counterpart. EasyLocal++ has supported research across the lab’s application domains and became the technological foundation of the commercial university timetabling system EasyCourse.