# ML4CO: Is GCNN All You Need? Graph Convolutional Neural Networks Produce Strong Baselines For Combinatorial Optimization Problems, If Tuned and Trained Properly, on Appropriate Data

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.12251 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.12251/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 7 of its 24 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 22 Dec 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Machine Learning for Combinatorial Optimization: a Methodological Tour d'Horizon](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.06128/) (2018)
- [Exact Combinatorial Optimization with Graph Convolutional Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.01629/) (2019)
- [Solving Mixed Integer Programs Using Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.13349/) (2020)
- [Hybrid Models for Learning to Branch](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.15212/) (2020)
- [Parameterizing Branch-and-Bound Search Trees to Learn Branching Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.05120/) (2020)
- [Learning to Select Cuts for Efficient Mixed-Integer Programming](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.13645/) (2021)
- [Cuts, Primal Heuristics, and Learning to Branch for the Time-Dependent Traveling Salesman Problem](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.01415/) (2018)

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Graph neural networks for materials science and chemistry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.09481/) (2022)
- [Deep Reinforcement Learning for Exact Combinatorial Optimization: Learning to Branch](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.06965/) (2022)
- [Exact Combinatorial Optimization with Temporo-Attentional Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.13843/) (2023)
- [Lifelong Learning for Neural powered Mixed Integer Programming](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.12226/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The 2021 NeurIPS Machine Learning for Combinatorial Optimization (ML4CO) competition was designed with the goal of improving state-of-the-art combinatorial optimization solvers by replacing key heuristic components with machine learning models. The competition's main scientific question was the following: is machine learning a viable option for improving traditional combinatorial optimization solvers on specific problem distributions, when historical data is available? This was motivated by the fact that in many practical scenarios, the data changes only slightly between the repetitions of a combinatorial optimization problem, and this is an area where machine learning models are particularly powerful at. This paper summarizes the solution and lessons learned by the Huawei EI-OROAS team in the dual task of the competition. The submission of our team achieved the second place in the final ranking, with a very close distance to the first spot. In addition, our solution was ranked first consistently for several weekly leaderboard updates before the final evaluation. We provide insights gained from a large number of experiments, and argue that a simple Graph Convolutional Neural Network (GCNNs) can achieve state-of-the-art results if trained and tuned properly.