Research Methods in Evolutionary Computing

Spring Semester 2020 Preliminary Proposal Requirements

  • Due date & time: 10:00 AM Thursday February 6, 2020
  • Maximum section lengths: A - one page, B - three pages, C - unrestricted
  • Margins: 1 inch
  • Font: Computer Modern (LaTeX's default font), Times New Roman, Calibri, or with instructor approval
  • Font size: 11 point
  • Spacing: single spaced

    • Required headings, sections, and subsections

  • Top Heading: COMP 7970/7976 Spring 2020 Preliminary Proposal

    • Section A: Project Summary

  • Subsection A.1: Your name and degree program(s) (e.g., Cathy Jones, BS in Computer Science with minor in Biology)
  • Subsection A.2: Project title: as descriptive and specific as possible while being short and peppy
  • Subsection A.3: Description
    • Concise description of your research proposal. [This describes at a very high level what you propose to do.]
  • Subsection A.4: Intellectual Merit
    • How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields? To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts? [This describes the scientific contributions of your research.]
  • Subsection A.5: Societal Benefit
    • What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society? [This provides the general motivation for your research.]

    Section B: Project Narrative

  • Subsection B.1: Introduction: state and motivate scientific questions you propose to investigate
  • Subsection B.2: Related work: summarize the published research related to what you are going to propose and explain why it's deficient and how your proposed research will address those deficiencies
  • Subsection B.3: Proposed research: describe your proposed approach to answering the scientific questions you stated in the introduction
  • Subsection B.4: Qualifications & Resources: briefly explain why you are qualified to conduct the proposed research and make the case that the resources at your disposal are sufficient to carry out the research as envisioned
  • Subsection B.5: Tentative work plan: present a task list and tentative schedule for completing those tasks; also indicate deliverables on schedule; indicate which tasks, if any, have a non-negligible chance of failure and what alternative approach you could attempt in case of failure

    • Section C: References

    List here all the references you cite in your proposal.