Individual Systems Practical

Course Objective

Applying Knowledge and Understanding: After completing the Individual
Systems Practical, the student will be able to execute a small,
individual computer systems project, in the context of ongoing research.
Making judgements: The student will be able to evaluate his or her own
approach and results w.r.t. novelty and efficacy.
Communication: The student will be able to communicate his or her
results and findings in a scientific report.
Lifelong learning skills: The student will be trained in applying his or
her existing knowledge and skills within the context of ongoing
research.

Course Content

The aim of the Individual Systems Practical is to give very motivated
students the opportunity to work on a challenging, research-oriented
project, with a strong focus on serious computer systems work.

The content of the project is to be negotiated individually with a VU or
UvA Computer Science lecturer, who will supervise and grade it. This
must be done before the project starts. In principle, only a few
students (the ones that come up with a convincing project proposal) will
be allowed to take this course.

The project is supposed to apply state-of-the-art methods and technology
and requires an original contribution by the student. It must be
challenging and deep into systems work, and allow a clear assessment of
the student's own contribution.

At the end of the project, the student submits a written report to the
lecturer, describing the work, the lessons learned, and the insights
gained from applying study contents in a research-oriented systems
project.

The report contains a description of the project, including the problem
description, the student’s solution, and an evaluation of the results.

The report also contains a reflection on the novelty of the achieved
research results, a comparison with related work, and what the student
has learned during the project.

Additional Information Teaching Methods

Guided, individual project work.

Method of Assessment

The overall grade is a weighted average of the project contents and the
student’s solution (50%), the quality of the written report (35%), and
the quality of the reflection on the novelty of the achieved research
results and a comparison with related work (15%).

Additional Information Target Audience

Master Computer Science
Master Computer Security

Additional Information

Various lecturers will be involved.

Recommended background knowledge

The student should have completed at least 48 credits of his or her
Master programme, so that there is sufficient study content to be
applied to the project.