Nyhetsflöde

The project suggestion with title "web document classification" is empty. We are curious about the subject and would be grateful if you could fill in the blanks.

Actually, I was going to take it away. However, if there is interest than you are more than welcome to suggest a more specific formulation. This project can be addressed in a number of different ways.

Hi, did you say during the lecture that there were going to be more projects added later? If so, when will they be posted and will they be clearly marked as new?

Hi again, is it possible to get an answer today so we can work on it during the weekend?

Hi, unfortunately I have not received any more project suggestions so we will have to stick to the current list. Anyway, I still think the list is rather extensive. I will allocate projects and supervisors to students once I receive all students' preferences but not later than on the 28th (according to the schedule). These students who have already expressed their preferences are very likely to be assigned to their top priority project, which implies that you can start your literature search already now.

Does that mean that you are using a first-come-first-serve basis for choosing which groups gets which project?

That is not okay, we waited assuming that there would be more projects. So now we will maybe not get what we wanted, only because someone else didn't bother to wait to hear from you?

First come first serve is not the right way to do this. It is incredibly unfair.

I must agree with Angelina on this matter.

Especially since some people had to spend time finding a partner or(which was my case) wait for their partner to be registered on the course.

My group was also waiting for more projects since it was unclear if there would be more (even though we already looked over the projects and made our choice).

I'm confused. I don't remember that it was said that it was first-come-first-serve principle regarding the project choice, and when I look at the slides it just says that the deadline is the 26th of January.
If I'm right about this then this is an unfair distribute of projects.

Dear students

The deadline is the 26th of January and this the fact. It was mentioned in passing indeed that if the distribution of your project preferences was highly non-uniform with just a couple of project ideas dominating over the rest, we might have to give a priority to those who declared their will first. I do not quite see what would be a "fair" alternative except maybe a random scheme. I may resort to that if needed. So far however I have not seen a problem with the distribution. I suggest then preparing your list of preferred projects and emailing it to my course address: dd143x.pawel@gmail.com ASAP. I asked you very clearly to use this address, and not my nominal kth e-mail.

Thank you in advance, Pawel

I don't see how first come first serve isn't fair. The students who prepared in advanced and had a project they really want it might get it rather than someone who ended up choosing something random at the end.

Also if I understand Pawel correctly MULTIPLE people can have the same project so we aren't even sure there are going to be any collisions.

Thirdly, Pawel never said how the selection was going to work and everyone were told at the same time that it was first come first serve.

"This is disadvantageous to me" is not the same thing as "This is unfair"

Okay, but here is the situation: we were informed that more suggestions would be uploaded later. That the deadline was on a certain date. Now, some of us that thought we could wait without loosing anything, possible even gaining something if more interesting suggestions were presented. We were never told "you better hurry". Also, I don't doubt that there were people who missed the "more suggestions later" talk, and just sent their preferences in. They might not "really want" the projects they listed, they might just like them slightly more than the others. Not listening to the teacher was the best option in this situation, and that is not a good lesson to teach. A lot of us prepared early but waited, hoping for something good.

What is unfair isn't necessarily first come first serve. What is unfair is making us wait and then, way to late, telling us that it is first come first serve.  Also, posting a comment on a website is not telling everyone at the same time. Most of us don't sit and refresh social every hour. As you can see on the comments, a lot of people noticed it days later.

Dear students

cc: Angelina

Ad.1) There are already a plethrora of choices to make. To be very specific, I said that we were expecting even more projects to show up. However, since it does not depend on me there was a possibility that you would have to choose from the existing projects.

Ad.2) I am not sure what you mean by "hoping for something good". This implies that the current selection of projects is not good enough - I am not sure you really wanted to say that.

Ad.3) I have already mentioned that if necessary I will randomize the allocation for the most wanted projects (I have also informed you that this problem does not exist for the time being) since not all of you seem to have realized that there is an alternative approach.

Ad.4) It is possible to set up your KTH Social communication to ensure that you have an email notification about new posts concerning the courses that you should rather be interested in. I heartily recommend using it, otherwise I would not have been made aware of your messages.

Still, as I mentioned before and would like to empghasise here, the most relevant information will be regularly updated under "Aktuell information".

Ad.5) All in all, please do not percevie this course through the prism of competition. Please, do not concentrate on "the others" and imply what others potentialy wish to work on. I warmly suggest that you focus on your preferences and the project of your choice. If you get allocated a project option that you do not fancy for some reason, we will fix it then - let's not cross the bridges before we come to them.

Finally, could you please read the instructions carefully and send your emails with preferences on the following email addresss: dd143x.pawel@gmail.com. Thank you in advance.

Best regards

Pawel