To get 60\% credits for the course, you are required to work on a project independently or with a classmate as your partner, make two presentations in class, and write a paper about your research.
The projects should be related to one of the topics covered in the lectures (molecular biology, operations research, finance, networks, geometry, and combinatorics) or the scientific area of your major if it is not computer science. The style may be (but not restricted to) to survey and summarize research results of a specific problem, to implement a known algorithm with certain graphical display of output data, to design, analyze and implement a new algorithm with comparison with existing algorithms, or to solve an open problem.
You are encouraged to consult with me to select a problem that matches your interest and suits your research ability. Please keep in mind that your final grade will be diceded by not only how well the paper is written and the presentations are given, but also the difficulty of your topic and the significance of your research results.
In the week before the Spring Break, during regular class periods, each person/team will be given 20-30 minutes to give a pre-presentation to introduce the problem that will be researched, outline a research plan, and discuss preliminary ideas and findings.
In the final two-three weeks of the class, each person/team will give a formal presentation to report results of the research. This presentation can take up to 60 minutes.
A paper about the project, which includes all components necessary in a technical paper , is due during the first week of the exam period.