Final project

The final project is an important part of this graduate course. Students will work on a semester-long, novel research project on computer system security in teams of two. Topics are not limited to those covered in the course. Individual projects are also acceptable as long as it is an ongoing research project AND has a component that is related to coputer system security. As a stretch goal, you might aim to continue your research project at the end of the semester and publish it.

There will be multiple intermediate deliverables to ensure that the project is on track. Please use LaTeX for all writeups, and follow the USENIX format.

• Project pre-proposal (due week of 02/03): Students should choose a relevant topic and schedule a 15-minute meeting with the course instructor the week of 02/03.
• Literature review (due 02/21): Students will conduct a literature review on their research topic. The literature review will include relevant research papers (old and new), and should be no more than 2 pages.
• Project proposal (due 03/10): The writeup should clearly dictate the problem to be addressed, the technical approach, and an evaluation plan. The proposal should be no more than 3 pages (references unlimited).
• Project check-in (due week of 03/31): instructor meetings with groups to discuss current research progress and resovle issues
• Project presentations (due 04/23): Poster session
• Project write-up (due 04/30): a 6-page writeup (references unlimited). Format:
  • Abstract & introduction (motivate the problem): no more than 1 page
  • Technical design, approach
  • Evaluation
  • Related work (no more than half a page)
  • References (not counted towards the 6 pages)