After successful completion of the course, students are able to conduct independent scientific research on concrete problems in algorithms and complexity. They have experience in tackling new and familiar research situations. They can present their results in a clear and concise manner, both orally and in writing. They are able to classify and assess recent research results as well as their own results.

The starting point of the project is selected recently published work.
The topics revolve around complexity and algorithmic questions arising in the area of Combinatorial Optimization, Artificial Intelligence, Automated Reasoning, Planning and Scheduling, Network Design, Cutting and Packing, Network Visualization, Computational Geometry, Computational Cartography, and Computational Social Choice.

Project participants will learn how to

• read and understand scientific publications,
• recognize open questions and come up with potential improvements,
• work together with the other participants and the advisors, and
• write a scientific paper in English.

The participants will work in groups of size 2 in close cooperation with the advisors.

Ideally, if the original results of a group are significant and promising, we plan to submit them to an international conference or journal.

The project will feature the following elements of scientific research:

• joint informal research discussions,
• presentations of research results by the participants,
• drafting of an English manuscript with the help of the advisors, and
• reviewing the manuscripts of other participants.

The number of participants is restricted to 8

• Weekly research interaction with group members and your advisors: (30%)
• 2x presentations, each 10-12 mins; feedback/disucssion/questions at the end of each presentation: (30%)
• 1x manuscript (10-12 pages, excluding references); further details, if necessary, can be deferred to a clearly marked Appendix: (35%)
• 1x review of one paper of another group: (5%)

Preliminary timeline:

October 4th, 11:15-12:15: Introduction and topic assignment (on-site)

November 22th, 11:15-13:15: Midterm presenation (on-site)

January 24th, 11:15-13:15: Final presentation (on-site)

February 14th: First version paper due

February 21th: Review due

February 28th: Final version paper due

 Algorithms and data structures (Bachelor), algorithmics, complexity theory, etc.