Phone: +34-868-884186
        Fax:     +34-868-884182
        e-mail: josefdez@um.es

• B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mathematics, University of Murcia, July 1993.
• Ph.D. in Mathematics, Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Univertity of Murcia, February 1999.

• Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics and Operations Research of the Univertiy of Murcia (Spain).
• Member of the Operations Research Group of the University of Murcia (IOMUR).
• Member of the Spanish Group on Location (GELOCA), one of the research groups of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research (SEIO).
• Member of the Euro Working Group on Locational Analysis (EWGLA), one of the research groups of the Association of European Operational Research Societies (EURO).

• Location: Location science deals with the location of one or more facilities in a way that optimizes a certain objective, such as minimizing transportation cost, minimizing the undesirable effects produced by the facility, capturing the largest market share, etc. Location of hospitals, supermarkets, petrol-stations, warehouses, nuclear plants or radar beams are some examples. Location models differ one another from the space where the facility is to be located (a subset of the plane or of some n-dimensional space, a network, a discrete set, ...), the number of new facilities to be located, the number of existing facilities, the decision maker's objective and the customers. The more realistic the problem is, the more difficult to find its solution becomes.

Many other fields have direct connections with location science, either by subject or as techniques used in the design of algorithms, such as transportation and routing problems, mathematical (linear, integer, nonlinear, convex, global, ...) programming, multicriteria analysis, approximation theory, computational geometry, ...

For more information, the interested reader is referred to the following books:

• Drezner Z. (ed.) (1995): "Facility Location: a Survey of Applications and Methods", Springer Series in Operations Research, Springer, Berlin, N.Y..
• Francis R.L., McGinnins Jr.L.F. and White J.A. (1992): "Facility layout and Location: an Analytical Approach", International Series in Industrial and Systems Engineering, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
• Love R.F., Morris J.G. and Wesolowsky G.O. (1988): "Facilities Location: Models and Methods", North Holland, N.Y.

The following sites may be of interest:
• EWGLA (''Euro Working Group on Locational Analysis'' - The Working group devoted to Locational Analysis within EURO, the European Association of National Operations Research Societies).
• GELOCA (''Grupo Español de LOCAlización'' - The Working group devoted to Locational Analysis within SEIO, the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research - in Spanish).

• Global Optimization: One of the most important problems in Mathematics is the one of optimizing a given function f(x), x in Rⁿ, subject to some constraints, g(x)=0, h(x)<=0, where g is a m-vectorial function and h a r-vectorial function. If (a) the objective function f is convex and (b) the feasible set defined by the points satisfying the constraints is convex, then there are efficient algorithms which can solve the problem. They are based of the fact that a local optimum is also a global optimum.

Nevertheless, if one (or both) of those conditions does not hold, the problem is much more difficult to solve, since there may exist local optima that are not global. All standard techniques in nonlinear optimization can at most locate local optimal points, and there is no local criterion for deciding whether a local solution is global. Therefore, conventional methods of optimization using such tools as derivatives, gradients, subgradients and the like, are, in general, not capable of locating or identifying a global optimum.

Due to those difficulties, the methods devised for solving global optimization problems are significantly different from the standard tools referred above. In order to build a numerically promising implementation, additional properties of the problem's data usually have to be exploited.

The following book is an excellent introduction to the area:

• Horst R. and Tuy H. (1996):  "Global optimization. Deterministic approaches (3rd edition)", Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

• Interval Analysis: Traditionally, a computer can only obtain approximate solutions to a given problem. Even though approximations are often satisfactory, they may nevertheless be inaccurate or even completely wrong. Some disasters attributable to bad numerical computing (the Patriot Missile failure, in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, on February 25, 1991 which resulted in 28 deaths; the explosion of the Ariane 5 rocket just after lift-off on its maiden voyage off French Guiana, on June 4, 1996; and the sinking of the Sleipner A offshore platform in Gandsfjorden near Stavanger, Norway, on August 23, 1991) can be seen at http://www.math.psu.edu/dna/disasters/.

Interval Analysis is a field of numerical analysis where the basic elements of the calculations are intervals of real numbers. With the use of directed rounding, we can automatically encapsulate the true solution in intervals. Interval Analysis allows to create algorithms which use set theoretic existence theorems; in this way, not only it is possible to design interval algorithms able to solve difficult problems but also they are able to prove the existence and uniqueness of the theoretic solutions that they compute enclosures of (these algorithms are called "Self Validating Algorithms").

Interval Analysis has been applied to different problems, such as: linear and nonlinear systems, global optimization, constraint propagation, fuzzy logic, economic input-output models, quality control in manufacturing design, quantum mechanics, medical expert systems and others.

The interested reader is referred to the Interval Computations Home Page at:
http://www.cs.utep.edu/interval-comp/main.html (USA) or
http://www.lsi.upc.es/~robert/mirror/interval-comp/main.html (mirror site in Spain)

The following books are excellent introductions to the area:

• Hansen E.R. and Walster G.W. (2004): "Global Optimization Using Interval Analysis", MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• Ratschek H. and Rokne J. (1988): "New Computer Methods for Global Optimization", Horwood, Chichester.

Books

1. J. Fernández, P. Fernández, M. Iniesta,  Probabilidad, modelos y estadística, DM, Colección Texto-Guía, ICE-Universidad de Murcia, 1998, (284 pages), ISBN:84-95095-78-5 (table of contents, doc file).
2. B. Tóth and J. Fernández, Interval methods for single and bi-objective optimization problems - applied to competitive facility location models, Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010, (243 pages), ISBN: 978-3-8383-6624-1.

1. J. Fernández, B. Pelegrín, B. Tóth and F. Plastria (2004), Localización competitiva en el plano con decisiones en diseño, in ''Avances en localización de servicios y sus aplicaciones'', Ed. Servicio de Publicaciones de la UMU (ISBN: 84-8371-507-4) pp.109-138.
2. L.G. Casado and J. Fernández (2005), Introducción a la optimización global intervalar, in "El análisis de intervalos en España: desarrollos, herramientas y aplicaciones", Documenta Universitaria (ISBN:84-934349-1-4), pp.45-61.
   
3. J. Fernández, B.Tóth, F. Plastria and B. Pelegrín (2006), Reconciling franchisor and franchisee: a planar biobjective competitive location and design model, in “Recent Advances in Optimization”, (Edited by A. Seeger), Lectures Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems 563, Springer-Verlag (ISBN: 3-540-28257-2, ISSN: 0075-8442), pp.375-398.

1. J. Fernández, L. Cánovas and B. Pelegrín,  DECOPOL-Codes for decomposing a polygon into convex subpolygons, European Journal of Operational Research 102 (1997) 242-243 (doi:10.1016/S0377-2217(97)00225-7).
2. P. Fernández, B. Pelegrín and J. Fernández,  Location of paths on trees with minimal eccentricity and superior section, Top 6 (1998) 223-246 (doi:10.1007/BF02564789).
3. J. Fernández, L. Cánovas and B. Pelegrín,  Algorithms for the decomposition of a polygon into convex polygons, European Journal of Operational Research 121 (2000) 330-342 (doi:10.1016/S0377-2217(99)00033-8).
4. J. Fernández, P. Fernández and B. Pelegrín,  A continuous location model for siting a non-noxious undesirable facility within a geographical region,  European Journal of Operational Research 121 (2000) 259-274 (doi:10.1016/S0377-2217(99)00216-7).
5. J. Fernández and B. Pelegrín, Sensitivity Analysis in Continuous Location Models via Interval Analysis, Studies in Locational Analysis 14 (2000) 121-136 (abstract, dvi file).
6. J. Fernández and B. Pelegrín, Using Interval Analysis for solving single-facility location problems: new discarding tests, Journal of Global Optimization 19 (2001) 61-81 (doi:10.1023/A:1008315927737).
7. J. Fernández, P. Fernández and B. Pelegrín, Estimating actual distances by norm functions: a comparison between the $l_{k,p,\theta}-$ norm and the $l_{b_1,b_2,\theta}-$ norm and a study about the selection of the data set, Computers and Operations Research 29 (2002) 609-623 (doi:10.1016/S0305-0548(00)00045-9).
8. M.C. Markót, J. Fernández,  L.G. Casado and T. Csendes, New interval methods for constrained global optimization, Mathematical Programming Series A 106 (2006) 287-318 (doi:10.1007/s10107-005-0607-2).
9. B. Tóth, J. Fernández and T. Csendes, Empirical convergence speed of inclusion functions for facility location problems, Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics 199 (2007) 384-389 (doi:10.1016/j.cam.2005.07.037).
10. J. Fernández, B. Pelegrín, F. Plastria and B. Tóth, Solving a Huff-like competitive location and design model for profit maximization in the plane, European Journal of Operational Research 179 (2007) 1274-1287 (doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2006.02.005).
11. J. Fernández, F. Plastria and B. Pelegrín and B.Tóth, Planar location and design of a new facility with inner and outer competition: an interval lexicographical-like solution procedure, Networks and Spatial Economics 7 (2007) 19-44 (doi.10.1007/s11067-006-9005-4).
12. J. Fernández and B.Tóth, Obtaining an outer approximation of the efficient set of nonlinear biobjective problems, Journal of Global Optimization 38 (2007) 315-331 (an extended version of this paper can be downloaded here) (doi: 10.1007/s10898-006-9132-y).
13. B. Pelegrín, J. Fernández and B. Tóth, The 1-center problem in the plane with independent random weights, Computers and Operations Research 35 (2008) 737-749 (doi:10.1016/j.cor.2006.05.003).
14. J. Fernández, B. Tóth, L. Cánovas and B. Pelegrín, A practical algorithm for decomposing polygonal domains into convex polygons by diagonals, Top 16 (2008) 367-387 (doi: 10.1007/s11750-008-0055-2)
15. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, Parallel algorithms for continuous competitive location problems, Optimization Methods and Software 23 (2008) 779-791 (doi:10.1080/10556780802402564) 
16. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, A robust and efficient algorithm for planar competitive location problems, Annals of Operations Research 167 (2009) 87-105 (doi:10.1007/s10479-007-0233-x).
17. B. Tóth, J. Fernández, B. Pelegrín and F. Plastria, Sequential versus simultaneous approach in the location and design of two new facilities using planar Huff-like models, Computers and Operations Research 36 (2009) 1393-1405 (tests problems used in this paper) (doi:10.1016/j.cor.2008.02.006)
18. J. Fernández and B. Tóth, Obtaining the efficient set of nonlinear biobjective optimization problems via interval branch-and-bound methods, Computational Optimization and Applications 42 (2009) 393-419 (doi: 10.1007/s10589-007-9135-8)
19. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, Solving the Multiple Competitive Facilities Location and Design Problem on the Plane, Evolutionary Computation 17 (2009) 21-53 (doi:10.1162/evco.2009.17.1.21).
20. M.E. Sáiz, E.M.T. Hendrix, J. Fernández and B. Pelegrín, On a branch-and-bound approach for a Huff-like Stackelberg location problem, OR Spectrum 31 (2009) 679-705 (doi:10.1007/s00291-008-0133-8).
21. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, Sensitivity analysis of a continuous multifacility competitive location and design problem, Top 17 (2009) 347-365 (doi:10.1007/s11750-008-0071-2). [The program used to generate the test problems employed in the computational experiments can be downloaded here.]
22. B. Tóth, F. Plastria, J. Fernández and B. Pelegrín, On the impact of spatial pattern, aggregation, and model parameters in planar Huff-like competitive location and design problems, OR Spectrum  31 (2009) 601-627 (doi: 10.1007/s00291-008-0163-2) (an extended version of the paper can be downloaded at Optimization Online as "Sensitivity analysis of the optimal solutions to Huff-type competitive location and design problems").
23. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, Heuristics for the facility location and design (1|1)-centroid problem on the plane, Computational Optimization and Applications 45 (2010) 111-141  (doi: 10.1007/s10589-008-9170-0)
24. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, Parallel algorithms for continuous competitive multifacilities location problems, Journal of Global Optimization 50 (2011) 557-573 (doi: 10.1007/s10898-009-9455-6).
25. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, Solving the facility location and design (1|1)-centroid problem via parallel algorithms, The Journal of Supercomputing 58 (2011) 420-428 (doi: 10.1007/s11227-011-0605-5).
26. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, A.G. Arrondo, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, Fixed or variable demand? Does it matter when locating a facility?, Omega (The International Journal of Management Science) 40 (2012) 9-20, (doi: 10.1016/j.omega.2011.02.007).
    
27. J.L. Redondo, A.G. Arrondo, J. Fernández, I. García, P.M. Ortigosa, A two-level evolutionary algorithm for solving the facility location and design (1|1)-centroid problem on the plane with variable demand, Journal of Global Optimization, (doi:10.1007/s10898-012-9893-4),  to appear.
    

1. J. Fernández, S. Salhi, B. G.-Tóth, Obtaining location equilibria of an uncapacitated continuous competitive facility location problem under delivered pricing.
   
2. A.G. Arrondo, J. Fernández, J.L. Redondo, P.M. Ortigosa,  An approach for solving competitive location problems with variable demand using multicore systems.
3. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, J.D. Álvarez, A.G. Arrondo, P.M. Ortigosa, Approximating the efficient set of a planar biobjective competitive location and design problem.
    
   

1. J. Fernández, P. Fernández and B. Pelegrín, Estimating actual distances by the $l_{k,p,\theta}-$ and the $l_{b_1,b_2,\theta}-$ norms revisited, Working paper 97/10, Department of Statistics and Operations Research, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain, 1997.
2. P. Fernández, J. Fernández, B. Pelegrín and T. B. Boffey, Sets of efficient solutions for discrete bicriteria optimization problems, Working paper 2000/3, Department of Statistics and Operations Research, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain, 2000 (abstract, dvi file).

1. J. Fernández, Algunos problemas de localización relacionados con temas medio-ambientales, VIII Congreso Nacional de Estudiantes de Estadística, El Campello, Spain, 21-23 September 2005.
   

1. B. Pelegrín and J. Fernández, Estimación de distancias y tiempos de viaje en redes mediante la norma $l_{2b}$,  XXII Congreso Nacional de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Sevilla, Spain, 1995.
2. J. Fernández, Estimating travel times and distances by mathematical functions, European Management in Face of Knowledge Driven Competition, Porto, Portugal, 1996.
3. J. Fernández, L. Cánovas and B. Pelegrín, Un algoritmo para la descomposición de polígonos en polígonos convexos, XXIII Congreso Nacional de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Valencia, Spain, 1997.
4. J. Fernández and B. Pelegrín, Solving an obnoxious facility location problem with interval analysis, EURO XV/ INFORMS XXXIV, Barcelona, Spain, 1997.
5. J. Fernández, L. Cánovas and B. Pelegrín, Decomposing a polygonal region with holes into convex polygonal subregions, X meeting of the Euro Working Group on Locational Analysis (EWGLA10), Murcia, Spain, 1998.
6. J. Fernández and B. Pelegrín, Sensitivity analysis in continuous location models via Interval Analysis, X meeting of the Euro Working Group on Locational Analysis (EWGLA10), Murcia, Spain, 1998.
7. J. Fernández and B. Pelegrín, Solving continuous location problems via Interval Analysis: new discarding tests, VIIIth International Symposium on Locational Decisions (ISOLDE8), Coimbra and Estoril, Portugal, 1999.
8. J. Fernández, L.Cánovas and B. Pelegrín, A quick algorithm for decomposing a polygon with holes into convex polygons, VIIIth International Symposium on Locational Decisions (ISOLDE8), Coimbra and Estoril, Portugal, 1999.
9. J. Fernández, L.G. Casado, T. Csendes, M.C. Markót, Solving continuous location problems via Interval Analysis: a new adaptive multisection rule, XII meeting of the Euro Working Group on Locational Analysis (EWGLA12), Barcelona, Spain, 2000.
10. J. Fernández, L.G. Casado, T. Csendes, M.C. Markót, Solving continuous location problems via Interval Analysis: new selection criteria, XII meeting of the Euro Working Group on Locational Analysis (EWGLA12), Barcelona, Spain, 2000.
11. M. C. Markót, T. Csendes, J. F. Hernández and L. G. Casado, New interval methods for constrained global optimization, SIAM Conference on Optimization, Toronto, Canada, 20-22 May, 2002.
12. M. C. Markót, T. Csendes, J. F. Hernández, and L. G. Casado, A numerical study on a new heuristical decision index for interval global optimization, Validated Computing 2002,  Toronto, Canada, 23-25 May, 2002.
13. M. C. Markót, J. F. Hernández and L. G. Casado, New interval methods for constrained global optimization: solving "Circle Packing" problems in a reliable way, Conference of PhD Students in Computer Science (CSCS), Szeged, Hungary, 1-4 July 2002.
14. B. Pelegrín, J. Fernández and C. Blázquez, Comarcalización regional con tiempo de viajes mínimos, XXVIII Reunión de Estudios Regionales, Murcia, 27-29 November, 2002.
15. J. Fernández, B. Pelegrín and F. Plastria, Localización y diseño de un nuevo centro de servicio en situación de competencia (Location and design of a new facility in a competitive market), XXVII Congreso Nacional de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Lleida, Spain, 8-11 April 2003.
16. J. Fernández, B. Pelegrín, F. Plastria and B. Tóth, Location and design of a new facility under proportional and partially binary customers' preferences, XIV meeting of the Euro Working Group on Locational Analysis (EWGLA14), Corfu, Greece, 11-13 September 2003.
17. J. Fernández, B. Pelegrín, B. Tóth and F. Plastria, Localización competitiva en el plano con decisiones en diseño (Competive location in the plane with decisions on the design), IV Seminario Español de Localización, Lorca, Spain, 26-29 November 2003.
18. B. Tóth, J. Fernández, F. Plastria and B. Pelegrín, On solving a Huff-type facility location and design problem, 4th Conference of PhD Students in Computer Science, Szeged, Hungary, 1-4 July 2004.
19. B. Pelegrín, P. Fernández, J. Fernández and M.D. García, A location model for firm expansion with spatial price discrimination, Euro XX, Rhodes, Greece, 4-7 July 2004.
20. J. Fernández, B. Pelegrín, B. Tóth and F. Plastria, A biobjective single facility competitive location problem in the plane, XV meeting of the Euro Working Group on Locational Analysis (EWGLA15), Saarbrücken, Germany, 5-8 September 2004.
21. J.Fernández, B. Pelegrín, F.Plastria, B.Tóth, On the location of a new franchise's outlet in a competitive market: a biobjective interval analysis approach, 12th French-German-Spanish Conference on Optimization, Avignon, France, 20-24 September 2004.
22. B. Tóth, J. Fernández and T. Csendes, A comprehensive study on the convergence speed and efficiency of inclusion functions for facility location problems, SCAN 2004 (11th GAMM - IMACS International Symposium on Scientific Computing, Computer Arithmetic, and Validated Numerics), Fukoaka, Japan, 4-8 October 2004.
23. P. Fernández, J. Fernández, B. Pelegrín, M. D. García, Un modelo de expansión de una firma con mínimo perjuicio sobre sus centros ya existentes, XXVIII Congreso Nacional de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Cádiz, Spain, 25-29 October 2004.
    
24. J. Fernández, B. Tóth, B. Pelegrín and F. Plastria, Sensitivity analysis of a planar competitive location problem, ISOLDE X (10th International Symposium On Locational DEcisions), Seville-Islantilla, Spain, 2-8 June 2005.
25. J. Fernández, B. Tóth, B. Pelegrín and F. Plastria, On the location of two new competitive facilities in the plane, ISOLDE X (10th International Symposium On Locational DEcisions), Seville-Islantilla, Spain, 2-8 June 2005.
26. P. Fernández, B. Pelegrín, J. Fernández and M.D.García, Location of new facilities under delivered pricing, ISOLDE X (10th International Symposium On Locational DEcisions), Seville-Islantilla, Spain, 2-8 June 2005.
27. J. Fernández and B. Tóth, Constraint-like methods for obtaining an outer approximation of the efficient set of nonlinear biobjective problems, International Workshop on Global Optimization (GO 05), Almería, Spain, 18-22 Septermber 2005.
28. J. Fernández and B. Tóth, Obtaining the efficient set of biobjective competitive facility location and design problems, EURO XXI, Reykjavík, Iceland, 2-5 July 2006.
29. B. Pelegrín, P. Fernández, J. Fernández and M.D. García, A multifacility location model for firm expansion under competitive delivered pricing, EURO XXI, Reykjavík, Iceland, 2-5 July 2006.
30. B. Pelegrín, P. Fernández, J. Fernández and M.D. García, Firm expansion with a limited budget under competitive delivered pricing, EURO XXI, Reykjavík, Iceland, 2-5 July 2006.
31. E.M.T. Hendrix, J. van der Biezen, M.E. Sáiz, J. Fernandez and B. Pelegrin, On solution methods to solve a Huff based competitive location problem,  OR2006 (Operations Research 2006), Karlsruhe, Germany, September 2006.
32. B.Tóth and J. Fernández, Obtaining the efficient set of nonlinear biobjective optimization problems via interval branch-and-bound methods, SCAN 2006 (12th GAMM - IMACS International Symposium on Scientific Computing, Computer Arithmetic, and Validated Numerics), Duisburg, Germany, 26-29 September 2006.
33. E.M.T. Hendrix, M.E. Sáiz, J. Fernandez and B. Pelegrin, On solution methods to generate Stackelberg equilibria of a Huff based location problem,  Iberian Conference in Optimization, Coimbra, Portugal, November 2006.
34. B. Tóth, J. Fernández, F. Plastria and B. Pelegrín, Sensitivity analysis of the optimal solutions to Huff-type competitive location and design problems, Euro Winter Institute on Location and Logistics, Estoril, Portugal, 27 January- 10 February 2007.
35. J.L. Redondo, I. García, P.M. Ortigosa and J. Fernández, On a continuous multifacility competitive location and design problem: sensitivity analysis and economical implications, XVI meeting of the Euro Working Group on Locational Analysis (EWGLA11), Estoril, Portugal, February 2007.
36. J.L. Redondo, I. García, P.M. Ortigosa and J. Fernández, Parallelized algorithms for planar competitive location problems, Joint EUROPT-OMS meeting (Second Conference on Optimization Methods & Software and Sixth EUROPT Workshop on Advances in Continuous Optimization), Prague, Czech Republic, 4-7 July 2007.
37. M.E. Sáiz, J. Fernández, E.M.T. Hendrix and B. Pelegrín, On a branch-and-bound approach for a Huff-like Stackelberg location problem, EURO XXII, Prague, Czech Republic, 8-11 July 2007.
38. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, I. García, and P.M. Ortigosa, Políticas migratorias en la resolución de problemas de localización, XVIII Jornadas de Paralelismo, Zaragoza, Spain, September 2007.
39. B. Tóth and J. Fernández, Solving the (1|1)-centroid in the plane, International Workshop on Stochastic and Applied Global Optimization (SAGO 2008), Skukuza, South Africa, 19-22 July 2008.
40. J. Fernández, J.L. Redondo, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, Parallel strategies for solving a continuous competitive multiple facilities location and design problem, International Workshop on Stochastic and Applied Global Optimization (SAGO 2008), Skukuza, South Africa, 19-22 July 2008.
41. J. Fernádez and B.Tóth, Competitive location problems: fixed or variable demand?, XVII meeting of the Euro Working Group on Locational Analysis (EWGLA 17), Elche, Spain, 17-19 September 2008.
42. B. Tóth, J. Fernández and L.G. Casado, Comparison of pruning tests for interval B&B global optimization methods, SCAN 2008 (13th GAMM - IMACS International Symposium on Scientific Computing, Computer Arithmetic, and. Validated Numerics), El Paso, Texas, USA, September 29- October 3, 2008.
43. J. Fernández, Continuous competitive location: existing tools and new problems, I workshop on competitive location, Murcia, Spain, 20-21 Nomvember 2008. 
44. J. Fernández and B. Tóth, Obtaining the complete efficient set of nonlinear biobjective problems via interval branch-and-bound methods: a feasible strategy?, XXXI Congreso Nacional de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Murcia, Spain, 10-13 February 2009.
45. J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, UEGO: un algoritmo evolutivo de optimización global de propósito general, XXXI Congreso Nacional de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Murcia, Spain, 10-13 February 2009.
46. B. Tóth and J. Fernández, A reliable method for obtaining the complete weakly efficient set of nonlinear biobjective optimisation problems, EURO XXIII, Bonn, Germany, 5-8 July 2009.
47. J. Fernández and B. Tóth, Interval analysis applied to multiobjective optimization problems: obtaining the complete weakly efficient set, VIII Brazilian Workshop on Continuous Optimization, Mambucaba, Brazil, 13-17 July 2009.
48. P.M. Ortigosa, J.L. Redondo, J. Fernández and A.G. Arrondo, Modelado del problema de localización competitiva de un solo centro. Resolución mediante algoritmos meméticos, Reunión de la Red Temática 'Localización y problemas afines', Seville, Spain, 1-3 February 2010.
49. J. Fernández, S. Salhi and B. Tóth, Exact branch-and-bound methodsand heuristic algorithms for competitive locatio problems, Research meeting on competitive location problems, Canterbury, United Kingdom, 24-25 March 2010.
50. J. L. Redondo, J. Fernández, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, Parallel algorithms for the facility location and design (1 | 1)-centroid problem on the plane, 10th International Conference on Computational and Mathematical Methods in Science and Engineering, Almería, Spain, 26-30 June 2010.
51. P.M. Ortigosa, J.L. Redondo, A.G. Arrondo, J. Fernández and I. García, A continuous competitive facility location (and design) problem with variable demand, EURO XXIV, Lisbon, Portugal, 11-14 July 2010.
    
52. J. L. Redondo, J. Fernández, A.G. Arrondo, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, A two-level evolutionary algorithm for solving the leader-follower problem on the plane with variable demand, Toulouse Global Optimization Workshop, Toulouse, France, 31 August - 3 September 2010.
53. A.G. Arrondo, J.L.Redondo, J.Fernández, I. García and P.M. Ortigosa, Resolución del problema del líder-seguidor con demanda variable mediante algoritmos heurísticos, Congreso Nacional de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, La Coruña, Spain, 14-17 September 2010.
54. B. Tóth, J. Fernández and S. Salhi, Obtaining location equilibria of an uncapacitated continuous competitive facility location problem under delivered pricing, Veszprém Optimization Conference: Advanced algorihtms, Veszprém, Hungary, 13-15 December 2010.
55. J. Fernández and B.Tóth, On modelling the variability of the demand, Third workshop and research meeting on competitive location, Budapest, Hungary, 18-20 April 2011.
56. A.G. Arrondo, J. Fernández, J.L. Redondo and P.M. Ortigosa, Solving a competitive location problem with variable demand via parallel algorithms, International conference on Computational and Mathematical Methods in Science and Engineering (CMMSE), Benidorm, Spain, 26-29 June 2011.
57. J. Fernández, A.G. Arrondo, J.L. Redondo and P.M. Ortigosa, Solving a facility location and design problem with variable demand on the plane, Modeling and Optimization: Theory and Applications (MOPTA 2011), Lehigh University, Bethlehem, USA, 17-19 August 2011.
58. A.G. Arrondo, J. Fernández, J.L. Redondo and P.M. Ortigosa, Fixed or variable demand? Does it matter when locating a facility?, Euro conference for young OR researchers (Operational Research Peripatetic Post-graduate Programme - ORP3 2011), Cádiz, Spain, 13-17 September 2011.
    

• Title: Análisis y optimización de estrategias para la localización de actividades económicas en sutuaciones de competencia (BEC2002-01026).

Funded by: Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (plan Nacional de I+D+I).
Duration: 3 years (from 1-11-2002 to 31-10-2005).
Coordinator: Blas Pelegrín (University of Murcia - Spain).
Number of researchers: 7.

• Title: Toma de decisiones sobre localización y diseño para la expansión de una firma (SEJ2005-06273/ECON).

Funded by: Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (plan Nacional de I+D+I).
Duration: 3 years (from 31-12-2005 to 31-12-2008).
Coordinator: Blas Pelegrín (University of Murcia - Spain).
Number of researchers: 8.

• Title: Estrategias de localización de una firma y determinación de equilibrios (ECO2008-00667/ECON).

Funded by: Ministerio de Ciencia  e Innovación (plan Nacional de I+D+I).
Duration: 3 years (from 01-01-2009 to 31-12-2011).
Coordinator: Blas Pelegrín (University of Murcia - Spain).
Number of researchers: 8.


• Title: Localización competitiva con nuevas reglas de elección de los consumidores (ECO2011-24927).

• Title: Modelos de localización de centros de servicio (PB / 11 / FS / 97).

Funded by: Fundación Séneca.
Duration: 2 years (from 1-1-1998 to 31-12-1999).
Coordinator: Blas Pelegrín (University of Murcia - Spain).
Number of researchers: 6.

• Title: Computación de altas prestaciones en localización de recursos (P08-TIC-3518).

Funded by: Junta de Andalucía (plan Nacional de I+D+I).
Duration: 3 years (from 2009 to 2011).
Coordinator: Pilar Martínez Ortigosa (University of Almería - Spain).
Number of researchers: 19.


• Title: Aplicación de la supercomputación a problemas matemáticos de optimización, algebraicos y de modelización (00003/CS/10).

• Title: Localización de centros de servicio atractivos y/o repulsivos (15254/PI/10).

Funded by: Fundación Séneca (Agencia Regional de Ciencia y Tecnología).
Duration: 2 years (from 1-1-2011 to 31-12-2012).
Coordinator: José Fernández Hernández (University of Murcia - Spain).
Number of researchers: 7.

• Title: Paralelización adaptativa de códigos irregulares en multicore (P11-TIC-7176).

• Title: Métodos seguros de optimización global y su paralelización (SP-25/01).

Funded by: Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores -- Cooperación Científico-Técnica Hispano-Húngara.
Duration: 3 years (2002/2004).
Coordinators: Inmaculada García (University of Almería - Spain) and Tibor Csendes (University of Szeged - Hungary).
Number of researchers: 11.

• Title: Métodos rigurosos de optimización y sus aplicaciones (HH2004-0014)

• Title: Red temática en "Desarrollo de métodos intervalares y sus aplicaciones en ingeniería".

Funded by: Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología.
Duration: 1 year (from 7-12-2001 to 6-12-2002).
Coordinator: Josep Vehí Casellas (University of Girona - Spain)
Number of researchers: 56.
   

• Title: Red Temática en "Análisis de Localizaciones y sus Aplicaciones".

Funded by:  Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (Acción especial adscrita al Programa General del Conocimiento)
Duration: 1 year (from 24-03-2003 to 23-03-2004).
Coordinator: Juan Antonio Mesa (University of Seville - Spain)
Number of researchers: 68.

• Title: Red temática de "Análisis y Aplicaciones de Decisiones sobre Localización de Servicios y Problemas Relacionados".

• Title: Red temática en "Localización y problemas afines".

• Boglárka Tóth (July 2003 - June 2007): 
• Title: New interval methods for competitive location problems
• Co-supervisors: Blas Pelegrín Pelegrín and Leocadio González Casado
• Awards: the thesis has won  the "UPS-SOLA bi-annual dissertation award" in 2007, a competition for the dissertation prize on location related research organized by the Section on Locational Analysis (SOLA) of the INstitutue For Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). It was also finalist in the EURO Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2009, a prize that is awarded at each EURO-K conference, and whose purpose is to distinguish an outstanding PhD thesis in Operational Research defended in the countries having an OR society that is member of EURO.

• Juana López Redondo (September 2004- September 2008)

• Title: Solving competitive location problems via memetic algorithms. High performance computing approaches
• Co-supervisors: Pilar Martínez Ortigosa.

• Aránzazu Gila Arrondo (November 2010 - November 2013)
  

• Spain Information: Visit the following sites I have found on the net:
• Tourist Office of Spain
• About Spain

• Murcia Information: Visit the following sites:
• Tourist Office of Murcia
• Web Page of the Autonomous Region of Murcia (in Spanish)
• Mar Menor information (in Spanish)
• Presentation of the University of Murcia