Course Information

Staff

Instructor: Yizhou Zhang
Office hours: By appointment (message Yizhou on Zulip)

Meetings

There are two types of class sessions: lectures and paper discussions. Lectures are asynchronous unless otherwise notified. Paper discussions, as well as project presentations, will be synchronous via Zoom. They are scheduled for Mondays and Thursdays 1:00 pm Eastern Time.

Coursework

Coursework consists of a single assignment, reading and discussing topical research papers, and a research project. Students will be evaluated based on their performance on the assignment, participation in paper discussions, and their project.

Paper Discussions

Paper discussion will happen on Zulip and on Zoom. In the lead up to a paper-discussion session on Zoom, students are expected to participate in the corresponding Zulip topic in the “paper discussion” stream: they should post at least one message to share their thoughts on the work and optionally follow up on others' remarks.

Each student is expected to lead (or co-lead) the discussion of a subset of the papers. How papers are assigned is based on students' academic backgrounds and the number of students enrolled. Students responsible for leading a discussion will write a review of the work and post it in the Zulip topic, at least one week prior to the Zoom discussion. A review should comprise the following points:

• For a fresh CS graduate to understand the papers, what extra background knowledge would they need?
• A summary of the work in one's own words
• A detailed critique of the work, discussing contributions, limitations, and where it is situated in the broader research backdrop
• Half-baked ideas about future research
• Questions to kick-start the discussion

Research Project

Students are expected to design and complete a research project pertaining to PPLs. Each project will involve a short presentation and a final report. Students can work individually or in groups of two.

The instructor can discuss with you on potential project ideas and will have feedback on your project proposal.