Activities
This page will list down the course activities in addition to the lectures.
Problem Sets (6 x (7 %) = 42%):
Following are the submission deadlines for the problem sets. The problem sets will be posted in an incremental fashion. That is, the dropbox file will be updated after the class covers the relevant lectures. It is expected that the problem set questions are worked on as and when they are released so that the lecture material is also practised/applied right away.
Note: All deadlines are set to Tuesdays 10 pm (to be submitted online in course Moodle at the link given). The last problem in a problem set will be added on or before the previous Friday, 10 pm.
Note: All deadlines are set to Tuesdays 10 pm (to be submitted online in course Moodle at the link given). The last problem in a problem set will be added on or before the previous Friday, 10 pm.
- Problem Set 1 : Jan 30, 2024 (submit here).
- Problem Set 2 : Feb 13, 2024
- Problem Set 3 : Mar 05, 2024
- Problem Set 4 : Mar 23, 2024
- Problem Set 5 : Apr 16, 2024
- Problem Set 6 : Apr 30, 2024
Course Project (38%):
The course project is designed to encourage you to (1) read and explore on your own a material that is closely related to the ideas done in class and (2) use the expertise that you have gained in the area of complexity theory over the past two courses in order to explore a specific set of research papers and associated research questions. The expected outcome of this process is a survey of the research paper(s) assigned to the topic and a presentation of the same. It is not expected (and hence not a part of the grading of the course) that you find/prove something new. But, of course, new results are always welcome, and you will always be encouraged to pursue the research thread independently after the course. We will send out a set of topics in the lectures section of the course page. Here are the ground rules.
- Topics & Duration : Each of you should select one topic each. Each course project is expected to be roughly one month long. There will be two slots for projects (you are expected to do only one of them). One slot will start by early March, and the other will start by early April.
- Reading : Here is some advice on reading research papers. Pay attention to the three-pass approach. By the time you are done with 1.5 passes, you are ready for the interim meeting.
- Interim Discussion/Evaluated Meeting (8%) : There will be an interim individual discussion at about 1/3rd way mark (based on the duration). By then, you are expected to have an overview of the work and the different technical components clarified, although it may not be to the full technical details. This might also be a good time to seek any help from the instructor if needed. This interaction will also be evaluated, although with low weightage.
- Work & Presentations (20%) : Each participant will present the project work in a one-hour slot. The whole class is expected to attend all the presentations, and the slides(if any) and report will be made available to the class.
- Report (10%): You will be asked to submit an 8-page report of your survey. The exact format of the report will be sent out to you later.
Exams + Viva :
- Midsem Exam (10%): Mar 16, 2024 - Saturday, 9 am - 10 am, and vivas will be scheduled on the same day.
- Endsem Exam (10%): May 4, 2024 - 9 am - 10 am and vivas will be scheduled on the same day.