ACS Project Briefing 2 nd December 2009 Steven Hand.
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Transcript of ACS Project Briefing 2 nd December 2009 Steven Hand.
ACS Project Briefing
2nd December 2009Steven Hand
What’s an ACS Research Project?• An independent* piece of work in some area of
computer science– Can be based on one of the many project suggestions,
or initiated by the student– Needs to have a willing academic supervisor
• Official member of staff who signs off on proposal, and provides 50% of final assessment
• Optionally can have additional ‘day to day’ supervisor who helps with the actual doing of the work!
(* you can work in collaboration with others… but need to be very careful about attribution; best avoid other ACS students)
A “Research” Project?• The word ‘Research’ describes an aspiration…– A successful project should be something that could lead
to a paper submission to a decent venue… – … but novelty is not strictly required– Perfectly acceptable to do a measurement study; to
reproduce (or not!) results; or just build a <foo>• Aim is to show that you can– Find a problem/area (perhaps with some help);– Get up to speed with the state of the art – Produce a research proposal; – Effectively carry out a decent amount of work; and – Write it all up coherently
Timetable• Now: think about possible projects– See ACS project web page for ideas, or browse research
group or individual pages to understand interests• Next: acquire a supervisor – Get agreement in principle as soon as you can
• Dec, early Jan:– Do background reading, and iterate on proposal
• Mon 18th January 2010: submit research proposal• Week of 1st March 2010: progress review• Tue 8th June 2010: submit dissertation– HARD deadline! (fail if miss this… so don’t ;-)
The Research Proposal
• 4+2 page document which includes:– Your name, college, CRSid and academic supervisor– Project title– Abstract (1-3 paragraphs)– Introduction (~1 page)– Approach & Outcomes (~1 page)– Detailed Workplan (~2 pages)– Appendix (max 2 pages)
The Research Proposal
• 4+2 page document which includes:– Your name, college, CRSid and academic supervisor– Project title
• Formally registered with BoGS in January • Must notify us if you want to change it!
– Abstract (1-3 paragraphs)– Introduction (~1 page)– Approach & Outcomes (~1 page)– Detailed Workplan (~2 pages)– Appendix (max 2 pages)
The Research Proposal• 4+2 page document which includes:– Your name, college, CRSid and academic supervisor– Project title– Abstract (1-3 paragraphs)
• Aim for an ‘elevator pitch’, i.e. 1. What’s the problem? 2. Why is it important / interesting / non-trivial? 3. What’s your approach?
– Introduction (~1 page)– Approach & Outcomes (~1 page)– Detailed Workplan (~2 pages)– Appendix (max 2 pages)
The Research Proposal
• 4+2 page document which includes:– Your name, college, CRSid and academic supervisor– Project title– Abstract (1-3 paragraphs)– Introduction (~1 page)
• Motivation, background and context• Should interleave some related work here
– Approach & Outcomes (~1 page)– Detailed Workplan (~2 pages)– Appendix (max 2 pages)
The Research Proposal
• 4+2 page document which includes:– Your name, college, CRSid and academic supervisor– Project title– Abstract (1-3 paragraphs)– Introduction (~1 page)– Approach & Outcomes (~1 page)
• What’s the basic idea? • What will you aim to produce / achieve?
– Detailed Workplan (~2 pages)– Appendix (max 2 pages)
The Research Proposal
• 4+2 page document which includes:– Your name, college, CRSid and academic supervisor– Project title– Abstract (1-3 paragraphs)– Introduction (~1 page)– Approach & Outcomes (~1 page)– Detailed Workplan (~2 pages)
• Total duration is approx 20 weeks – aim for 10x2 week ‘chunks’ • Write down planned work and milestones • Suggest leave 2-4 weeks for write up, and 2 weeks for ‘catch up’.
– Appendix (max 2 pages)
The Research Proposal• 4+2 page document which includes:– Your name, college, CRSid and academic supervisor– Project title– Abstract (1-3 paragraphs)– Introduction (~1 page)– Approach & Outcomes (~1 page)– Detailed Workplan (~2 pages)– Appendix (max 2 pages)
• Academic references• Required resources• Anything other supporting material
The Research Proposal
• 4+2 page document which includes:– Your name, college, CRSid and academic supervisor– Project title– Abstract (1-3 paragraphs)– Introduction (~1 page)– Approach & Outcomes (~1 page)– Detailed Workplan (~2 pages)– Appendix (max 2 pages)
• Will put template on ACS project page…
Risk Management (1)
• Intellectual Risks– Due to hard deadline, must ensure that with very
high probability a project produces something• If possible structure project in ‘phases’, e.g minimum
acceptable outcome followed by optional extensions
• Practical Risks– Avoid relying on someone else’s speculative work,
or untested hardware, or flaky software – Ensure everything you do is backed up
Risk Management (2)
• Legal Risks– If incorporating any external IP, be sure you have clear
permission to publish• Unacceptable if a dissertation requires an NDA to read!
– (In general I’d strongly advise you avoid any encumbrance from external IP if possible …)
• Ethical Risks– If your project involves human subjects, you must
read the official procedures [see web page]– (and, if necessary, get approval)
The Dissertation
• A dissertation of no more than 15,000 words– Including footnotes, appendices and bibliography
• Relatively ‘free’ format apart from proforma (declarations, etc – see web page)
• Writing this much text (well) is hard– Suggest you try to write as you go – Generic structure will work as a starting point– Refine as/when the project results become clearer
• LaTeX strongly recommended (tho not required)
Attribution & Reproducibility
• Declaration of originality states everything is your own work except where explicitly stated – Be sure to explicitly state it! – Your supervisor can help in if you’re in doubt
• Your results/work should be reproducible– We require a tarball or equivalent of any source
code, proofs, data sets, etc• Examiners reserve the right to call a student
for a vice voce examination for any reason
Summary
• Choose Project (Area) and Supervisor• Prepare Research Proposal– Start background reading & preparation ASAP– Build plan incorporating risk management – Submit by Mon 18th January 2010
• Do Work ||• Write Dissertation• Submit Dissertation: Tue 8th June 2010• Party!