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1 \u201cEvolving Game-Playing Agents with LLMs\u201d<\/strong> by Simon Lucas, Full Professor of AI at Queen Mary University of London (UK), where he leads the Game AI Research Group. In his keynote, Simon Lucas explored how large language models can enhance evolutionary algorithms and accelerate the development of competent game-playing agents, while emphasizing the continuing importance of human creativity and critical evaluation in the process.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"keynote2\n\"](\"https:\/\/sigevo.hosting.acm.org\/public_html\/sigevolution\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image11-1024x767.png\")
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2 \u201cThe Dynamics of Moving Together in Fish Schools and Autonomous Swarms\u201d<\/strong> by Guy Theraulaz, senior research fellow at the CNRS and an expert in the study of collective animal behavior. Guy Theraulaz presented fascinating insights into how coordinated collective motion emerges in fish schools through simple local interactions, and how these principles can inspire the design of adaptive and resilient autonomous drone swarms.
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"keynote3\n\"](\"https:\/\/sigevo.hosting.acm.org\/public_html\/sigevolution\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image17-768x1024.png\")
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3 \u201cEndless Forms Most Beautiful: Quality, Diversity, and the MAP-Elites Algorithm\u201d<\/strong>, the 2025 Julian Francis Miller Awardee Keynote, by Jean-Baptiste Mouret, senior researcher (\u201cdirecteur de recherche\u201d) at Inria (Nancy, France), co-founder of Bleu Robotics, and one of the architects of the quality-diversity algorithm family, including MAP-Elites. Jean-Baptiste Mouret discussed the evolution of quality-diversity algorithms and their ability to generate a wide variety of high-performing solutions, illustrating their applications across fields ranging from chemistry to robotics.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nSocial Dinner<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"social](\"https:\/\/sigevo.hosting.acm.org\/public_html\/sigevolution\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image12-1024x768.png\")
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The social dinner took place at the Domaine de Rochemont\u00e8s, a stunning historic estate located about 15 km outside of Toulouse. A classified Monument Historique, the domain is an ensemble of 17th and 18th-century buildings surrounded by a 9-hectare French-style park, all overlooking the Garonne river, a truly special setting that brought students and professors together in a relaxed and elegant atmosphere.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
During the evening, Francisco Fern\u00e1ndez de Vega received the EvoStar Award for Outstanding Contribution to Evolutionary Computation in Europe 2026 and was officially welcomed into the Old Crocs group, a well-deserved recognition for his many years of dedication to the evolutionary computation community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As has become a beloved EvoStar tradition, the night ended on a high note with the EvoStar Choir, bringing everyone together for a rousing group sing-along. Following the official closing of the dinner, those still in good spirits continued the evening together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"group](\"https:\/\/sigevo.hosting.acm.org\/public_html\/sigevolution\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image9-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nConference Closing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The last day of EvoStar 2026 came to a close with the much-anticipated awards ceremony, celebrating outstanding contributions across all tracks. It was a wonderful moment to reflect on the remarkable research shared throughout the week and to recognize those who stood out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- EuroGP best paper: Semantic Search Trajectory Networks for Understanding Genetic Programming<\/em><\/strong> by Josip Hrvati\u0107, Magda Smoli\u0107-Ro\u010dak, Marko \u0110urasevi\u0107 and Gabriela Ochoa, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- EvoAPPs best paper: Toward Reliable Uncertainty Quantification in Surrogate-Assisted Evolutionary Algorithms via Temporal Conformal Prediction<\/em><\/strong> by Emanuele Nardone, Claudio De Stefano, Alessandra Scotto di Freca, Francesco Fontanella and Tiziana D\u2019Alessandro<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- EvoCOP best paper: Gray-Box Enhanced Decomposition-based Local Search for Multi-Objective NK-Landscapes<\/em><\/strong> by Francesco Cecere, Bilel Derbel, Darrell Whitley and Surendra Kurivella<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- EvoMUSART best paper: Fluid Body: An Adaptive Embodied Sonification System for Cross-Cultural Performance <\/em><\/strong>by Yuting Xue and Yueshen Wu<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Best Student Paper: Adaptive Curriculum Learning in Genetic Programming\u2013Guided Local Search for Large-Scale Vehicle Routing Problems<\/em><\/strong> by Saining Liu, Yi Mei, Mengjie Zhang<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Best Poster: Life Beings: Living Quantum Art<\/em><\/strong> by Alain Lioret, Kamal Hennou and Florentin Eraud<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Best Poster Runner-Up: Combining Grammatical Evolution with LLM-based Local Search to Improve Interpretability<\/em><\/strong> by Berfin Sakallioglu, Frederico Santos, Daniel Parra, Yuxin Qiu, Miguel Nicolau, Leonardo Trujillo and Ignacio Hidalgo<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Outstanding Students of 2026: Camilo De La Torre, Daniel Hambly, Jiajie Liu, Abhay Bhandarkar, Elia Pacioni, Fitria Wulandari Ramlan, and Yutaro Yamada.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The Julian Francis Miller Award was presented to Josh Bongard, recognised for his pioneering work on living robotics. His research on embodied cognition, material evolution, and development has pushed the boundaries of what we consider “alive”, blurring the line between the biological and the artificial in ways that continue to inspire the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the SPECIES Society Annual General Meeting, the Executive Board was re-elected, and we were excited to welcome Sylvain Cussat-Blanc and Eric Medvet. On the other hand, we had to say goodbye to Sara Silva and Anik\u00f3 Ek\u00e1rt, a big thank you to both for their dedication and all they have contributed to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
City Tour<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter the conference wrapped up, an optional guided city tour was offered for those wanting to explore more of Toulouse. Led by our very own local chair Dennis Wilson, the group departed at 15:15 from Gymnase Le Rempart, moving through UT Capitole’s Arsenal campus and the Clo\u00eetre des Chartreux courtyard before reaching the Basilique Saint-Sernin, one of Europe’s largest Romanesque churches and a landmark on the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route, recognisable by its iconic octagonal bell tower. From there, the tour continued to the Place du Capitole, the city’s lively main square, where the grand pink fa\u00e7ade of the city hall made for a perfect photo stop, then on to the Cath\u00e9drale Saint-\u00c9tienne, a fascinating architectural curiosity whose famously misaligned nave reflects centuries of competing construction projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sigevo.hosting.acm.org\/public_html\/sigevolution\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/city-tour-1024x395.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nNo visit to Toulouse would be complete without food, and the group split across several boulangeries near the Carmes market before gathering for a final, relaxed stop at the Jardin Royal, a shaded garden where everyone enjoyed their pastries together, a fittingly peaceful end to a wonderful conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the tour, unfortunately, it was already time to say goodbye. We really enjoyed our time in Toulouse. Special thanks to the local chairs Dennis Wilson and Sylvain Cussat-Blanc, and the EvoStar coordinator Anna Esparcia-Alc\u00e1zar for putting together such an amazing event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We hope to see you all at EvoStar 2027 in Mainz!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the Authors <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBerfin Sakallioglu<\/strong> (University of Trieste)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Berfin](\"https:\/\/sigevo.hosting.acm.org\/public_html\/sigevolution\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image8-768x1024.png\")
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Berfin Sakallioglu is a PhD student in Applied Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Trieste, Italy. Her research explores ways to enhance evolutionary computation through external guidance, with a current focus on leveraging large language models; from improving the interpretability of evolved solutions to interactively generating curricula for multi-task evolutionary policy search.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Christina Berghegger<\/strong> (Universit\u00e9 Toulouse Capitole)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sigevo.hosting.acm.org\/public_html\/sigevolution\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image1-683x1024.jpg\")
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Christina Berghegger is a PhD student in Computer Science at University Toulouse Capitole, France. In her research, she focuses on search space exploration, primarily in the field of Cartesian Genetic Programming, with the aim of identifying mechanisms that can enhance exploration capabilities.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/span>Journal Latest Issues<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n![\"ECJ\"](\"https:\/\/sigevo.hosting.acm.org\/public_html\/sigevolution\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/evco1078224731.png\")
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<\/span>Evolutionary computation<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nEditors-in-Chief: Thomas B\u00e4ck and Hao Wang<\/p>\n\n\n\n