ADMIN INFO*

*subject to minor changes and adjustments

STRUCTURE

LECTURES

The lecture plan will be made available online
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~suvrit/teach/
Alex and I will cover a variety of topics there will be nontrivial connections between our coverage, but I would still view the course as “selected topics in mathematics of data science”
Lectures will be scribed, more about that in a minute
Scribing carries 2% credit

HOMEWORKS

Approximately 8 short homeworks (every 2-3 weeks)
Homeworks count for 45% of the grade
Homework policy: collaboration is allowed, but solutions must be written up by you
We will run homeworks and the rest of the class like a research conference (treat the lectures as “tutorials”)
Everything will be handled via Easychair
Sign up at: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=aopt14
Homeworks will be peer-reviewed
5% of total grade depends on quality of job you do on easychair (answer key will be provided)
1 day late: 50% credit lost on homework
More than 1 day late: 100% credit lost

PROJECTS

Each project should have 2-4 people
Ideal team size: 3
It is important to team up: we wish to encourage experience in collaborative work
Entire team will get same grade, so pick team wisely (regardless of who did what percentage of work)
The projects are going to be divided into several easy phases
Initial proposal (2 pages); Who? Why? Etc. (2%)
Project midterm review (10% credit) (written report, peer-review part, approx 4 pages)
Final report – 8 pages + refs (25%)
Final presentations (8%, 10 mins long per project)
3% credit for reviews
More detail to be avail very soon on the class webpage

CREDIT