Information about the project
The final project is worth 40% of your final mark. It is therefore important to devote a substantial amount of time to it.
Types of projects
You can work on three different types of projects.
- Self-selected topic. That is often the option chosen by graduate students, who find a topic close to their own work project.
- Assigned topic. You have a vague idea of something that you find interesting but don’t really know what to do. I will assign a paper for you to go over and “unfold”. Most mathematical papers are scarce on details because the readers are expected to be trained mathematicians. Your job will be to explain the paper in such a way that you could present it to the class, over potentially several lectures, in a way that people without knowledge of all these “hidden” pieces would be able to understand.
- Course notes. Imagine I left on a trip and I asked you to stand in for me for one (students registered in 4370) or two (students registered in 7370) weeks. These course notes cannot intersect with mine and would typically focus on one specific topic.
Timeline
Early in the term, I will ask you to fill an online form where you will indicate what type of project you would like to choose, domain area, etc.
Using the information you provided in this form, I will be in touch individually to fine tune the topic. By the last week of September, your topic should be chosen.
Some of you are used to writing reports or papers, others not at all. To help everyone with the project, two assignments are then specifically designed to guide you along. These two assignments have specific deadlines, although you are free to return them before the deadline.
- Project Assignment 1 is due at 23:59 on Friday 13 October 2023.
- Project Assignment 2 is due at 23:59 on Friday 17 November 2023.
I will strive to mark both of these assignments within one week of receiving them.
In the ideal situation, you will get an “all good” from me and just carry on. If I am not satisfied that the project is fitting of either the level or the content of the course, then I will indicate this on the assignment and will follow up with you in a one-on-one meeting to clarify or redirect your work.
Note: for these assignments, I evaluate your efforts in answering the questions I ask, regardless of whether I am happy with your answers or not.
The final project is then due during the final examination period, 12-22 December 2023.
Project evaluation
Here is the general framework that I use for evaluating projects.
| Item | Mark |
|---|---|
| Clarity of the exposition | 10 |
| Comprehension of the material | 10 |
| Bibliographical references | 10 |
| Figures and tables | 10 |
| Numerical/computer algebra/algorithmic work | 10 |
The last two items are optional: they will only be marked if they have a place in your project. Note that projects where these elements are absent will be scrutinized more attentively for the first three items.
One “free” pre-evaluation
I am happy to take a look at your project once before you submit it and provide feedback about it. At that stage, I will not dig into the mathematical content to evaluate correctness but rather will tell you if it seems to be the sort of return that I am expecting.