In this seminar, we will study uncertainty in the context of reasoning, planning, and scheduling. For reasoning about actions, we will look into stochastic extensions of the Situation Calculus, a well-known formalism for reasoning about dynamic domains. In the classical Situation Calculus, all actions are deterministic. In this seminar, we will learn about extensions that allow non-deterministic and probabilistic actions. For planning, we will investigate probabilistic extensions to classical planning frameworks such as the Planning Domain Definition Language (PDDL) and compare them to Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). For scheduling, we will learn about mechanisms for solving scheduling problems with probabilistic task durations.
Participation
Students of Bachelor and Master programs can participate in this seminar. For Master Informatik students, the seminar belongs to the fields Data and Information Management. Certain topics may also be suitable for the field Theoretical Computer Science, please contact us beforehand. For Master Software Systems Engineering (SSE) students, it belongs to the fields Theoretical Foundations of SSE and Data and Information Management.
Places are allocated centrally from 19.01.2018 until 02.02.2018. In your application please clearly indicate your prior knowledge of the subject (see the requirements section). We won’t be able to consider your application otherwise. The number of available slots is limited.
Requirements
Knowledge of the fundamental concepts of Artificial Intelligence is strongly recommended, an understanding of knowledge representation and logic will be helpful. Relevant courses include Introduction into Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Representation, and Mathematical Logic.
Additional information
Introductory Meeting
- The introductory meeting will take place in the beginning of the semester, the exact date will be announced. Participation is compulsory.
Seminar Procedure
- Besides writing your own term paper, you are asked to review other students’ term papers. We will use a conference management system (e.g., EasyChair) for this procedure. It will involve strict deadlines. Meeting these deadlines is mandatory. At the end of the seminar each student needs to give a talk on his topic in front of the other students and members of our group. Attendance of these talks and participation in the discussions is mandatory.
Seminar Date
- The seminar will be held as a block seminar on two or three days, likely during the semester break.
Typesetting
- You may use this LaTeX template for your term paper.
General Info
- Please read and understand our general information and suggestions on seminars!
Library Tour
- The Computer Science Library offers guided tours on how to find literature in the library and how to prepare a seminar. Interested students should enlist for a tour in the preliminary discussion.
Topics with Abstracts
Example Ranking
Introductury Meeting slides