Theses, Studies, etc.

Below my grading rationale for theses, projects, independent studies, depth exam literature surveys.

Independent Study / Literature Survey for Depth Exam

Goal: literature survey of at least twenty relevant and recent citations. Student selects topic. The approach and relevance of each citation is explained in a paragraph. Citations are structured in a relevant manner.

(Undergrad) Senior Thesis / Master’s Project

Goal: Student demonstrates the capacity of performing rigorous research.

Procedure: student selects a research task; student and instructor discuss approaches towards addressing the task; student performs literature research; student implements existing work and new approaches; student performs rigorous evaluation (cf. CS 753), student produces manuscript with the usual outline of Introduction, Related Work, Approach, Evaluation, Conclusion (cf. CS753).

Master’s Thesis

Goal: Student demonstrates research contribution to a narrow research field. (ideally a short paper would be published in the process)

Procedure: student selects a research task; student and instructor discuss approaches towards addressing the task; student performs literature research; student implements existing work and new approaches; student performs rigorous evaluation (cf. CS 753), student produces manuscript with the usual outline of Introduction, Related Work, Approach, Evaluation, Conclusion (cf. CS853).

(lower grades are not accepted)

Weaknesses in the thesis-style manuscript lead to the reduction in grade. Small weaknesses in the research carried out, such as the selection of weak baselines and wrong evaluation measures, would lead to a reduction by a full grade (e.g. A -> B, (A-) -> (B-)).

Minimum requirement: carrying out the research work necessary and presenting it in a thesis-style manuscript, i.e., rigorous experimental evaluation, clear task statement, related work, separation of approach from evaluation, clearly described approach, useful evaluation measures, plots and tables are elaborated, conclusions are supported by the study.

Ph.D. Thesis

Goal: Student demonstrates that a significant research contribution was made to a narrow research field. (three full papers)

Procedure: A Ph.D thesis usually comprises three full-papers at flagship conferences or journal publications. The thesis manuscript needs to convince all committee members of the significance of the research contribution, clearly delineating the unique contributions made by the student versus related work conducted by others. The experimental evaluation needs to provide evidence that the contribution significantly advanced the state-of-the-art in the field (at the time when the contribution was published).

For each of the three contributions, a chapter is to be included, that by itself, would be awarded an A under the grading rational for “Master’s Project”.