Project
Research Project
• Due:
– Project report due Monday midnight
• Delayed a bit due to popular demand
• Can accept an even higher delay (Tuesday at noon)
– For a 10% drop in project grade.
– Project presentation due to me and Tarique morning
of class on Monday
• 70% of 50% = 35% of your grade
– 30% of 50% = 15% was decided by the mid-term
report.
– If you do really well, all mistakes are forgiven!
Project Report
• At least 4 pages, at most 8 pages
– Strict!!! points could be deducted if violated
• (learn to be convincing not all-inclusive)
– Includes EVERYTHING: references, figures.
– Length is not evaluated!
• Double column sig-alternate style
– Use .cls and .tex From
http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates
– If you don’t know LaTeX, take this as an opportunity to learn
(will help you in the future!).
– Alternatively (but less preferable), use the Word format from
here:
• http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/pubform.doc
Project Report
• START ASAP!!
– If you’ve ever written a paper, you’ll know that writing
the paper is almost as important as the research itself
• Template (remember, 4—8 pages):
– 1-2 page: Introduction
– 0.5-1 page: Related Work
• can be after Intro or before Conclusions
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1-2 page: Problem Definition
1-2 page: Algorithms/Theorems/Models/Proofs
1-2 page: Evaluation + Experiments, Screenshots
0.25-0.5 page: Conclusions + Future Work
Project Report
• Some of you have never written technical papers
before, so I thought I should cover the basics so that
you’re all on an equal footing
– Also, some of you are used to writing other styles of
papers, so making sure you understand the
“systems/database” style.
• Many Resources on how to write papers (if you are
curious):
– http://cs.stanford.edu/people/widom/paper-writing.html
– http://web.engr.illinois.edu/~taoxie/publications/writepap
ers.pdf
– http://web.engr.illinois.edu/~taoxie/advice.htm
Introduction
• Think about catering to an EXTERNAL HARSH REVIEWER who does not
understand/care much about your problem. You need to convince
him/her that this is important and awesome.
• Short, succinct, just enough:
– Keep the reader interested
• Did you cover the following points?
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What is the problem?
Why is it important?
Why is it difficulty or challenging?
Why hasn’t it been done before? Why do previous approaches fail?
What is your novel twist? What are the key elements of your solution?
• USE EXAMPLES!!!!
– What is your list of contributions?
• These 6 paragraphs should be present in EVERY paper you write. Take
this as practice 
Related Work
• A good number of citations for a typical paper is
between 15—30.
• Don’t just add citations to fill up the list
– Actually identify relevant papers.
– Google scholar is your friend.
• For every paper you find, succinctly argue
– What is it on?
– Is it a different problem or the same problem?
• If different problem can solutions be combined?
• If same problem, why is yours better?
• Aim to cover all bases: if you miss out on very
important related work then you could lose points.
Problem Definitions or Setup
• Be as formal as possible, while introducing as
little “formalism” or “math” as necessary
– Somewhat contradictory
• Define all terms precisely (assuming an
arbitrary database reviewer who may not have
necessary background)
– USE EXAMPLES!!!!
Core Techniques
• Pseudocode is *not* useful
• Explain the key idea with as little
notation/math as needed
– USE EXAMPLES!!
• Provide proofs, arguments that it works
• You should have the least amount of issues
with this section (I think)
Evaluation
• Especially important in a *systems/database* paper
• Clearly specify:
– The experimental setup
• Goals of the experiment:
– What are you studying?
• Datasets
• Algorithms/techniques implemented
– (THINK ABOUT USING/IMPLEMENTING A BASELINE)
• System/implementation details
• Parameters varied
• Then, each experiment
– Each experiment should come with a clear “takeaway”
Conclusions and Future Work
• One paragraph of what you have found, what
are the avenues of future work from this
point.
– Future work is especially important here given
that this was just a course project.
– Tell me, if you were to convert this to a paper,
what else would you have liked to have done?
Bonus
• If you have a system demo:
– Include screenshots
– Host it somewhere (if easy)
• Instructions on how to access the demo site
– So that I can play with it
Project Report: Instructions & Summary
• Midnight on Monday
– Email title “CS598 Final Report”
– Tarique and me
• Between 4—8 pages
• Include:
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Introduction (remember the 5-6 points)
Related Work
Problem Definition / Solution / Possible Demo
Thorough Evaluation
Conclusions and Future Work
Project Presentation
• Monday before class
– Email title “CS598 Final Presentation”
– 3 slides
• You have 5 minutes to talk (I will use a timer!)
• Essential to be present!!!!!
– Extenuating circumstances: OK to send us a video before class.
• Tell the class:
– What you did
– Why is it cool?
• Why is it better than other stuff?
• Why is it important?
– Maybe a few sentences about the solution
– If you have a demo, you can present that as well
Project Grading
• 70% of the final project score still left:
– 5% will be on your project presentation
– 65% will be on your report
• Of which 15% is on the writing
• And 50% will be on the quality of the research
• Usually the two are hard to tease apart, but will do
something similar to the mid-term evaluation
Grades for Rest
• We’ll send you your
– Paper reviewing scores
– Presentation scores
Later this week