Seminars - Proseminar Assignment Winter 2025

The central registration for all computer science proseminars will open on Sep 5th.

This system is used to distribute students among the available seminars offered by the CS department. To register for any of the seminars, you have to register here until Oct 14th, 23:59 CET. You can select which seminar you would like to take, and will then be automatically assigned to one of them on Oct 17th.

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 seminars are more popular than others, yet these seminars cannot fit all students. Please only select seminars if you are certain that you actually do want to complete a seminar this semester. If you have already obtained sufficient seminar credits, or plan to take other courses this semester, please do not choose any seminars. Students who drop out of seminars take away places from those, who might urgently need a space or are strongly interested in the topic. We encourage those students who wish to take a seminar this semester, to select their preferences for all available seminars, which eases the process to assign students that do not fit the overly popular seminars to another, less crowded one. So if you are serious about taking a seminar this semester, please select at least three seminars (with priority from "High" to "Low"). If you urgently need to be assigned to a seminar in the upcoming semester, choose at least five seminars (with priority from "High" to "Low"). The system will then prioritize you for assigning a seminar (yet not necessarily one of your choice). If you are really dedicated to one particular seminar, and you do not want any other seminar, please select the "No seminar" as second and third positive option. However, this may ultimately lead to the situation that you are not assigned to any seminar. Also, choosing "No seminar" as second/third option does not increase your chances of getting your first choice. The assignment will be performed by a constraint solver on Oct 16th, 2025. You will be added to the respective seminars automatically and be notified about this shortly thereafter. Please note that the assignment cannot be optimal for all students if you drop the assigned seminar, i.e., make only serious choices to avoid penalty to others.

Proseminars

Deep Generative Models by Xiao Zhang

Generative models have been adopted in many AI/ML applications, such as computer vision, natural language processing, and scientific discovery. Recent advances in parametrizing these models using deep neural networks and training them using stochastic optimization methods have enabled scalable modeling of complex, high-dimensional data. In this proseminar, we will look into foundational frameworks and research frontiers of deep generative models. We will cover topics such as variational autoencoders, generative adversarial nets, diffusion models, flow-based models, and autoregressive models.

Each student will be assigned a topic and will present two papers related to the topic. Each presentation will be followed by a group discussion about the presented content, where you will receive constructive feedback on how to improve after the first presentation. Your final grade will be largely decided by your performance on the second presentation. At the end of the semester, each student will hand in a short two-page summary of the presented topic.

More detailed information about the proseminar will be available later on CISPA CMS: https://cms.cispa.saarland/system/courses.

Requirements: The required language for the presentations is English. There are no formal requirements for this proseminar, but having taken graduate-level machine learning or optimization courses will be helpful. You are particularly welcome to the course if you are interested in doing research on deep generative models.

Places: 10

Distributed Algorithms for Optimization Problems by Sebastian Brandt

In this proseminar we will take a look into the world of optimization problems from the perspective of distributed algorithms. In an optimization problem, the task is to find an optimal solution (according to some criterion) among a set of feasible solutions. Both in the centralized and the distributed world, optimization problems are often difficult to solve exactly, which is why many algorithms aim for a (not necessarily optimal) solution that at least approximates the optimal solution well in some manner.

The main focus of this proseminar will lie on such approximation algorithms for central optimization problems on graphs, such as minimum dominating set or maximum independent set. The main model of computation we will consider is the standard LOCAL model of distributed computation. Note that this is a theory proseminar, i.e., we will focus on algorithm analysis, lower bound proofs, and the like.

Each student will be assigned one or two papers, and has to present the assigned paper(s) twice. The first presentation is followed by a group discussion about the presented content as well as a feedback round where suggestions for improvements are made. The second presentation will be given at a later stage and is the part of the proseminar that is mainly responsible for your grade.

The required language for the presentations is English. More information will appear on the proseminar webpage (https://cms.cispa.saarland/daop2526), when available.

The default weekly slot for the proseminar will be Wednesday, 16:00 - 18:00. The kick-off meeting will take place on Oct 22, 16:00 - 18:00. Please check whether the weekly slot fixed for the proseminar works for you. It might be possible to change the dates later if everyone involved agrees, but we cannot guarantee that.

Requirements: There are no formal requirements for this proseminar, but a general interest in graph theory and designing/analyzing algorithms as well as a basic understanding of probabilities and algorithmic analysis (e.g., O-notation) will be helpful.

Places: 10

Formalizing Mathematics in LEAN by Leon Pernak

L∃∀N ("lean") is a modern theorem prover and functional programming language that allows
mathematicians to write formal proofs with computer verification. It is increasingly used in
the mathematical community, where the applications range from verifying high-level research
mathematics like the Liquid Tensor Project to experimenting with how far AI can take us in
writing mathematical proofs.
The seminar will give a gentle introduction to the L∃∀N theorem prover, learning its syntax,
concepts, and how to use it to formalize your own proofs. Participants will spend the majority
of time working at their own speed on exercises that teach the language, adjusted to their
mathematical background. The goal (and graded coursework) will be the formalization of some
mathematics (or other type of theory) of each participant's choosing.
Further info on CMS: https://cms.sic.saarland/fml/

Requirements: Neither mathematical background nor programming experience is required to participate in the
seminar, and students new to both mathematics and computer science are very much encouraged
to participate, but more experienced students in either topic can also be sure to find challenges
at their level.

Places: 20

Hardware Security by Jan Reineke

Spectre, Meltdown, and other microarchitectural attacks have been in the limelight in recent years. These attacks exploit subtle timing and behavioral differences of processors that are caused by microarchitectural optimizations such as caches and speculative execution to gain access to secret information.

How can we build systems that do not suffer from such vulnerabilities? Different communities have contributed related but distinct approaches to this question. In this course we will study work from two communities:
1) Hardware information-flow tracking (IFT) determines how information propagates through hardware. It can be used to analyze a microarchitecture's information flows both dynamically and statically. We will study recent advances that make IFT applicable to modern processors.
2) Hardware-software contracts capture potential information leakage due to microarchitectural side channels at the software level, enabling secure programming, e.g. of cryptographic algorithms, in a rigorous manner. We will study recent work to test and verify hardware-software contracts.

For more details get in touch with Jan Reineke (reineke@cs.uni-saarland.de) or consult the seminar page: https://cms.sic.saarland/securehardware2526

Requirements: Basic knowledge of computer architecture (e.g. due to System Architecture) is required. Knowledge of security and formal methods is a plus, but not required.

Places: 3

How We Know What We Know: Research Methods in Computer Science by Sven Apel, Kallistos Weis, Marvin Wyrich

Computer science research has uncovered a wealth of knowledge on algorithms, systems, tools, models, people, etc. Across a variety of subfields researchers draw on a wide range of methods: benchmarking and randomized experiments; measurement studies and simulations; surveys, interviews, and field observations; structured literature reviews; and more. Each method has distinct strengths, limitations, and validity threats, and understanding when and how to use them is essential for conducting meaningful research.

In this seminar, you will focus on one specific research method assigned to you at the start. You will identify three peer-reviewed, scientific papers that use this method, compare them in terms of research questions, study design, operationalization, analysis, and threats to validity, and synthesize what the method enables (and where it falls short). Your seminar paper will (i) introduce the method, (ii) provide a comparative analysis of the selected studies, and (iii) offer a critical assessment of the method’s potential and pitfalls in computer science research. You will also present your results to the group, acting as the in-class expert on your method.

Requirements: Open to motivated Bachelor and Master students. Prior knowledge of research methods is not required.

Places: 8

Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion im Sport - Grundlagen und Stand der Forschung by Dr. Felix Kosmalla, Dr. André Zenner, Prof. Dr. Antonio Krüger

In diesem Proseminar werden die theoretischen Grundlagen von Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion im Sport (SportsHCI) vermittelt. Hierbei betrachten wir die Nutzung von Technologie im Sport durch verschiedene Stakeholder (Sportler*innen, Trainer*innen, Zuschauer*innen) mit einem Fokus auf dem aktuellen Stand der Forschung. Weiterhin werden Kompetenzen zum wissenschaftlichen Denken und Präsentieren vermittelt.

Im Rahmen des Proseminars werden Teilnehmende jeweils drei Vorträge (1x unbenotet, 2x benotet) halten, eine schriftliche Ausarbeitung anfertigen (benotet), und einmal als Moderator fungieren (unbenotet). Die Zuordnung zu den Themen erfolgt basierend auf den Präferenzen der Teilnehmenden.

Sprache des Proseminars ist Deutsch. Vorträge und schriftliche Abgaben können auf Deutsch oder Englisch gehalten bzw. abgegeben werden.

Weitere Infos hier
https://umtl.cs.uni-saarland.de/teaching/winter-2025/2026/mensch-maschine-interaktion-im-sport-grundlagen-und-stand-der-forschung.html

Places: 12

Modern Minimal Perfect Hashing: A Survey by Sven Rahmann, Johanna Elena Schmitz, Jens Zentgraf

We will discuss different approaches of hashing described in "Modern Minimal Perfect Hashing: A Survey".

Given a set S of n keys, a perfect hash function for S maps the keys in S to the first m≥n integers without collisions. It may return an arbitrary result for any key not in S and is called minimal if m=n. The most important parameters are its space consumption, construction time, and query time. Years of research now enable modern perfect hash functions to be extremely fast to query, very space-efficient, and scale to billions of keys. Different approaches give different trade-offs between these aspects. For example, the smallest constructions get within 0.1% of the space lower bound of log2(e) bits per key. Others are particularly fast to query, requiring only one memory access. Perfect hashing has many applications, for example to avoid collision resolution in static hash tables, and is used in databases, bioinformatics, and stringology.
Since the last comprehensive survey in 1997, significant progress has been made. This survey covers the latest developments and provides a starting point for getting familiar with the topic. Additionally, our extensive experimental evaluation can serve as a guide to select a perfect hash function for use in applications.

The paper can be found here: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.06536

Requirements: You should have a basic knowledge of hashing and familiar topics. Also a big interest in algorithms, data structures and mathematical analysis is required.

Places: 8

Optimal Control by Martina Maggio

Optimal control is a powerful framework for making decisions over time in dynamic systems, where the aim is to find a control policy that optimizes a given objective function subject to system dynamics and constraints. It has deep roots in both engineering and economics, and provides the foundation for modern approaches in robotics, finance, and reinforcement learning. At its core, optimal control blends mathematical rigor with computational techniques to produce policies that balance immediate and future rewards while respecting the underlying system dynamics.
In this seminar, we will study optimal control through the lens of Optimal Control: Linear Quadratic Methods, a classic text that develops the linear-quadratic framework in detail. Alongside discussing key results from the book, we will also examine recent literature that extends these methods to more complex and modern settings. To complement the theory, we will implement and code up several of the algorithms covered, allowing us to bridge the gap between abstract concepts and practical applications.

Requirements: Cyber-physical systems

Places: 10

Virtual Reality - Grundlagen und Stand der Forschung by Dr. André Zenner, Dr. Felix Kosmalla, Prof. Dr. Antonio Krüger

In diesem Proseminar werden die theoretischen Grundlagen von virtueller Realität (VR), der aktuelle Stand der Forschung, sowie Kompetenzen zum wissenschaftlichen Denken und Präsentieren vermittelt. Das Proseminar basiert dabei auf dem Buch „The VR Book“ von Jason Jerald.

Sprache des Proseminars ist Deutsch. Vorträge und schriftliche Abgaben können auf Deutsch oder Englisch gehalten bzw. abgegeben werden.

Weitere Infos hier:
https://umtl.cs.uni-saarland.de/teaching/winter-2025/2026/proseminar-virtual-reality-grundlagen-und-stand-der-forschung.html

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.

Places: 12