Instructor: Chunyi Peng
Office hour: by appointment (Email if you need to contact the instructor)
Brightspace (annoucements, syllabus, grades)
In CS 497, the Honors Research Project, either alone or with other students, students work on a research project supervised by a CS faculty member during a semester (or all year). In addition, students have to submit technical reports and give talks about their research.
Course projects generally do not qualify as research projects for CS 497.
All students who intend to satisfy the CS 497 requirement must register for the course and fulfill all course requirements.
The following sections provide a brief overview of the typical course structure. The complete syllabus for each semester can be found on the respective course page in Brightspace.
Students are responsible for finding a CS professor willing to supervise them on a research project. Students are encouraged to prioritize professors working in their areas of interest.
Students can reach out to the course instructor for assistance in finding a research adviser. There are generally many professors in the department willing to advise undergraduate students on research projects, so finding an adviser is almost never a problem when students are diligent and start early during the semester.
Since it can take time for the student and the professor to settle on a project proposal, students should start immediately at the beginning of the semester or optionally before the semester starts.
Students should agree with the professor that advises them, in writing, on the expectations for the project.
After deciding on the scope of a project with a CS professor, students have to report to the course instructor the professor's name, the project title, and the project description. The project needs to be approved by the course instructor. Detailed instructions with the proposal submission link will be sent during the semester.
Students typically have until the end of the second week of classes to submit the research project proposal.
Students typically must submit one or more technical reports and give one or more talks on the project. Instructions about the exact format and requirements will be provided during the semester.
The course grade will depend on the assessment made by the research adviser on the scope and quality of the research project and the fulfillment of course expectations.
Except as by prior arrangement or notification by the professor of an extension before the deadline, missing or late work will be counted as a zero/fail.
You are expected to read and follow Purdue’s guide to academic integrity: the link. To foster an open and collegial class environment, we are vigorously opposed to academic dishonesty because it seriously detracts from the education of honest students.
If you are experiencing stress or personal problems, Purdue provides counseling services through the Purdue CAPS Center. Please see CAPS for more details.
Please find a set of Q&A for CS497. Such FAQ information reflects the typical way CS497 has been organized in the past semesters. FAQ is subject to change if the need arises. If you have questions or find any problem with the FAQ, please do not hesitate to meet with the instructor or send an email to the instructor.
Can I work with a research adviser outside the CS department?
All professors from Purdue's CS department qualify as research advisers for CS497. Most students chose an adviser from the CS department.
However, even though it is very unusual, it is also possible to consider advisers from outside the CS department. When considering professors from other Purdue departments, students must check with the instructor in writing and well ahead of the project registration deadline so that we can analyze the situation on a case-by-case basis. There is no guarantee that such an arrangement will be approved. In general, we need to carefully check that: (a) the project is going to focus on CS topics, (b) the project scope is sufficient for the credits of the course, (c) the professor is willing to actively advise you, and (d) the adviser is willing to collaborate with me to provide timely feedback about your performance.
What type of project qualifies for CS497?
Students must work on a research project that a professor is willing to advise them on. The project has to be research-focused. Furthermore, the amount of work has to be consistent with the number of course credits.
Do I have to start a new project?
Students do not have to start a new project from scratch; they can join an ongoing larger project in the professor's lab. However, when joining an existing project with other people, students must carve out clear goals for their individual contributions as much as possible.
Are projects in group?
For CS 497, students need to agree with a research adviser on a research project. These projects may or may not involve other students; it is up to the adviser. Sometimes the project assigned to CS 497 is a sub-project of a larger project involving one or more graduate students. Important: Even if there is collaboration involved, each CS 497 student should have clear responsibilities and will be responsible for submitting reports for CS 497 that focus on their specific contributions. There are also requirements on disclosing collaborations in the reports and talks.
Are there regular meetings?
Typically, there are bi-weekly meetings that students are expected to attend, but attendance is optional. The details vary and will be announced at the start of the semester.
Are there report examples?
Unfortunately, we do not have examples from other students that can be shared. A typical report will be similar to a short research paper.
I am trying to reach out to professors, but I do not get responses from them. What can I do?
This is not unusual; do not take it personally. There are typically several ways to address this problem.
First, understand that faculty get a huge number of emails and are often very busy, especially during the start of the semester. Giving them a few days to read the email and respond is often necessary. After this period, a friendly follow-up email can help.
Second, putting significant effort into your email and providing all relevant information is extremely important. This includes the obvious, i.e., the resume and transcript, but also an explanation of why you want to work with them, your technical background, and your goals. Your initial contact should highlight your experience, related class grades, projects outside of class context, etc. Not all of these apply to everyone, but those that do bring them up proactively.
Third, consider aiming for faculty working in areas where you had your highest grades or even faculty that taught you those classes. Often, professors are not able to teach technical details typically taught in classes in a research context (that is what classes are for). Research takes much effort, so the more technical background students have in the specific area of research, the more likely and the faster students get to the fun part of research.
Finally, some professors are just too busy to mentor students or even to respond to emails. Be prepared to move on to others.
Based on the experiences of past students, there are also a couple of patterns that can help calibrate expectations. Professors in machine learning areas tend to be particularly busy because ML is a popular area with students; do not let this discourage you from reaching out to professors in this area, but have fallback plans to work in other areas that are also of interest to you. Professors who joined the department recently (during the last couple of years) tend to be in the process of actively expanding their groups. So, they often (but not always) have more capacity to recruit junior students than others. Hence, if you are having trouble getting a positive response from senior professors who have been here for a while, consider exploring opportunities with more junior ones next.
Is the research proposal strictly enforced? Can I change the plan during the semester?
There is flexibility in changing the plan during the semester. It is hard to anticipate all the research challenges and opportunities. We understand this; this is part of what makes research fun. However, students do need to make a good-faith effort to put together a comprehensive plan and minimize changes if there is no good reason for changes. Note that having a clear plan helps you make progress toward your goals and clarifies the adviser's expectations, avoiding unpleasant surprises at the end of the semester. The requirement to submit a plan exists to help you.
Course information and FAQs are adapted from the previous offerings by Prof. Fonseca. Many thanks to Prof. Fonseca for his great efforts in the past semesters and his kind support for CS 497 this semester.