Thermoset polymeric matrix composites (PMC) are often subjected to thermal cure cycles to improve the mechanical properties of the final product. The cycle design, i.e., the definition of the temperature-time curve, is a crucial issue for a competitive production. This paper deals with the simulation-based meta-heuristic optimisation of the thermal cure cycle of thick composite laminates. Optimisation routines have been coupled with a finite element thermochemical model of the process. Two optimisation procedures have been implemented and tested. The former is a combination of the Downhill simplex method with the simulated annealing algorithm; the latter is a genetic algorithm. In both cases, some variations to the original algorithms have been introduced to improve the efficiency of the optimisation procedure in relation to the problem examined.