REGISTRATION: Please register in TISS before the introductory meeting. The literature list will serve as the official seminar registration, and you will receive a grade for the seminar at the end. Register in TUWEL (note that the TUWEL course includes both bachelor and master seminars).

INTRODUCTORY MEETING: This will be held on Thursday, October 1st, 2026, at 11:00 (s.t.) in the Seminarraum FAV 05 (Seminarraum 186).
Slides from the initial meeting will be available here after the meeting: .

COMMUNICATION: Updates and announcements are posted in the announcements forum of the TUWEL course. For urgent issues, please email the organizer (Stefan Ohrhallinger).

General information

Goal:

This seminar aims to deepen the skills acquired in the bachelor seminar on writing, reviewing, and presenting a state-of-the-art report on a specific topic. A member of the teaching staff will guide students in acquiring the scientific material and in writing the report. The students are also expected to present their work to their peers.

Tasks for the students:

Teaching staff will evaluate and grade students based on the following output:

• An initial list of literature that a student intends to review. This document will be considered the official seminar registration for the student.
• Attendance at the lectures "Forschung und wie sie funktioniert" by Professor Eduard Gröller, "Wie halte ich einen Vortrag" by Professor Hannes Kaufmann, and "Wie schreibt man eine wissenschaftliche Arbeit" by Professor Michael Wimmer. You can request a waiver if you have already attended one of these talks (e.g., in another seminar).
• A written state-of-the-art report in the form of a scientific paper. We strongly encourage the reports to be written in LaTeX (e.g., using Overleaf). The report must be at least 5 pages long, excluding references and figures. The report has to be written in English. See
  State of the Art in Surface Reconstruction from Point Clouds by Berger at al.
  A Survey on Transit Map Layout –from Design, Machine, and Human Perspectives by Wu et al.
  as examples.
• A written review of one of the surveys of another student.
• A presentation in English of 10 minutes, followed by a discussion of 5 minutes.
• Active participation in the discussion is expected after each student's presentation, and this also counts toward your final grade. 

Important Dates:

• 01.10.2026: Introductory meeting at 11:00 - 12:00 at Seminarraum FAV 05 (Seminarraum 186), where the topics will be presented.
• 04.10.2026: Submit topic preferences (and confirm your enrolment) on TUWEL.
• 26.10.2026: Submit the list of literature on TUWEL.
• Attend the following lectures:
  • 27.10.2026 15:00 - 17:00: "Science and how it works", by Prof. Eduard Gröller at Seminarraum FAV 05 (Seminarraum 186).
  • Recording "How to write a scientific publication", by Prof. Michael Wimmer.
  • Recording: "How to do a presentation", by Prof. Hannes Kaufmann.
• 07.12.2026: Submit the midterm report (a full 3 pages excluding references and figures).
• 09.12.2026: Receive a review form and a report from another student. (Practical Tips and Tricks for Paper Writing is helpful for identifying the quality of the report.)
• 21.12.2026: Submit the completed review on TUWEL.
• 22.12.2026: Receive two reviews (one from your supervisor and one from another student). Use the information provided in the reviews to update your report accordingly and extend it from 3 to 5 pages by adding detailed descriptions of the papers.
• 19.01.2027 12:00 - 17:00: Presentations (Group 1): Presentations will be held. Attendance is mandatory, and active participation grants you points. The presentations will be held at Seminarraum FAV 05 (Seminarraum 186).
• 26.01.2027 12:00 - 17:00: Presentations (Group 2): Presentations will be held. Attendance is mandatory, and active participation grants you points. The presentations will be held at Seminarraum FAV 05 (Seminarraum 186).
• 26.01.2027: Submit your final report (a full 5 pages excluding references and figures) on TUWEL.

The deadlines are strict, and no exceptions will be made.

Grading Criteria:

• The quality of the draft report is worth 15% of the grade
• The quality of the written report is worth 30% of the grade
• The quality of the talk is worth 30% of the grade
• The quality of the review is worth 15% of the grade
• Active discussion participation is worth 5% of the grade
• Attendance during the lectures is worth 5% of the grade

Plagiarism:

Students are expected to abide by professional scientific ethics and ensure that the work does not plagiarize other works (or AI-generated text). For further information about referencing, see this guide and our guidelines. Plagiarism is a serious offense and is not tolerated!