Notes on preparation

Contents of this page:

• General information about the text
• Illustrations and pictures
• References
• Questions & Answers (with evaluation form)

• Do not use "I" or "we"
• Do not change the paragraph format; paragraphs are inserted by blank lines in the LaTeX source code
• LaTeX is a page description language, so use the correct description elements (markup); do not try to achieve effects by misusing other functions (such as "\\" for paragraphs or even manual line breaks).

• Illustrations must always be referenced in the text! Where possible, additional explanations of the image content (and what the main message/meaning is) should also be given there.
• Scanned or third-party images should not be used. Wherever possible, choose your own way of visualization (by the way: simply repainting other people's pictures does not make your own picture...). Try to find your own images to visualize a problem or solution.
• Use vector graphics (eps, pdf, svg) instead of pixel images (tiff, jpeg, gif); exception: pixel image (e.g. photo) should be shown.
• Consider the appearance of black and white printing! (Colors may be used, but a b/w printout must remain recognizable). Accordingly, please do not refer to any colors of the illustration in the text.
• Diagrams and curves are created with the appropriate programs (e.g. gnuplot), the corresponding data sets are included in the appendix of the paper, unless they are part of the main text as a table.
• In view of a later presentation, you should be able to explain the content of figures. If you take figures or tables from other sources, make sure that they are provided with an appropriate reference in the figure/table caption (and if possible also in the accompanying text).

• Use the standard bibtex format for references, never use custom formatting of individual entries unless there are serious formatting problems.
• Always check that all mandatory fields (and as many of the optional ones as possible) are given for a reference. Minimum is title, authors, year, conference/journal, if possible: address (conference location), for books ISBN.
• Use the correct bibtex entry for the reference (e.g. there is a difference between article and inproceedings).
• Reference URLs like this: <http://...> (please also use the \url{...} markup, see below) and enter an access date.

Examples:

Please fill in all mandatory fields and otherwise enter as much information as possible!

For references to other theses, please use the entries in this list: publicStudents.bib (will be linked here soon) and report missing entries.

Q: When will my paper be ready?

A: That's up to you! Everything you have done should be described in detail, as well as the background knowledge that was used. As a rule of thumb, the paper should be the only documentation that can be used for subsequent work.

Q: What do I have to describe?

A: For software, the self-designed algorithms (and their basics) should be described in detail (note: please document all algorithms with pseudocode ). Also a description of all classes/functions (including file names) and the general and detailed structure of the software. A separate chapter should be used for both. For a complete program, a short user manual should be provided, as well as compilation and installation instructions(!).
For hardware, the implemented algorithms (with background) should be described in detail (note: please document all algorithms with pseudocode ). There should be a description of the general and detailed module structure as well as the interfaces and wiring. Two chapters should be used for this. Synthesis instructions should be given.

There should be a results chapter for both HW and SW work. Describe synthesis results and benchmarks. If possible, compare them with similar results from other work. Try to interpret, classify and discuss the results.

Q: How many pages should my paper have?

A: Good question! There is no must rule. Most papers have between 45 and 85 pages. That seems reasonable. If less than 50 pages - is everything well described? If more than 80 pages, there should be a good reason why there was so much to write (sometimes there are good reasons!). Of course, these figures do not include appendices.

Q: How is a thesis structured?

A: Introduction (motivation, task/problem definition, chapter overview), basics of algorithms and other background, description of the concrete problem and fanned solution, description of implementations, results and interpretations, summary and outlook (future work). This is only a suggestion; a different structure may make sense for your specific work.

Q: How can I improve my grade?

A: Basically: Commit yourself to your topic and take it forward independently. A good piece of work would be if you simply solve your task completely and without errors under supervision. To be better than that, your commitment, especially the contribution of your own ideas, should be visible in the work. Below are some assessment criteria according to which (among other things) you will be assessed. The contributions count with varying degrees of difficulty.

• Working style
  
  • Independence
  • Understanding
  • creativity
  • Diligence and pace of work
  • Systematic and careful planning and execution
• Results
  • Quantity and speed of work
  • quality
  • Completeness and usability of the results
  • Degree of innovation
  • Fulfillment of deadlines
• Elaboration
  • Structure/structure
  • External form
  • Linguistic competence
  • Scientific approach
  • Correctness of the results
  • Completeness of the work
• Final presentation
  • Content
  • Presentation style
  • Quality of the slides
  • Presentation
  • Discussion

If you have any further questions, please contact us directly.