Questions and Answers

Usage of terms must (not), should (not), and may according to RFC 2119.

Which progress is expected until the meeting in December?

Students must at least have read the provided literature, so that they can prepare questions about the content or request additional resources. To get early feedback, students may submit a first draft of their report structure and/or talk structure until the meeting.

Which progress is expected until the meeting in January?

Students must have submitted and discussed a first draft of their report structure and talk structure until the meeting. Students must have read, understood, and discussed all papers that were previously decided to be in scope of the seminar topic (that is, the initial paper(s) and the ones added later on).

How should the papers that define the scope of the seminar topic be referenced?

The introduction must contain a brief description of the main papers the seminar report is based on. These papers must be correctly cited (see section on citation). Depending on how you structure your paper, this section may also be moved to the background section (see section on structure of report). Throughout the text, these papers must be cited when making comparisons between papers or when directly quoting from them. For the sake of readability, not every thought taken from the papers as part of indirect quotes (i.e., rephrased in your own words) needs to be referenced. However, in the discussion and critical reflection, you must refer specifically to the parts of the papers that you are discussing and critiquing.

How to cite correctly?

Please refer to these guidelines for citing in scientific papers. As reference style, you can use either the format suggested in the guidelines ([<Name><YY><a>], e.g., [John12]) or a simpler format using numbers ([<Number>], e.g., [3]). If there are multiple sources, you can cite them like this: [1-3, 5] for sources 1 to 3 and 5.

Can figures/tables from referenced papers be used in the seminar report or the presentation slides?

Figures and tables can be reused, but you must clearly mark the reuse. In the report, you should indicate the reuse in the description of the figure/table (e.g., Figure 1: …(adapted from Author et al. [1])). In the slides, you should use a footnote to reference the source. See also the section on references in the presentation.

How should references be included in the presentation?

You may use the references from the seminar paper (e.g., [1]) on the presentation slides and list all references on a slide at the end of the slide deck. This allows the supervisor to compare the slides and the paper later on. Alternatively, you may use footnotes (in a smaller font size) on the slide in which you refer to content from papers.

Should figures/tables be included in the appendix of the report?

If the figures/tables are created by you, you should place them in the main body of the report. Figures/tables taken from papers may be placed either in the main body or in the appendix. If you believe that a figure/table taken from a paper is important enough for readers to see it while reading your report, you should include it in the main body using an appropriate reference (see previous section on reusing content from papers).

How should transitively referenced papers be handled?

If they appear to be important for the seminar topic, they must at least be skimmed. Usually, it is sufficient to read the title, abstract, introduction, and conclusion, and skim through the rest of the paper. You must read enough of the paper to be able to determine whether you need to read the paper in more detail or not.

How should transitively referenced papers be cited?

Good scientific practice is to always look at the primary sources when citing (see, e.g., the APA Guidelines). When writing a scientific paper or report, you must consult the primary sources if available. If you want to cite a primary source that is not available, you may, with the approval of your supervisor, rely on the secondary source (i.e., a paper citing that paper).

What position should one take towards the papers that define the scope of the seminar topic?

First, you must describe the content of the papers neutrally in your own words. You should compare and contrast the papers you read. A critical engagement with the topic is also desired (see section on criticism).

Is criticism encouraged in the seminar report and the presentation?

While a neutral position must be taken in the main body of the report and presentation, a critical reflection of the topic and papers must be included in the discussion. Tips for structuring a critique can be found, for example, here.

Is there a template for the report?

For your report, you may use the thesis template that we provide. You may use a different layout or customize it according to your preferences. However, you must consider the guidelines regarding the length of the report. The general structure of the report must roughly correspond to the following outline:

Cover Page
Abstract
Contents (index)
Introduction (including a problem statement)
Background (including related work)
You are free to structure the main part of the report depending on your topic
Discussion (including a critique of the papers read)
Conclusion (including an outlook and ideas for future work)
References

You must discuss the outline of your report with your supervisor.

Is there a template for the slides?

You may use the PowerPoint template that the University of Bayreuth provides (available here). However, you are not bound to a specific template or presentation tool.

What determines the main focus of the presentation and report?

The topic descriptions on the website and the referenced papers must serve as a starting point for your seminar presentation and report. However, you may expand the background chapter to provide a more holistic introduction of the topic or include additional papers in the discussion. Nevertheless, the core of your report and presentation must be the papers mentioned in the topic description.

To what extent can LLM-based tools be used for the seminar report?

In general, a tool based on LLMs (Large Language Models) is treated like any co-author. Therefore, using it without proper attribution is considered plagiarism. The same regulations that apply to human assistance (e.g., writing centers) generally apply here as well.

If you use LLMs for language improvements, your must acknowledge this in general (e.g., in the introduction), but you do not need to explicitly mark every instance in the report or presentation. We would also like to refer to the information provided by the ACM here, specifically the sections on “Can I use generative AI software tools to prepare my manuscript?” and “If I use generative AI software tools, under what conditions must I disclose their use in my Work?”. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your supervisor.

How is the overall grade determined based on the presentation and the report?

After the presentation, we will share grade range with you. The seminar report, which you submit afterwards, will then determine the final grade within that range. In addition to the grade range, you will also receive feedback on the presentation and guidance on what to focus on in the report. You can find the template used for presentation feedback here.

How long should the seminar report be?

A rough guideline is around 15 to 25 pages for a bachelor seminar and 25 to 30 pages for a master seminar. These numbers depend on factors such as font size (typically 11pt or 12pt) and other aspects such as spacing and layout. However, you must discuss the specific requirements for your topic with your supervisor, preferably based on an initial draft of the report.