Project

The aim of the project is to produce a piece of research. You are then to give a presentation and write a paper summarizing your work. In writing a good research paper (or to do a good piece of research as well), the following are usually considered important:

Statement of the problem. Provide a clear statement of the problem you are solving.

Motivation. Provide motivation for the problem. Why is the problem interesting? important? challenging?

Background material. Include enough background material so that the paper will be understandable to your intended audience.

Review of previous work. Describe the work that other researchers have done on this problem and show why these previous approaches are inadequate.

Statement of technical solutions. Provide a clear statement of the techniques used to solve the problem. Show how the problem was approached, by what methods and techniques. State any assumptions made for the techniques to work.

Evaluation. Show how successful you solutions were, and why they were successful. Provide convincing evidence in support of all claims. Carefully evaluate the strengths and limitations of your contribution. Some dimensions for evaluation include empirical results and theoretical analyses. If the evaluation is empirical, are the test instances representative? If the evaluation is theoretical, are the simplifying assumptions justified.

Clarity. Is the paper well written and well organized? Does the writing enable a substantive evaluation of the work? Is good use made of examples to illustrate the problem and solutions?

Additional advice.

A. Bundy. A scientific checklist.
T. Walsh. How to write a research paper.

The project should be on some aspect of constraint programming. To make sure that your proposed project is doable in the time remaining, and that the subject matter is relevant, you need my approval before you embark on a project.

Here is the schedule for the project:

1. Monday, November 5: Project proposal due. A one-page description of your proposed project.

2. Near the end of the term: A presentation on your project.

3. Friday, December 21: Project report due. A final report consisting of a conference-style paper of less than or equal to 15 pages that describes the work you did and the results you obtained.