Computer Science Guided Research (2015)

• How to become a guided researcher in CS (pdf)
• BSc Template (LaTeX)
• BSc Template (BibTeX)
• BSc Logo (pdf)
• BSc Template (pdf)

The preparation of the Guided Research Proposal is the first half of your thesis work. Don't underestimate it! Without a successful preparation phase, by experience, thesis finalization will be less thorough and, hence, less successful. For example, large parts of the Guided Research Proposal will go into the main thesis, related work being a good example.

The preparation phase includes, among others (and obviously somewhat also depending on the particular topic): familiarization with the topic; elaborating background through literature work; related work, and core concepts of the thesis.

Hence, the proposal needs to contain at least these elements (again, to be confirmed with your supervisor): motivation; research issues; relevance of this work ("how will the world be better once your results are available?"); related work, explained and put in relation with your work; a clear description of the second phase's outcome; a discussion about limits and further work (issues spotted, but not addressed in the framework of this thesis); a realistic time plan for the second phase.

Students must select the guided research topic and the supervisor beginning of October (see the timeline above). The choosen topic and supervisor must be communicated by email to Jürgen Schönwälder <j.schoenwaelder@jacobs-university.de>.

Students must submit the guided research proposal at a deadline when classes end (see timeline above). Late submissions of the research proposal or late selection of the topic will be penalized by a grade reduction of 10 percentage points per day late.

Experience has shown that it is crucial to start work on the guided research topic as soon as possible. It may be very useful to use time during intersession, in particular if still a number of credits need to be earned during the last semester. Starting work on the guided research end of April clearly is too late to achieve good results and in particular to deal with unforseen problems.

The guided research thesis must be submitted via grader. The submission deadline is a hard deadline. Failure to submit the thesis in time will lead to a fail.

Guided research requires a presentation (worth 20% of the overall grade). Faculty members attending the presentations will together form the grades for the presentations.

Guided research presentations are 15 minutes + 5 minutes discussion. The schedule has 25 minutes for each presentation to allow for time to change laptops etc. In addition, we have scheduled breaks to recover our minds and to makeup any schedule quirks should they arise (we hope not).

Time slots are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis. To apply for a time slot, contact Jürgen Schönwälder and send him your preferred list of time slots, the name of your supervisor, and the title of your talk. Before submitting the list, make sure that the time slots fit the schedule of your supervisor.