**1 Summary, Purpose, and Parameters**
The purpose of this assignment is to give you a first experience in
performing an in-depth research project. Upon completing this project,
you will have experience in performing all of the elements of a research
project, including:
• managing student-advisor interactions
• generating research ideas
• seeing a project through from start to finish • giving a research
presentation
• paper writing
We recommend that you work with your GRA advisor on your main project:
for one, it saves time because the research itself will be performed
outside of this class. However, don’t feel as though this is a hard
constraint if it is inconvenient for you: you are welcome to work with
any faculty member who is willing to advise you on research for the
term.
The rest of this document summarizes the milestones for the project and
their due dates.
**2 Milestones**
The initial report should indicate (1) the title of the project and (2)
the name of the faculty member with whom you are working.
The interim report should include:
1. A one-paragraph problem statement: why is the problem interesting,
important, and challenging?
2. A summary of (a) what you have accomplished so far, (b) what remains
to be done on the project, (c) any obstacles you foresee in
accomplishing the remaining tasks.
3. You should include a draft of the related work section of your
paper. This literature survey should be one full page and have at
least fifteen references.
The **presentation slides** should correspond to the 10-minute talk you
will present at the mini- conference at the end of the term. Your talk
should have all of the components of a good talk, which we will cover in
class. The grading of this part of the project (the talk and the slides
themselves) will be based on your adherence to the principles that we
describe in this lecture.
The **final project writeup** should be a 6-10 page writeup that
summarizes the work you have completed for your main project. The
writeup should be formatted in the accepted conference format for your
main conference. Think of your writeup as a “mini-conference paper” that
might eventually form the basis of an eventual conference paper
submission. This writeup should have all of the components of an actual
conference paper. The writeup will be graded based on your adherence to
the criteria for writing a good research paper, which we will present in
this lecture.