Reading of scientific papers,
literature research,
presentation of scientific work

The seminar covers selected topics in the field of formal methods. The course revolves around seminal research papers in the field of automated theorem proving, arithmetic reasoning, and state-of-the-art techniques based on these papers. Each student will be assigned a research papers. The students are expected to read and understand the paper and prepare and present a half-hour talk on the topic. 

The first objective is to read and understand the content as well as the significance of the assigned paper, as well as to locate and read up on related work if the paper is not self-contained.
Prior to preparing the presentation, students are expected to discuss the papers in a meeting with their assigned teaching assistant.

The objectives of the presentation are to present the topic in a manner accessible for their fellow students. Students are required to present and discuss their slides with the teaching assistant prior to giving the presentation.

ECTS Breakdown:
40 hours for reading papers and related work,
20 hours for preparing the presentation,
15 hours of attending talks and meetings with the lecturer.
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75 hours (3 ECTS)
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ORGANISATION:

The topics and the organization of the seminar will be discussed in an initial meeting on

Tuesday, March 7, 4 pm, Menger meeting room (Favoritenstrasse 9, 3rd floor)

Students signed up for the course who are unable to attend should
contact us as soon as possible (email msuda@forsyte.at / mjarosch@forsyte.at). 

Electronic versions of the papers will be provided to the students.

TOPICS for 2017S:

• SMT solving
• Real closed fields
• Conflict-driven learning
• Quantified Boolean formula

Students will be graded based on:

1.) Ability to read and understand the papers assigned to them. The
effort and initiative to independently read and understand the paper
and to read up on related work will determine 50% of the grade. The
students' understanding of the paper will be evaluated during the
meetings with the lecturer and by means of questions after the talk.

2.) Ability to present the material in an accessible way to their fellow
students. The clarity and style of the presentation as well as the
students' effort to prepare the talk (e.g., by designing their own
examples rather than reusing material from the paper) determine 50% of
the grade.

Additional information on grading: The relative difficulty of the
paper will be taken into account. Asking meaningful questions about
the presentations of fellow students will have a positive impact
on the grade (attendance of these talks is compulsory).