CSCS 530 Term Project Description
This project should involve all aspects of computer modeling of complex systems, from choice of a problem to study and design of a model to study that problem, choice of computer language and tools, implementation, testing and documenation of the program, running experiments and analyzing the results, and on to presenting the results to the class and producing a paper about the model and experiments. The system being modeled should be "real," i.e., you should relate it to some real-world complex systems, at least in an abstract way. The proposal is just a 1-2 page description of what you plan to do, to give me an chance to give feedback and guidance as needed. The final presentation and paper will be on the scale and of the style that one might present at a conference, e.g., a ~15 minute talk and a 10-12 page paper.
The proposal should give a brief description of the system being modeled, including what hypotheses, questions or ideas you want to explore, and what kinds of measurements and analysis you intend to make in order to test your hypotheses, answer your questions, etc. If you are building on, replicating or comparing to some existing models, you should describe them briefly. (One good way to summarize prior work is to use your
short paper assignment for that.) The proposal should also describe how you intend to model the system, e.g., what computer language and approach you will use.
If you want to chat with me about possible project ideas, please let me know and we can arrange a time. Or you can send a brief "pre-proposal" email to tell me about your idea(s).
The final paper should include (a) a brief abstract, (b) a short introduction, including descriptions of related work you might be building on or comparing to, e.g., as gleaned
from your short paper assignment, (c) a "methods" section describing your computer model, including enough detail so others could (probably) reproduce your work, (d) a results section, describing experiments carried out and analysis on resulting data, and (e) a discussion/conclusions section. (It should include a bibliography, too, of course.) You should also put your computer program and documentation on your CSCS account and refer to its location in your paper.
If you are new to writing "conference" style papers, you should look to some of the papers we are reading as part of the class, or check out some of the conference proceedings in the CSCS (or UM) libraries to see some examples of what conference style papers are like.
Past Term Project Examples
Important dates: (tentative) TBA
- Feb DD: Recommended date for Proposal (with short paper).
- Mar DD: Proposal/paper due.
- Mar DD: Feedback on proposals.
- Apr DD, DD. DD: Class presentation -- pick date!
- Apr DD: Paper due (to avoid an Incomplete!) Turning papers in early is encouraged!
Example "conference style" papers:
Up: Main
