CS 886: Recent Advances on Foundation Models

5 min read Original article ↗

Winter 2024

People

  • Instructor:
    • Dr. Wenhu Chen, (wenhuchen [at] uwaterloo [dot] ca)
  • TAs:
    • Cong Wei (cong.wei [at] uwaterloo [dot] ca)

Timetable

Lectures will take place once per week as follows

  • Davis Center 2585 every Wednesday from 12:00 PM - 2:50 PM
  • Session 1: 12:00PM - 1:20PM on Wednesday
  • Session 2: 1:30PM - 2:50PM on Wednesday
  • The Jan 10th will be instructed by me. The following lectures will be student presentation and project

Deliverables

  • [1] In-class Presentation. Two students will pair up to (1) create slides, (2) co-present it to the class, (3) leading the discussion period. The presentation is 80 minutes.
  • [2] Reading Notes. Student needs to submit one reading note regarding the recent papers of their interest. The paper could be anything in the area of deep learning and foundation models.
  • [3] Course Project. The group size is up to 2. The student needs to submit a high-quality 8-page report plus a final in-class presentation.
  • Submit presentation material & reading notes & project to LEARN .

Assessment

  • [1] In-class Presentation: 40%. [First submission deadline on Feb 7th. The second deadline on April 1st.]
  • [2] Reading Notes: 10%. [deadline on April 1st.]
  • [3] Course project: 50%. [1-page proposal deadline on Feb 28st. 8-page final report deadline on April 10th.]

Communication

  • All communication should take place using the Piazza discussion board.
  • We do not upload materials or assignments to Piazza, instead, these materials will appear on LEARN
  • Sign up for Piazza (if you're not already) here.
  • Public Piazza posts (can be anonymous) are the preferred method for questions about course material, etc. Students can then help each other and instructors can read/reply.
  • Private Piazza posts (to instructors only) can be used for any posts that contain solution snippets or private questions.
  • Only in exceptional cases where you need to contact only the instructor should you use the personal email above.

Project

  • The project needs to be related to foundation models like text or vision or multimodal models.
  • The project needs to contain the following sections: introduction, problem definition, algorithm design, experiments, evaluation, conclusion.
  • Please use Latex template as a template to write the final report.
  • Please make sure the code are not copied from public repository. Any violation will be seen as plagiarism with serious consequences.

University of Waterloo Academic Integrity Policy

The University of Waterloo Senate Undergraduate Council has also approved the following message outlining University of Waterloo policy on academic integrity and associated policies.

Academic Integrity

In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. Check the Office of Academic Integrity's website for more information. All members of the UW community are expected to hold to the highest standard of academic integrity in their studies, teaching, and research. This site explains why academic integrity is important and how students can avoid academic misconduct. It also identifies resources available on campus for students and faculty to help achieve academic integrity in, and our, of the classroom.

Grievance

A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt please be certain to contact the department's administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Discipline

A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offenses, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offense, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offenses (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71-Student Discipline. For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.

Avoiding Academic Offenses

Most students are unaware of the line between acceptable and unacceptable academic behaviour, especially when discussing assignments with classmates and using the work of other students. For information on commonly misunderstood academic offenses and how to avoid them, students should refer to the Faculty of Mathematics Cheating and Student Academic Discipline Policy.

Appeals

A decision made or a penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72 - Student Appeals.

Note for students with disabilities

The AccessAbility Services Office (AAS), located in Needles Hall, Room 1401, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the AAS at the beginning of each academic term.