Seminars

The central registration for all computer science proseminars will open on September 22nd.

This system is used to distribute students among the available proseminars. To register for any of the other proseminars that are offered by the computer science department, you have to register here until October 24th 23:59 CET. You can select which proseminar you would like to take, and will then be automatically assigned to one of them on October 26th.

Please note the following:

We aim to provide a fair mapping that respects your wishes, but at the same time also respects the preferences of your fellow students.
Experience has shown that particular proseminars are more popular than others, yet these proseminars cannot fit all students. We thus encourage students to select their preferences for all available proseminars, which eases the process to assign students that do not fit the overly popular proseminars to another, less crowded one. Each student must therefore select at least three proseminars (with priority from "High" to "Low").
If you urgently need to be assigned to a proseminar in the upcoming semester, choose at least five proseminars (with priority from "High" to "Low"). We will then guarantee that you will be assigned to a proseminar (yet not necessarily one of your choice).
If you are really dedicated to one particular proseminar, and you do not want any other proseminar, please select the "No proseminar" as second and third positive option. However, this may ultimately lead to the situation that you are not assigned to any proseminar. Also, choosing "No seminar" as second/third option does not increase your chances of getting your first choice.

The assignment will be automatically performed by a constraint solver on October 25th. You will be added to the respective proseminars automatically and be notified about this shortly thereafter. Please note that the assignment cannot be optimal for all students if you drop the assigned proseminar, i.e., make only serious choices to avoid penalty to others.

Computer-Assisted Proofs in LEAN by Bartholdi, Pernak

As mathematical research advances, researchers become more and more specialized, and the mathematics they produce becomes more and more complicated to verify.
The possibility to formalize and check proofs thanks to computer programs is thus more relevant than ever. What’s more, tremendous progress in recent years make it so that formalizing actual research level mathematics is possible, and formalizing student level mathematics is accessible to students.
In this seminar, students will practice with the LEAN proof assistant (https://leanprover-community.github.io/).
We meet weekly on Zoom, and discuss informally: each student gets a chance to speak, to explain the work they have done in previous weeks, and to plan ahead.
See the course's page to obtain the zoom link.
https://www.math.uni-sb.de/ag/bartholdi/cap/

Requirements: Students may obtain up to 8 credit points, by formalizing a theorem or new definitions, thus contributing to mathlib, the library which gathers all mathematics that has already been formalized in LEAN.
Topics suitable to both MSc and BSc students will be offered, no prior knowledge is required.

Places: 10

Data and Society by Ingmar Weber, Annika Haß, Till Koebe

From finding a mate to booking a holiday, our lives are increasingly mediated by online platforms. Digital traces left by these interactions provide opportunities to study societal phenomena while creating challenges around the responsible use of data. In this seminar, students will learn how computational methods and machine learning can be applied to study society through such data.

The first part of the seminar will familiarize students with existing work in computational social science with each week focused on a topic such as “love” or “food” and methods to quantify it. The second part of the seminar will be about projects in which students are asked to quantify a societal phenomenon of their choice using computational methods.

The overall course performance will be based on (i) overall course participation, (ii) assigned paper presentations, (iii) literature review and “project pitch” (prior to in-depth work), (iv) written project report, and (v) final project reports.

Apart from learning about interdisciplinary research and applications of machine learning, students will also learn research skills such as how to read and discuss papers, how to plan a project, how to present their work, how to write a scientific paper, and how to work in teams.

Students can take this course as either a seminar or a proseminar. Bachelor students taking the course will have a reduced load in the first part of the course.

Future details at https://cms.sic.saarland/das_23/. Timing is Tuesdays, 10am-noon.

Requirements: The project-based element of the seminar will require some programming and data analysis experience. Beyond that there are no formal requirements, though a desire to engage in interdisciplinary discussions and an interest in studying societal processes is a must.

Places: 3

Decision Procedures for Verification and Synthesis by Rayna Dimitrova

Decision procedures for logical theories (these are algorithms that for a certain type of logical formulas provide an answer to the question whether a given formula can be satisfied or not) are the backbone of state-of-the-art methods and tools for software and hardware verification, program synthesis, automatic bug finding, and compiler optimization. In this proseminar we will study decision procedures for different logical theories that are commonly used in the context of program verification and synthesis, and how they are applied to the design, analysis, and construction of software.

More Information available at https://cms.cispa.saarland/decproc_2324/

Requirements: Participants are expected to have strong interest in formal logic, and to be able to understand mathematical notation. Knowledge about automated reasoning is beneficial.

Places: 14

Introduction to Digital and Privacy-Preserving Signatures by Lucjan Hanzlik

Digital signatures are a basic cryptographic building block that ensures messages' authenticity (who signed) and integrity (what is signed). The goal of this proseminar is to improve students' presentation skills and, at the same time, learn about digital signatures and schemes that relax the above properties to increase the privacy of signers. We will discuss seminal research papers introducing, among others: Ring signatures, group signatures, and blind signatures.

Each week two students will present their assigned paper, followed by a group discussion about the presentation and the article (it is highly encouraged that all students have read the article). After the first round, there will be a second round where students will present their improved presentation, and only the second round will be graded.

Requirements: A very basic understanding of cryptographic primitives such as encryption, signatures, and hash functions is required.

Places: 12

Language Models at the Intersection of Cognitive Science and Software Engineering by Prof. Dr. Sven Apel, Alisa Welter, Kallistos Weis, Christof Tinnes, Anna-Maria Maurer, Christian Hechtl, Sebastian Böhm

While Machine Learning has revolutionized numerous fields, its capabilities remain largely unattained in software engineering. What's the reason? Inspired by breakthroughs in other sectors, this seminar offers a thrilling exploration into the convergence of Language Models, Software Engineering, and Cognitive Science.
We will scrutinize a broad spectrum of existing contributions and potential future developments, spanning from code generation and model completion to effective collaboration in large-scale projects. The seminar will also illuminate current research in cognitive science, specifically focusing on human code comprehension.

More information: https://cms.sic.saarland/se_seminar_ws23_24/

Kick-Off Meeting: 2.November 12:00-14:00
The seminar takes place Thursdays from 12:00 -14:00 (4 appointments)

Requirements: This seminar is open to Bachelor and Master students. Knowledge of Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Software Engineering will be helpful. But this is not required.

Places: 5

Modern Hashing and Filtering Algorithms by Jens Zentgraf and Sven Rahmann

In the labyrinthine corridors of this proseminar, we shall be drawn into the enigmatic realm of modern hash strategies. With intricate precision, we shall unravel the mysteries of collision resolution techniques for the perplexing world of hash tables. Behold, the esoteric arts of Robin Hood hashing, Hopscotch hashing, and their elusive companions will be laid bare before our inquisitive minds. But fear not, for the other path we tread shall lead us to the realm of efficient filters. Behold the Bloom filter, the Cuckoo filter, and the enigmatic XOR filter. These enigmatic artifacts will be studied with great scrutiny, for our ultimate quest is to grasp their essence and articulate it with utmost clarity in the sacred seminar thesis. And when the time comes to stand before our peers, we shall channel the eldritch knowledge acquired, and with eloquence, transmit it in a language that befits comprehension, thus illuminating the minds of our fellow seekers in this arcane pursuit. [transformed by ChatGPT from our original description in the style of Franz Kafka]

Requirements: Basic knowledge of algorithms, data structures and probability theory

Places: 6

Techniques for Building Scalable and Robust Web Applications by Jens Dittrich

In this proseminar, we will learn about various techniques that you need to know to make web applications scalable and robust.

Requirements: sound knowledge of the content from the Big Data Engineering course, i.e. you passed that course or a comparable course

Places: 5

Usable Security Research to Enhance Online Child Protection by Katharina Krombholz

In this seminar, we will look at usable security research that focuses on children. We will look at mental models of children concerning security and privacy and read different papers within the field of child protection in usable security and human computer interaction. You will learn how to read papers and how to give a presentation. At the end of the seminar, we will have a brainstorming session to think of ideas together based on the discussions we've had over the topic after the presentations.

https://cms.cispa.saarland/eocp/

Places: 12

Wireless and Mobile Security by Mridula Singh

We employ wireless systems today to share confidential data, pay parking tickets, report heart rates with the doctor, find lost luggage, and much more. Therefore, it is an essential requirement that wireless systems provide confidential communication, secure localization, location privacy, and secure access control. In this proseminar, we will discuss security vulnerabilities of different wireless systems like WiFi, Bluetooth, Cellular, UWB, etc.

We will begin the proseminar at the kick-off meeting by assigning papers to the students and providing some background about the proseminar. We will provide advice and resources to help you prepare and deliver a scientific presentation. There will be two rounds of presentations. In the first round, the students will present a paper and receive detailed feedback from all participants. The primary evaluation will be done in the second round of presentations. At the end of the semester, students would be required to submit a short 1-2 page summary of the paper they have presented.

More details - https://cms.cispa.saarland/wms_2324/

Requirements: Knowledge of Digital Signal Processing, Wireless Communication, and Embedded Systems will be helpful.

Places: 12

Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten im Bereich digitaler und analoger Spiele und darüber hinaus by Pascal Lessel and Antonio Krüger

Das Ziel dieses Proseminars ist es, ihre Fähigkeiten in den Bereichen „Kreativität“, „Recherche“, „Präsentation“, und „Wissenschaftliches Schreiben“ zu trainieren. Diese Fähigkeiten werden Sie während des Studiums immer wieder einsetzen müssen, insbesondere im Kontext Ihrer Abschlussarbeit, so dass die Methoden, die Sie in diesem Proseminar erlernen und anwenden eine wertvolle Ergänzung für Ihr Studium darstellen.

Dabei werden wir uns in diesem Proseminar im Bereich der digitalen und analogen Spieleforschung bewegen und die Fähigkeiten in diesem Kontext trainieren. Dadurch werden Sie zusätzlich einen Einblick in konkrete Forschungsgegenstände und -methoden aus diesem Bereich erhalten.

Für mehr Details (z. B. Aufgaben während des Semesters, …) können Sie sich die folgende Webseite anschauen: https://umtl.cs.uni-saarland.de/teaching/winter-2023/2024/proseminar-wissenschaftliches-arbeiten-im-bereich-digitaler-und-analoger-spiele-und-dar%C3%BCber-hinaus.html

Wenn Sie dieser Veranstaltung eine Priorität geben, beantworten Sie bitte unbedingt die folgende Frage im Feld „Motivation“: Wie charakterisieren Sie sich als Spieler*in und warum sind Sie an diesem Proseminar interessiert? Nennen Sie ihre 3 Lieblingsspiele (egal ob analog oder digital).

Hinweis: Die Veranstaltung findet in deutscher Sprache statt.

Requirements: Das Proseminar hat keinen fachlichen Voraussetzungen. Jedoch sollten Sie dieser Veranstaltung nur dann eine Priorität geben, wenn Sie bereit sind im Semester wöchentlich dafür Aufwand zu investieren und Interesse an interaktiven wöchentlichen Terminen zu haben. Außerdem bitten wir Sie darum bei jedem Termin ein Laptop o. Ä. mitzubringen, um die interaktiven Aufgaben auch ausführen zu können (ein Smartphone ist dafür unzureichend).

Places: 8