Grading and examination

Spring 2026

This page has not yet fully been updated for academic year 2025–26. It will be updated in the weeks before the start of the semester.

For the theoretical part of this course, you are expected to attend the lectures and are encouraged to read the recommended material. For the practical part, you are expected to complete the exercises. Finally, you will need to complete a number of small tasks and a larger project.

Project (50% code and report + 30% defense)

This section is not yet final. It will be updated before the start of the semester.

You will need to finish one (larger) project during the semester. The project assignment will be announced in a lecture and on Canvas.

For the project, you will design and implement a parallel program using one of the techniques seen in this course. You will run experiments to evaluate your implementation, on hardware provided by the university. Finally, you will need to write a report summarizing your design choices, implementation, and evaluation results.

The deadline for the project has not yet been determined. You should submit the project (code and report) on Canvas.

Further, there will be an oral defense of your project during the exam period at the end of the semester. During the defense, we will discuss your projects. There is no need to prepare a presentation with slides. You will be asked to sketch your design, discuss your experiments and relate your findings to the topics seen during the lectures.

Small tasks (20%)

You will need to finish five (smallish) tasks during the semester, on the following topics:

  1. Introduction
  2. Erlang
  3. OpenCL
  4. Clojure
  5. Summary and comparison

The tasks will usually involve a few short theory questions and a programming exercise. The programming exercises will be done in the languages used in this course (Erlang, Clojure, OpenCL), and will correspond to the last exercise of that part of the course. (Hence, they can be prepared in class.)

These tasks will be made available on Canvas, through which you can submit your solutions. Deadlines are visible in Canvas, and are usually approximately two weeks after the task is published.

For working students (only if you are officially registered as such!), the deadlines are more relaxed: the deadline for all five tasks is the deadline of the last task – although you are recommended to submit the tasks throughout the semester (as you watch lectures and make exercises).

Grading

The final grade for this course is calculated as follows:

  • Project: 80%, comprising:
    • Submitted code and report: 50%
    • Oral defense: 30%
  • Tasks: 20%, comprising:
    • Task 1 and 5: 2.5% each
    • Task 2, 3, and 4: 5% each

Note that you must submit a solution for all tasks and the project, and participate in the oral examination, in order to pass this course. All parts are obligatory.

Deadlines and extensions

For both the tasks and the project, deadlines are always at 23:59. If you want to hand in late for a valid reason (i.e. illness, with a doctor’s note), you need to request an extension before the deadline. If you hand in late otherwise, two points will be deducted per day you were late.

Academic honesty

All projects and tasks are individual. You are required to do your own work and will only be evaluated on the part of the work you did yourself. We check for plagiarism. You can check the plagiarism policy for more details.