1. Presentation (50%):

Once during the semester, you will give an oral presentation focusing on one of the assigned research papers. You will have up to 30 minutes to present, followed by 15 minutes of Q&A and discussion. Your presentation should provide background context accessible to a BSc-level audience, a high-level technical overview of the paper, and an assessment of its contributions and safety implications.

Presenter responsibilities:

1. Prepare your presentation. You should submit an annotated bibliography listing the references consulted and a capsule summary of the important concept associated with each. Use a proper and consistent format for bibliographic entries. This should be appended as part of the presentation slides.

2. Submit your final slides by 9 am the day of your presentation by emailing them to fmai@bit.uni-bonn.de. Please include both the source files (PowerPoint, Google Slides, Latex etc.) and PDF format.

3. Present your topic in person!

Presence requirements:

You are required to attend at least 8 out of 11 sessions. In-person attendance is mandatory.

2. Final Essay (50%):

You are assigned to write a five-page essay structured as a master thesis proposal on a topic related to the seminar. You are encouraged to pursue a topic connected to your presentation paper and to build on the discussions from your presentation session. The proposal should contain the following elements:

   • Motivation and problem statement: Clearly define the research question you aim to address and argue why it is important in the context of AI safety.

    • Literature review: Survey the relevant prior work, identify gaps in the existing literature, and position your proposed contribution relative to the state of the art.

    • Proposed approach: Describe the methodology you would use to address the research question. This should be concrete enough that a reader could understand what you plan to build or investigate.

    • Experimental plan: Outline the experiments you would conduct, including datasets, baselines, evaluation metrics, and expected outcomes.

    • Timeline and milestones: Provide a realistic work plan for a six-month master thesis.

You will develop the essay throughout the semester. The goal is to produce a proposal of sufficient quality that it could serve as the starting point for an actual master thesis.

Deadlines:

• Block your presentation slot until: <TBD – information provided in the first session on April 15th>
• Hand in your essay until: 09 August 2026

Submission: Presentation and Final Essay should be submitted via eCampus. Further instructions will be announced soon.