Prospectus

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Seminar Combinatorial Algorithms

Course
2026-2027

Admission requirements

It is recommended that students have knowledge of algorithms, complexity and data structures (see for example the content of the Algorithmics, Data Structures and Complexity courses in the Leiden BSc programme in Computer Science).

Description

In this seminar, we will discuss recent topics concerning algorithms. Each year an interesting common theme is chosen; see the overview page of previous iterations for an indication of the discussed topics. Students present material from the literature, and write detailed papers (in LaTeX) explaining their lectures.

Course objectives

After this course, students are able to

  • read and understand academic material;

  • summarize and communicate studied material in oral and written form;

  • give and receive peer feedback on oral and written work.

Schedule

The most recent timetable can be found at the Computer Science (MSc) student website.

In MyTimetable; you can find all course and programme schedules; allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.

Additionally; you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone; and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.

Questions? Watch the video; read the instructions; or contact the ISSC helpdesk.

Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.

Teaching method

Weekly seminar-style meetings, in which students present selected material. Attendance and active participation during the sessions is required.

Assesment method

No written exam. The final grade is determined by:

  • Active participation (pass/fail)

  • Two presentations (25% each)

  • Two papers/essays (25% each)

  • Two oral examinations (pass/fail)

  • Peer review (pass/fail)

Every partial result needs to be sufficient/pass to pass the course.

Resit, review & feedback

If results are not satisfactory, resit opportunities are arranged on a rolling basis.

Reading list

The reading list is changing every academic year according to the subject of study. See the Brightspace page for more information.

Registration

As a student; you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.

In this short video; you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.

There are two enrolment periods per year:

  • Enrolment for the fall opens in July

  • Enrolment for the spring opens in December

See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.

Note:

  • It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.

  • Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.

Contact

Lecturers:

  • Mark van den Bergh

  • Jonathan Vis

Remarks

Important: due to the format of the course, there is a limit on the number of participants: in principle 10 students can participate in this course. Register by 1) registering in the administrative systems and 2) make an appointment with the lecturers in December/January.