# Learn to Explore: Meta NAS via Bayesian Optimization Guided Graph Generation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.09467 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.09467/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 22 of its 34 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 13 Aug 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 22 of 22)

- [DARTS: Differentiable Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.09055/) (2018)
- [Fine-Grained Visual Classification of Aircraft](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1306.5151/) (2013)
- [On the Properties of Neural Machine Translation: Encoder-Decoder Approaches](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1409.1259/) (2014)
- [Regularized Evolution for Image Classifier Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.01548/) (2018)
- [Efficient Neural Architecture Search via Parameter Sharing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.03268/) (2018)
- [ProxylessNAS: Direct Neural Architecture Search on Target Task and Hardware](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.00332/) (2018)
- [Deep Kernel Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1511.02222/) (2015)
- [NAS-Bench-201: Extending the Scope of Reproducible Neural Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.00326/) (2020)
- [PC-DARTS: Partial Channel Connections for Memory-Efficient Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.05737/) (2019)
- [Searching for A Robust Neural Architecture in Four GPU Hours](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.04465/) (2019)
- [A Comprehensive Survey of Neural Architecture Search: Challenges and Solutions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.02903/) (2020)
- [Neural Architecture Search with Bayesian Optimisation and Optimal Transport](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.07191/) (2018)
- [BANANAS: Bayesian Optimization with Neural Architectures for Neural Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.11858/) (2019)
- [Neural Architecture Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.07233/) (2018)
- [D-VAE: A Variational Autoencoder for Directed Acyclic Graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.11088/) (2019)
- [NSGANetV2: Evolutionary Multi-Objective Surrogate-Assisted Neural Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.10396/) (2020)
- [DrNAS: Dirichlet Neural Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.10355/) (2020)
- [One-Shot Neural Architecture Search via Self-Evaluated Template Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.05733/) (2019)
- [BayesNAS: A Bayesian Approach for Neural Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.04919/) (2019)
- [Rapid Neural Architecture Search by Learning to Generate Graphs from Datasets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.00860/) (2021)
- [Meta Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.09584/) (2018)
- [Fast Neural Network Adaptation via Parameter Remapping and Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.02525/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Bayesian Optimization in Sequence-to-Architecture Latent Space for Zero-Shot NAS](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.06167/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Neural Architecture Search (NAS) automates the design of high-performing neural networks but typically targets a single predefined task, thereby restricting its real-world applicability. To address this, Meta Neural Architecture Search (Meta-NAS) has emerged as a promising paradigm that leverages prior knowledge across tasks to enable rapid adaptation to new ones. Nevertheless, existing Meta-NAS methods often struggle with poor generalization, limited search spaces, or high computational costs. In this paper, we propose a novel Meta-NAS framework, GraB-NAS. Specifically, GraB-NAS first models neural architectures as graphs, and then a hybrid search strategy is developed to find and generate new graphs that lead to promising neural architectures. The search strategy combines global architecture search via Bayesian Optimization in the search space with local exploration for novel neural networks via gradient ascent in the latent space. Such a hybrid search strategy allows GraB-NAS to discover task-aware architectures with strong performance, even beyond the predefined search space. Extensive experiments demonstrate that GraB-NAS outperforms state-of-the-art Meta-NAS baselines, achieving better generalization and search effectiveness.