Announcements


  • Project reports will be due by 11:59pm on Apr 15. Here are the requirements:
    • Page limit: 3 pages, excluding bibliography and (unlimited) appendix
    • Format: letter paper, 11pt fonts (of your choice), at least 1in margin on all sides.
    • Where? MarkUs
    • Content: Introduction, related work, problem formulation, theoretical results (if any), experimental setup and results (if any), future work. Please keep the introduction, related work, and future work brief (1 paragraph) to devote more space to your problem and results.
  • Assignment 2 is posted and is due by 11:59pm ET on Apr 15.
  • Important announcements:
    1. Due to scheduling issues, I need to cancel the lecture this Thursday (Mar 28).
    2. Sorry for the delay in posting HW2. It should be posted soon. Please be rest assured that you will be given enough time to work on it.
    3. I'd like to offer each group the opportunity to meet with me 1-1 to discuss progress on their project and get feedback. This is an option that you're encouraged (but not required) to make use of. If you'd like to meet with me 1-1, please sign up in this sheet.
    4. The lecture on next Thursday, Apr 4, will be our last lecture, where we will have project presentations.
      We have 9 groups, each will be allocated 10 minutes. Please prepare to speak for no longer than 7 minutes, reserving 3 minutes for Q&A. Please sign up for a slot in this sheet. Please note that your presentation may start a little earlier or later than the time indicated in the sheet if some group finishes early or if there are delays.
      The presentation should clearly communicate (not necessarily in this order): (a) your high-level project idea, (b) related prior work, (c) the exact mathematical formalism of the problem, and (d) any preliminary results you may have. Please note that part (d) is not required if you have not been able to obtain any results, but if you have even a few preliminary results, it would be great to see and discuss them.
  • Here is a list of four sample project ideas. Please try to first come up with ideas of your own (in your own area of interest) by using these as inspirations. If you are having a difficult time finding a project idea, you can claim one of these ideas by writing your group name in the Google sheet referenced in the PDF.
  • Please form a project group (size up to 3) if you haven't already, and start thinking of a suitable project idea. You can choose any fairness notion (from class or otherwise) and study it in a domain of your choice (from class or otherwise). The project can be fully theoretical, fully empirical, or a little bit of both. Please submit a project proposal (up to 1 page excluding references) by 11:59pm ET on Mar 10 on MarkUs. The proposal should describe (in 1-2 short paragraphs each) the high-level idea, a few related prior works, a rigorous model (if already available), and a list of reasonable as well as ambitious goals.
  • Full assignment 1 is posted. It is due by 11:59pm ET on Mar 10.
  • Starting Feb 1, we will shift the lectures to the SF 3208/3210 seminar room (it's a big room that has two numbers assigned to it). It is on the 3rd floor of the Sandford Fleming building, close to the stairway on the southeast corner.
  • Partial assignment 1 is posted. This is so that you have more time to attempt the earlier questions. I will continue to add questions as we go through more lectures. The due date will be set once the full assignment is posted.
  • Due to a sudden onset of an infection, which has made speaking very painful, I need to cancel the first lecture on Jan 11. We'll begin lectures on Jan 18. Thank you for your understanding!