  The maximum vertex weight clique problem (MVWCP) is an important
generalization of the maximum clique problem (MCP) that has a wide range of
real-world applications. In situations where rigorous guarantees regarding the
optimality of solutions are not required, MVWCP is usually solved using
stochastic local search (SLS) algorithms, which also define the state of the
art for solving this problem. However, there is no single SLS algorithm which
gives the best performance across all classes of MVWCP instances, and it is
challenging to effectively identify the most suitable algorithm for each class
of MVWCP instances. In this work, we follow the paradigm of Programming by
Optimization (PbO) to develop a new, flexible and highly parametric SLS
framework for solving MVWCP, combining, for the first time, a broad range of
effective heuristic mechanisms. By automatically configuring this PbO-MWC
framework, we achieve substantial advances in the state-of-the-art in solving
MVWCP over a broad range of prominent benchmarks, including two derived from
real-world applications in transplantation medicine (kidney exchange) and
assessment of research excellence.
