The First Draft should have at least one page of text in English with a clear outline of the paper and an initial list of references to the source materials that will be used in the paper.

Note: Use of the course LaTeX template is required.

Name your paper materials as YourLastname_draft.tex and correspondingly YourLastname_draft.pdf. Upload both files to the Submissions/Drafts folder in your T-110.5191 Optima workspace.

Full Draft

The Full Draft should have 5-8 pages of text. All sections should have their main content and the text must have been revised at least once by the student. The readiness of the paper at this stage will help you get more useful comments and suggestions from your tutor and opponent. Include the Abstract and Conclusion section even if you still are not sure what the final results or conclusions will be. Use of the course Latex template with double column is required and the references must be formatted with Bibtex.

Name your paper as YourLastname_full.tex and correspondingly YourLastname_full.pdf. Upload both files to the Submissions/Full Drafts folder in your Optima workspace.

Opponent tasks after Full Draft submission

Each student will be assigned as the opponent to another student. The opponent will read the Full Draft version of the paper and provide constructive comments and criticism to the author. The goal is to help the other student to improve the paper. When writing the comments, consider at least the following:

Does the paper have a point? Try to summarize it in 2-3 sentences.
Are the main ideas well presented or does something require clarification?
What is the main contribution (i.e. best feature) of the paper and is it sufficiently emphasized?
Could the structure, presentation, illustrations or language be improved?
Are the references sufficient and are there also references to high-quality research literature?
How could the paper be made even better?

Upload your comments as ourLastname_to_PaperAuthorLastname.pdf to Optima in the Submissions/Full Draft Comments folder.

Final Paper

For the Final Paper, update the technical facts, arguments, conclusions and any experimental results to match your latest understanding. Make changes based on the comments from the tutor and opponent. Improve the clarity and readability of the text and figures. Read the text thought several times to make iterative improvements. Rethink the organization of the paper if necessary.

Create a sub folders with your Lastname under Submissions/Final Paper folder in your Optima workspace and upload all your paper related materials including your picture files and .bib files. Note that course staffs should be able to compile afterwards to generate your Final paper and verify with the pdf file that you submit. Also remember to name your .tex file and .pdf file appropriately.

Opponent tasks after Final Paper submission

The opponent should read through the Final Paper before the seminar day and prepare a few questions for the author of the paper.

Presentation slides

Name your presentation slides as YourLastname_presentation.pdf or YourLastname_presentation.ppt. Upload your file to the Submissions/Presentations folder in Optima.

Seminar day

Participation in the seminar is a mandatory. All students present their work at the seminar.

The presentations are 15 minutes in length and are given in English. More detailed instructions for the presentations will be given in the second course meeting. It is a skill to conclude your presentation on time. Note that you will talk either faster or slower than when practicing and should plan in advance which parts can be skipped.

After the presentation, there will be a few minutes for questions and discussion. The opponent will start with his/her questions and then the audience may continue the discussion.

Opponent tasks after the seminar

After the seminar day, the opponent should upload her/his comments concerning the final paper together with comments on the presentation to Submissions/Final Comments folder in your optima workspace. Also, name your comment file as YourLastname_to_PaperAuthorLastname.pdf. While commenting please consider the following:

What was good in the paper? What could be improved in the paper?
What was good in the presentation? What could be improved in the presentation?
How well did the presenter answer the questions from you and others in the audience?

Final grade

The final grade will depend on the paper, the writing process, the presentation, and the opponent tasks. These are judged as a whole, with most emphasis on the paper. To pass the course, performance must be acceptable in all these areas.

On grading: Grades 1-2 meet the minimum requirements for the course but indicate major flaws in the paper. Grade 3 is given to a good paper that meets most formal requirements of a technical or scientific publication and has no major flaws. All students should be able to get this grade with sufficient effort. Grade 4 requires the paper to be excellent in some aspects, and to be interesting to the reader. Students achieving this grade should feel that they have done a very good job. Grade 5 is only given to exceptional papers, such as ones making a clear research contribution or having high value to the reader. (See tutor instructions for more detailed criteria for grading.)
Note: Delay in submission may also reduce grading.