Description
1 Introduction
The project will be carried out in groups of maximum three students. If someone prefers to work alone or cannot
find a group, we can allow individual projects. However, we encourage everyone to work in a group.
Your topic can be chosen from the list of potential research topics in the Appendix. Some suggested reading
has been provided in the references section for your convenience. Other topics may also be suitable. Please
consult your tutors if you wish to select an alternative topic.
The university library1 provides free access to a wide range of scholarly publications. You are encouraged
to search for recent journal and conference articles on the listed topics. You can also use the textbook and the
lectures as a starting point. Otherwise, you may also want to search for scholarly material via Google Scholar.
The term paper project contributes 35% of your total mark in the subject. The project involves two parts;
the first part is a recorded presentation and the second part is a written report. Part 1 (the presentation) is
worth 10% of your total mark and Part 2 (the written report) is worth 25% of your total mark for the subject.
2 Research Report
2.1 Part 0: Project Proposal
Each group will first need to decide a topic that you wish to work on, and write a brief proposal. A project proposal
should include at a minimum a background section with cited references, team members and an introduction /
motivation section. The proposal should not exceed two pages.
2.2 Part 1: Presentation of Video Recording
Each group will prepare a video recording of 8-10 minutes with companion presentation slides on their topic
during Week 10 of Semester 2 2020 (the week starting Monday 12th October 2020). Details of exact presentation
time during that week will appear later. Students should gain a reasonable understanding of the topic and be able
to answer questions from their classmates after playing the video recording. An electronic version of the video
recording must be accessible publicly. A URL to fetch the media content must be submitted at the designated
submission area on LMS (details appear later) by 06:00 AEDT Monday 12th October 2020.
2.3 Part 2: Written Report
Students must also submit a written report on the topic. The size of the report depends on the number of
students in the group.
• Individual projects: 2400 words
• Group of Two: 2800 words
• Group of Three: 3200 words
Word count excludes references and diagrams. The written report should be in the form of a research paper.
You are encouraged to author your reports and presentations in LaTeX, though it’s not a must. If you have
selected a topic from the literature track, the work is expected to present some insight that is not publicly
accessible with ease. Otherwise, if you have selected a topic from the experiment track, the report should present
insightful evaluations as to what has been investigated in the experiment. The work should be scholarly.
You should acknowledge any suitable reference you utilized to prepare the term paper. You are also required
to include a conclusion section about your evaluation and critique of the topic. The originality of thought in the
analysis and narration will receive a higher weightage while marking using the marking criteria mentioned below.
The report is due by 23:59 AEDT – Saturday 31st October 2020 and should be uploaded to the Assignments
> Research Project section of the COMP90043 LMS. Only the group leader should submit the report and
(optionally) project artifacts. Submission of project artifacts is not necessarily for groups on the literature track
1https://library.unimelb.edu.au/
1
and optional for groups on the experimental track. Late submission will be possible but will attract late penalties,
unless under special circumstances.
Note: It is not necessary to complete the written report at the time of the presentation. However, you need
to present the main aims of your research, the general methodology adopted for the work, and the planned
references for the report. You can continue to improve the report after the presentation using the feedback from
the teaching team as well as from your group’s self-reflection.
3 Timeline for Research Report Project
No. Activities Due Dates
1 Group Registration September 6, 2020 (23:59 AEST)
2 Project Proposal Submission September 13, 2020 (23:59 AEST)
3 Submission of recorded presentation October 12, 2020 (6:00 AEDT)
4 Submission of written research report October 31, 2020 (23:59 AEDT)
4 Marking Criteria
Part 1: Presentation (10 marks)
Coverage of the Major Themes within the Topic 40%
Clarity of Presentation 20%
Presentation of Technical Details 20%
Use of Accessible Examples 10%
Critical evaluation 10%
Part 2: Written Report (25 marks)
Format and Structure 10%
Quality of Sources Cited 20%
Coverage of the Topic 20%
Critical evaluation 30%
Presentation of the Technical Details 20%
4.1 Mark Allocation in Groups
All members of a group will get the same mark on the project, and all members must contribute to both the
presentation and the written report. If a member does not contribute to a part of the project, then that member
will get no marks allocated for that particular part. The first page of the report should have a short reflective
statement by each member explaining his/her contribution (about half a page per person). The project proposal
should outline the expected contribution of each group member. If you have any concerns about the contribution
of group members not being equal, please discuss this with the teaching team.
5 Administration
5.1 Getting Help
If you have any questions, the LMS discussion board will be a useful resource in resolving any issues. If your
concern is a personal matter, then you should email the subject coordinator.
Any answers posted by the subject coordinator on the LMS discussion board will be considered as part of
the project specification. In addition, please keep an eye out for any LMS announcements for any changes made
to the project specification.
5.2 Academic Honesty
Turnitin will be used as a deterrent against academic dishonesty. The report should consist of your original work.
All citations should be made in an academically recognised style, which should be used consistently throughout
the report. Direct quotes should be minimal, and should be clearly highlighted by the use of quotation marks
and also cited properly. If you reproduce any diagrams, they should be clearly acknowledged.
Plagiarism and collusion constitutes cheating. Disciplinary action will be taken against students who engage
in plagiarism and collusion in accordance with university statute 13.1.18. For examples and more information
on what constitutes plagiarism and collusion, please visit http://academichonesty.unimelb.edu.au.
2
5.3 Grievances
In the event that your group arrangements does not work out as planned or some member(s) in your group has not
contributed at all, you should raise this immediately with the head tutor Lianglu (lianglu.pan@unimelb.edu.au).
It is imperative that you understand that not much can be done when the grievances are raised towards the
project deadline.
5.4 Group Registration
The group registration is available on the LMS. It’s under People section and then Groups.
If you failed to register yourself into a group, you may be placed into an empty group and will work on your own.
You may register for a group once you have all your group membership confirmed. We will lock the group
registration after the registration due date, but you can freely switch between groups before that.
5.5 Report Submission
The deadline for the final report submission is as specified at the start of this project document.
The report must be submitted as a PDF file on the LMS. A cover sheet which includes names of all group
members should be included in the first page. The report is to be formatted on A4 sized paper in 10 pt text,
with 1.5 line spacing and a minimum 3.8 cm margins on the left and right sides. The content you write should
be present in the PDF file in the form of text, rather than as screenshots and/or images of the text you wrote.
Links and exact submission instructions will be posted to the LMS.
5.6 Errata
Any updates to this specification sheet will be recorded here – if necessary.
3
A Literature Track
Cryptography
Stream Cipher
Block Cipher
Cryptographic Commitment Schemes
Database Encryption
Digital Signature Schemes
Cryptographic Game Theory
Zero-knowledge Proofs
Post-Quantum Cryptography
Security
Security in Mobile Applications
Efficient Key Management Schemes
Security in Operating Systems
Security in IoT
Privacy through Cryptography
Email Encryption
Secure End-to-end Messaging Protocols (i.e. Signal Protocol)
Privacy-Preserving Frequent Itemset Query over Encrypted Database
Other topics are welcome, so as long as they fall under one of the 3 domain headings.
B Experimental Track
Fast Prime Factorisation
Digital Signature Scheme Evaluation
Cipher Suite Evaluation
Proof-of-* Implementations
Simulated Security Exploits (Network, Systems)
4