Grading scheme

• 20% = Class attendance and participation (weeks pro rata)
• 20% = First report (written and presented)
• 20% = Second report (written and presented)
• 40% = Final exam paper (written paper in the exams session)

Minimal grades:

• A minimal grade of 5 at the final exam and a minimal grade average of 5 are required to pass the course.
• Any evaluation of the submitted materials is done during the examination session.

Rules relevance:

• All rules are equally valid for all students.
• There are no exceptions to these rules.

Grade penalties

Complying with the requirements

• Failure to comply with the requirements leads to rejection of the report.

Penalties apply for delays

• Delays in time slot selections.
• Delays in submissions of work.
• Delays in presentations.

• If the time slot is selected after the deadline, the penalty is the number of weeks between the deadline and the selection date.
• If the report is presented after the date (*) originally set , the penalty is the number of weeks between the scheduled date and the presentation date.
• The date may be rescheduled at any time, but the date (*) considered for the above penalty is the last date set before the deadline, or the earliest possible date, if no date was set before the deadline.

On reports submission

• All reports will be submitted via the provided links.
• Multiple submissions are possible, but the last submission before the actual presentation will be considered. Its submission time will be the recorded time. Any other submission will be, of course, ignored.
• The reports not presented according to the schedule may be presented later after all the normally scheduled reports are presented and only with the strict observance of the official schedule.
• No student may have two presentations on the same date.

On reports contents

• The writing, expressing, coverage, and points of view of the presented ideas have to be your own work.
• The burden of proof stays with the writer, not the reader: the text has to confirm beyond any reasonable doubt that the student actually did the experiments s/he is commenting on.
• You cannot submit (parts of) the same work for different reports and/or different disciplines, in order to get different grades. Naturally, different disciplines mean different work.
• There is no exception to the allowed size of the reports.
• All work should be done inside the 14 weeks of the semester. The submission deadlines respect students holidays. Delays past the submission deadlines are offered as a feature, to allow for partial grading.
• Overlap of delays into holidays are, obviously, not an invitation for free extension of said deadlines. Consequently, all delays are penalized based on calendar time.

Grading of the research reports

• Any report will have 4,500-5,000 words and 5-10 references, will be written in Microsoft Word (or Word online) as a DOCX file, formatted as A4, with Times New Roman 12 pt fonts, single line spacing, 2 cm wide margins.
• For the purpose of these reports, you will use Microsoft Word or compatible software. LaTeX and any other tools not leading to a DOCX file are irrelevant. This is not negociable.
• Any report not satisfying these requirements will be rejected.

You will prepare and submit the following:

• the research paper, as one DOCX file
• one page executive summary, as one DOCX file
• the presentation support, as one PDF file

The grading is done as follows:

• 7.0 p = quality of written materials;
• 3.0 p = quality of oral presentation.

The grade is composed by taking into account the following:

• the papers have to represent your own work;
• the title and contents have to match the requirements;
• the papers have to fulfill the requirements of an article:
  • length of 4,500-5,000;
  • suggestive title corresponding to the contents;
  • 10 lines abstract;
  • introductory section, detailing the purpose of the paper;
  • a section integrating the topic of the paper in the general field;
  • a few main sections, according to your topic;
  • concluding remarks section;
  • bibliography of five to 10 titles; the bibliography entries have to be written correctly and completely; all the bibliography items have to be cited in the text;
• the presentation support has to correspond to the written text; any information from the presentation support has to be provided in the report itself;

Examination sessions

Activity outside the semester

• All research reports / software projects are part of the semester activity and have to be submitted inside the 14 weeks period, i.e. by the last Friday of the semester.
• No report or software project can be resubmitted and no activity can be redone for grade increase in the resit session or otherwise.

The regular examination session

• According to academic regulations, two exam dates are set:
  • the first date is set by agreement with the students;
  • the second date is set by the teacher alone.
• The attendance regulations are:
  • the students have to attend the first date;
  • the students may attend the second date at the discretion of the teacher.

The resit session

• According to academic regulations, one exam date is set.
• Only the written exam will be organized. All other activity is semester activity, and not subject to regrading.

© Prof.dr. Horia F. Pop