Course format
In each class we will discuss 1-2 research papers. Students are expected to read the assigned papers and write a short review before each class (more on paper reviews below). One student will do a short presentation about each paper for the day, which will be the starting point for our discussions.
In parallel, students will work on a semester-long project on an open research problem related to the topics covered in the course. Projects can have a systems or application focus, or both, and projects relating to the students' own research interest are strongly encouraged, provided they also fit with the theme of the class.
Required reading
There are no textbooks for this course. We will read the papers in the schedule, which are available electronically.
Grading
- 10% Participation: Class attendance and in-class discussions
- 40% Paper reviews, discussion lead
- 25% Paper reviews
- 15% Discussion lead
- 50% Project
- 10% Initial proposal
- 10% Midterm progress report
- 10% Presentation
- 20% Final report
Papers
Paper reviews
Paper reviews shall be written in the paper review system (link coming soon!) no later than 11:59pm on the day before the corresponding class. You are excused of 4 reviews with no questions asked.
Follow the guidelines in the paper review form. Remember, you are not simply summarizing the paper, but providing an assessment. Here are tips for becoming a more efficient reader.
Paper discussions
Each student will lead the discussion on a few of the papers during the semester. The exact allocation will depend on the number of students and student interest.
You must consult with me before the class in which you will lead a discussion. You don't have to post a review before class when you present, but should post a summary of the discussion after the class. These can be your notes or presentation, plus any additional interesting insight we got at the class.
For guidelines on how to prepare your discussion, check prof. Randy Katz' notes [pdf]. You don't have to have slides, as long as you have some notes to guide you.
Project
The other major component of the class is a research project on a subject of the student's choosing. Ideally the project should be carried out in groups of 2, but exceptions (1 or 3 students) are possible. Please consult with me.
The projects should aim high, such that it should be possible to submit the best projects to a conference or workshop with some additional work after the semester. (I'd be happy to help with that.)
Project proposals are the first milestone, due on 03/14, and should be short and to the point. This document has a good description of the questions your proposal should answer. The proposal should be from 1 to 4 pages, in pdf, and sent by email to the instructor.
Before that, on 02/28, you should post a draft of your proposal to piazza. The goal of this is to find potential matches among the students for forming groups.
Final Presentation
The current plan is for an open poster session on Wednesday, May 16th, at the regular class time, in the third floor atrium of the CIT Building.
Final Project Report
The final report is due on Thursday, May 17th, at 11:59pm. It MUST be a PDF file, sent by email to me. It should have between 8 and 12 single-spaced pages with font not larger than 11pt. I suggest you use LaTeX, but that's up to you.
Contents should be similar to a research paper:
- Introduction and motivation
- What you did
- Experiments/Evaluation
- Related work and how you extend or are different
- Conclusion: what you learned
- Proper references (BibTeX makes you life easy)
- Graphs should be legible! (hint: avoid small fonts for axis and use vector - .eps, .pdf, .svg - rather than bitmap - .png, jpg - whenever possible)
I have created a sample LaTeX file that you can use to write your report if you want. This is what is should look like once you compile it, very clean and professional-looking :)
If you have any questions before submitting, don't hesitate to ask!
Course Policies
Capstone
Depending on your project this course can be used as a Capstone course for undergraduates. Talk to the instructor before assuming that, though!
Your work
Apart from the final project, all work in this course is to be done individually, and the usual code of conduct applies. Remember, this is a graduate course, and I assume you are here because you want to learn how to do research. We will have zero tolerance for academic misconduct.
Late Policy
Everyone is allowed a total of 4 missing paper reviews.
Incomplete Policy
Incompletes are granted only under exceptional circumstances (e.g. severe illness, death in the family, kidnapping, etc.; too heavy of a course load is not sufficient reason for an incomplete). Getting a dean to certify your reason for requesting an incomplete helps, but is not sufficient.
