CSC 482/582 Fall 2012
Dr. Wendy Myrvold, ECS 552, wendym@cs.uvic.ca
http://xkcd.com/
1
Announcements
• Powerpoint slides will be posted on the
class web pages.
• The web pages are at:
http://webhome.cs.uvic.ca/~wendym/582.html
2
Outline for Lecture 1
• Who is the instructor?
• My research interests.
• Logistics for CSC 482/582- the critical
points are included on the course outline
and class web pages. An unofficial copy
of the course outline is on our class web
pages.
• Don’t worry about taking notes today
3
About me:
M.Sc. : Computer Science, McGill University, 1983
M.Math. : Combinatorics and Optimization, University
of Waterloo, 1984
Ph.D. in Computer Science: Waterloo, 1988
University of Victoria: started in 1988, currently a full
professor
by Mark A. Hicks, illustrator.
Currently have 64 CPU’s that
can be used for long
computations (provided by
NSERC).
4
From: Gurl Guide to programming.
5
Bring your parents to work day at Google.
6
My Research: Large Combinatorial Searches
Independent Set:
Set of vertices which are pairwise non-adjacent
7
Applications of Graph theory
to chemistry
Working with Patrick Fowler (chemist)
Graphite
Benzenoids
Diamond
8
Fullerenes are all-carbon
molecules that correspond to
3-regular planar graphs with
all face sizes equal to 5 or 6.
Harry Kroto
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996 was awarded
jointly to Robert F. Curl Jr., Sir Harold W. Kroto and
Richard E. Smalley "for their discovery of fullerenes".
9
Topological Graph Theory:
Algorithms and Obstructions
10
Latin Squares
Please come
talk to me if
you are looking
for Honours
project
research topics
or for an
NSERC
undergraduate
research
project.
11
COMBINATORIAL ALGORITHMS GROUP
University of Victoria
http://www.cs.uvic.ca/~wendym/cag
Our research interests include:
Graph Theory and Graph
Algorithms
Combinatorics
Combinatorial Algorithms
Computational Geometry
Randomized Algorithms
Computational Complexity
Network Reliability
Topological Graph Theory
Computational Biology
Cryptography
Design Theory
Join our listserv to get
information about
conferences and
research talks.
Undergrads are
welcome to all events.
12
CSC 482A/522 Logistics
Course Website: http://www.cs.uvic.ca/~wendym/582.html
Instructor: Dr. Wendy Myrvold
Email: wendym@csc.uvic.ca
I answer all student e-mails. If you do not get a response in a
reasonable time frame please find out why the e-mail did not
work.
Office: ECS 552
Phone Number: 472-5783 (use e-mail for a faster response)
Office Hours: See course web page.
Please tell me if you plan to come by.
Lecture Schedule: MWR 2:30 - 3:20 p.m. Ell 162.
13
Students with a disability
Please let me know as soon as possible how
I can accommodate your disability.
It’s often possible to go beyond what is
first offered by the disability center.
14
Course objectives:
•To provide a solid foundation in graph theory and algorithms.
•To teach some useful algorithms and algorithm design tactics.
•To develop research skills which include:
•Background literature search,
•Formal writing for graph theory topics (as required for
theses, conference or journal papers), and
•Formal presentations (as per a thesis defense or conference
talk).
•To intrigue and excite students about graph theory research
topics.
•To take students to the leading edge of graph theory research.
15
Course description:
This course provides an introduction to graph theory
and graph algorithms. We will start with basic
definitions in order to make the class accessible to all.
The algorithms studied range from classical polynomial
time algorithms for problems such as network flows to
those geared towards dealing with intractible
problems such as finding a maximum independent set
in a graph. The material also includes cutting edge
research tactics for solving real world problems. The
class is especially valuable for students requiring
graph theory and combinatorics as a tool for research
in areas such as networks, database, computer
graphics, and software engineering.
16
Grading scheme:
Component
CSC 482
CSC 582
Assignments
50%
40%
Project
50%
60%
This course has NO exams.
Assignments may be handed in up to 5 business days
after the official due date with a 2% penalty for each
business day that the assignment is overdue.
3 equally weighted assignments.
17
Attendance:
Students with more than 3 unexcused absences
will be given an N in the course.
Excused absences will be granted for students
having a concurrent COOP interview, conference
attendance, or valid medical reasons, accident, or
disability (for yourself or an immediate family
member who requires your care) or other reason
covered by the university guidelines. Appropriate
documentation is required (e.g. a note from the
COOP coordinator, a physician, health services,
counselling services, ...). Provisions for absence
due to religious holidays should be requested by
Sept. 17.
18
Component
Weight Due Date
Project proposal
4%
Thurs. Sept. 27.
Overhead slides for
project proposal
4%
Thurs. Oct. 4.
Research proposal
4%
Thurs. Oct. 18.
Overhead slides for
research proposal
4%
Thurs. Oct. 25.
Oral report on project
8%
Written report on project
36%
Thurs. Dec. 13
19
The oral presentations will scheduled at the
end of term:
• in one of the last few classes,
• or Dec. 5, 8am to noon,
• or in a final exam slot.
The final written report on the project is due
Thurs. Dec. 13 at 1:00 p.m.
20
Text: Graphs, Algorithms,
and Optimization by
William Kocay, and Donald
L. Kreher Chapman and
Hall/CRC Press, 2004.
Other references will be
provided if we deviate from
the text.
21
Submissions for the Project
For me to have enough room for feedback, it is
critical that all written project submissions should be
in at least a 12 point font with 1.5 spacing.
Overheads should be printed with one slide per page
(not 2-4).
All project components are cumulative. This means that
your written project proposal forms a starting point for
the written research proposal which is then used to
make the final project report. Similarly, your oral
project proposal forms a starting point for the oral
research proposal which is then used to create the final
project report. You will be given feedback at every
stage and can incorporate these suggestions to improve
your next submission.
22
Project Proposal
(1-2 pages) The student should have chosen a project
topic by this point. A short report should be turned in
describing the problem the student has chosen to
study. I want you to define ALL relevant terminology
for your project starting from the definitions of a
graph, a vertex and an edge. You do not need to include
any literature review or progress on the research at
this stage- just the problem defintion.
23
Oral Project Proposal
(1-3 slides) The student should prepare slides which
describe the problem chosen, perhaps with an
appropriate example. Again, include even the
elementary definitions. Pictures speak louder than
words- make sure you illustrate the relevant concepts
using approriate pictures. If you want to use a
computer to present your final talk, please print the
slides onto paper (one slide per page) to hand them in.
If you plan to use celluloid, you may design your slides
on paper to hand in, then copy them to celluloid later
(after getting feedback from me).
24
Research Proposal
(3-5 more pages) The student at this point should have
collected references related to the problem chosen.
This report should describe briefly what has been done
on the problem, what the student hopes to accomplish,
and should suggest some possible techniques for
achieving these goals. Please also read the detailed
suggestions for writing a good research proposal.
25
Oral Research Proposal
(3-5 more slides) These slides are for a short talk on
the material in the written research proposal. Please
hand them in on paper again.
26
Project
(10-20 pages which includes previous components) A
written report summarizing the outcome of the
research proposal. If the research has not been
fruitful, then the student should try to explain why the
techniques used did not work. The report must include a
description of what has not yet been done and a list of
related questions for future research. If appropriate,
computer code should also be submitted.
A detailed grading scheme is available.
27
Oral Report on Project
(15 minutes, about 15 slides) The student should
prepare an oral presentation of the project. Be sure to
include suggestions of interesting problems for future
research. You will be graded only on the quality of the
talk at this stage- you may not have completed all of
your research before these presentations are given.
The project is intended to be independent work.
Students however are encouraged to consult with the
instructor whenever desired.
28
Grading scheme for the projects:
1. Motivation- 3 marks.
Did you explain why the problem is interesting? Did
you explain why your contributions to the problem
are important?
2. Literature- 3 marks.
Did you explain the background for your problem?
Did you justify the importance of your problem by
comparing it to previous research? Did you explain to
the reader how your work fits in to the overall
knowledge for the problem with appropriate
literature references?
29
3. Content- 9 marks.
Were terms defined? Did you explain things at an
appropriate level of detail? Did you include examples
when they were helpful? Could your mathematical
writing be improved?
4. Future Research- 3 marks.
Did you clearly explain the work that still needs to be
done? Did you think of any new avenues to
investigate which might lead to interesting results?
The suggestions for future research are a very
valuable part of any technical paper. Leaving it off
could mean that somebody might have to reproduce
the work you already did to get a clear picture of
what needs to be done next.
30
5. Original Contributions- 8 marks for CSC 482, 18 for
CSC 582.
What have you done that is different from previous
work? Credit was given for original research, but could
also be obtained in other ways. Other original
contributions include implementation of an algorithm,
simplifying a complicated result, surveying many
different results and tying them all together,
examination of small cases, and the formulation of
interesting new conjectures.
Extra credit may be awarded for research
contributions which go beyond the normal expectations
for the course.
31
The components for a good research proposal are taken
directly from the NSERC guidelines:
1. The Problem: Clearly define the problem. Make sure
you are precise and technically accurate with your
definitions.
2. Previous Work: Describe how this research fits
within the context of what is currently happening in
the field. Summarize relevant prior work in the field.
Find the 10 most relevant papers on the topic. Some
of these should be in journals.
32
3. Goals: What are the goals of this research?. Include
both short term goals (those which you could easily
accomplish as part of the course project) and also
long term goals (which may be too difficult to
accomplish within the short term).
4. Research Plan: Decribe your research plan. Make sure
you also describe your methodology- that is, what
steps will you follow to make progress on this
problem. In particular, what will you do to get
started? You should have some idea as to how to
proceed beyond the first steps, but it is fine if this
is not as concrete as your plan for starting the
research.
5. Importance: How will the planned research make a
novel contribution to the field? How is this work
useful and important?
33
Some examples of potential original
contributions:
1. Develop computer code.
2. Understand a complex algorithm. Describe it clearly
in your own words.
3. Develop an algorithm for a new problem.
4. Either develop an algorithm that is either simpler or
faster than what is currently available. Or after
attempting to do this, discuss strategies that you
have tried which were unsuccessful, and suggest
avenues for future research.
34
Some examples of potential original
contributions:
5. Survey algorithms for a problem and compare them
(time/space complexity, simplicity,...).
6. Try various backtracking approaches or heuristics
for an NP-complete problem to see which work best.
35
Some project ideas will be described in the
first few classes. Some represent work that
could be publishable.
Graduate students may with permission select a
topic which is more closely related to their
future research.
Students working on related topics are
encouraged to collaborate to obtain further
results. However, each person must be working
on an original component of the project. Please
feel free to consult with me regarding your
project selection. Papers and more information
are available for many of these topics.
36