Dr. Nikolay Nikolaev

IS53002A Neural Networks

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
SYLLABUS
...Course description
...Course objectives
...Learning outcomes
...Textbooks
...Attendance
...Grading
...Examination Assesment
...Dates for Coursework Assignments
...Office hours
...References
...Internet Resources
COURSE OUTLINE FOR Autumn 2010

Syllabus

Course description


The course introduces the theory and practice of neural computation. It offers the principles of neurocomputing with artificial neural networks widely used for addressing real-world problems such as classification, regression, pattern recognition, data mining, time-series prediction, etc.. Two main topics are covered: supervised and unsupervised learning. Supervised learning is studied using linear perceptrons, and non-linear models such as probabilistic neural networks, multilayer perceptrons, and radial-basis function networks. Unsupervised learning is studied using Kohonen networks. Recurrent networks of the Hopfield type are briefly covered. There are offered contemporary training techniques for all these neural networks. Knowledge and tools for the specification, design, and practical implementation of neural networks are also provided.

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Course objectives


The objectives of the course in neural networks are:

to introduce the neural networks as means for computational learning;
to present the basic network architectures for classification and regression;
to give design methodologies for artificial neural networks;
to provide knowledge for network tunning and overfitting avoidance;
to demonstrate neural network applications on real-world tasks.

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Learning outcomes


On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

Subject-related Knowledge

design single and multi-layer feed-forward neural networks;
explain the differences between networks for supervised and unsupervised learning;
explain the behavior of radial-basis function networks;
understand unsupervised learning using Kohonen networks;
understand training of recurrent Hopfield networks;
perform algorithmic training of various neural networks;
analyse the performance of neural networks.

Subject-related Skills

develop multilayer neural networks for regression;
implement training algorithms for multilayer neural networks;
achieve overfitting avoidance in nonlinear regression.

Transferrable Skills

construct nonlinear models for regression;
analyse the results from nonlinear data modeling.

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Textbooks


Haykin, Simon.
Neural Networks. A Comprehensive Foundation.,
Second Edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 1999.

New Edition:
Haykin, Simon.
Neural Networks and Learning Machines., Pearson Higher Education, 2009.

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Attendance


The students are advised to attend the lectures. Attendance to workshops is compulsory and will be monitored.

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Grading


Excellent A = 70 - 100
Very Good B = 60 - 69
Good C = 50 - 59
Acceptable D = 40 - 49
Weak E = 35 - 39
Fail F = 0 - 34

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Examination Assesment


One Written Examination: 80%
One Coursework Assignment: 20%

Coursework Assignment: Training a feed-forward network with the backpropagation algorithm (an individual neural network architecture with specific weight parameters will be given to every student, and this network has to be trained with two different input examples).

Coursework Marking Scheme- every student should present the following:
a) Calculations to process the first training example
a.i) computed outputs from each network node during the forward pass; [4x2.5 marks]
a.ii) computed errors (betas) at each network node during the backward pass; [4x4 marks]
a.iii) computed changes (deltas) for each network weight; [8x2 marks]
a.iv) updated all network weights. [8x1 marks]
total after processing the first example: 50 marks
b) Calculations to process the second example
b.i) computed outputs from each network node during the forward pass; [4x2.5 marks]
b.ii) computed errors (betas) at each network node during the backward pass; [4x4 marks]
b.iii) computed changes (deltas) for each network weight; [8x2 marks]
b.iv) updated all network weights. [8x1 marks]
total after processing the second training example: 50 marks
Full marks will be awarded for results rounded up to and including the fourth digit after the decimal point.

Feedback on the Coursework Assignment: One week after the deadline the marks on the submissions will be ready, and every student will receive the comments on his work written by the lecturer on the presented worksheet (during the office hours or at convenient times by appointment).

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Dates for Coursework Assignment


Handout Lecture Coursework: 27 October 2010.
Submit Lecture Coursework: 15 December 2010.

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Surgery hours


Friday 13:00 - 14:00 p.m.
Friday 14:00 - 15:00 p.m.

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References


Bishop, C.M.
Neural Networks for Pattern Recognition,
Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1995.

Hagan,M.T., Demuth,H.B. and Beale,M.H.
Neural Network Design,
PWS Publ. Co., Boston, MA, 1996.

Ham,F.M. Kostanic,I.
Principles of Neurocomputing for Science and Engineering,
McGraw-Hill Publ. Co., Boston, MA, 1996.

Nikolaev,N. and Iba,H.
Adaptive Learning of Polynomial Networks: Genetic Programming,
Backpropagation and Bayesian Methods
,
Springer, New York, 2006.

Principe,J.C., Euliano,N.R. and Lefebvre,W.C.
Neural and Adaptive Systems: Fundamentals Through Simulations.
Wiley, New York, 2000.

Reed,R.D., and Marks,R.J, II
Neural Smithing: Supervised Learning in Feedforward Artificial Neural Networks,
The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999.

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Internet Resources


Neural Networks Education Repository

Netlab: Neural Network Software in Matlab

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IS53002A Neural Networks - Course outline for Autumn 2010

Date

L/W

Topic / Assignment

6/October/2010

L

Introduction to Connectionist Learning.
Neural Computation, Biological Neural Networks,
Neural Net Architectures and Learning Algorithms.
Learning Tasks: The Classification Problem,
Statistical Learning, Classifier Construction.
Text: pp.1-66 (Sections 1 and 2.1-2.9).
Text: pp.66-73 (Section 2.10-2.12).

6/October/2010

W

Learning Tasks: The Regression Problem,
Linear vs. Nonlinear Models, Error Estimates.
Text: pp.84-87 (Section 2.13).

13/October/2010

L

Single-Layer Perceptrons. The Perceptron,
The Perceptron Learning Rule, Gradient
Descent Training of Untresholded Perceptrons
.
Text: pp.143-146 (Section 3.10).
Text: pp.117,135-142 (Section 3.8-3.9).

13/October/2010

W

Implementing Learning Algorithms for the
Percepton
, Error-Correction Learning.
Text: pp.149-155 (Section 3.11).

20/October/2010

L

Online and Offline Perceptron Learning
Algorithms
.The Delta Rule,Incremental
Gradient Descent Training Algorithm.
Text: pp.118-124 (Section 3.2-3.3).
Text: pp.128-134 (Section 3.5-3.6).

20/October/2010

W

Sigmoidal Perceptrons. Steepest Gradient
Descent Training
of the Sigmoidal Perceptron.
Text: pp.10-15 (Section 1.3).

27/October/2010

L

Multilayer Perceptrons. The Multilayer
Perceptron (MLP)
, Activation Functions,
Representation Power of MLP.
Backpropagation Learning Algorithm. Gradient
Descent Learning for Multilayer Networks
.
Text: pp.156-160 (Section 4.1-4.2).
Text: pp.161-170 (Section 4.3-4.4).

27/October/2010

W

On-line vs. Batch Backpropagation Algorithms.
Revision by Epoch, Revision by Example.
Text: pp.171-173 (Section 4.4).

3/November/2010

L

Practical Aspects of Backpropagation. Momentum,
Learning Rate Factor, Example Presentation.
Practical Issues in Connectionist Learning by
Backpropagation
. Learning Stages.
Text: pp.193-196 (Section 4.8).
Text: pp.178-184 (Section 4.6).

3/November/2010

W

Implementing the Backpropagation Algorithm.
Learning Example.
Text: pp.175-178 (Section 4.5)

17/November/2010

L

Radial-Basis Function Networks. Radial-Basis
Functions
, RBF Network Structure.
RBF Training Algorithm. Finding RBF Centers
and Variances
, RBF Network Structure.
Text: pp.256-289 (Section 5.1-5.9).
Text: pp.298-304 (Section 5.13).

17/November/2010

W

Comparison of RBF Networks and MLP Networks.
RBF Rationale, Implementing RBF Networks.
Text: pp.293-294 (Section 5.11).

24/November/2010

L

Neural Network Tuning. The Bias/Variance
Dilemma
, Measuring the Bias and Variance,
Non-linear Cross Validation.
Network Tuning Strategies. Regularization.
Text: pp.88-89 (Section 2.13).
Text: pp.219-221 (Section 4.15).

24/November/2010

W

Overfitting Avoidance. Early Stopping Method of
Training, Training with Noise.
Text: pp.215-217 (Section 4.14).

1/December/2010

L

Growing and Pruning Networks. Selection
Criteria
, Neural Network Committees,
Network Ensemble Averaging.
Text: pp.222-225 (Section 4.15).
Text: pp.351-356 (Sections 7.1-7.3).

1/December/2010

W

Implementing Network Boosting Techniques.
The AdaBoost Weak Learning Algorithm.
Text: pp.360-364 (Sections 7.4).

8/December/2010

L

Kohonen Networks. Unsupevised
Learning
, Self-Organizing Maps, SOM Algorithm.
Properties of the Feature Map.
Text: pp.443-461 (Section 9.1-9.5).

8/December/2010

W

Implementing Kohonen Networks. Experiments
with One-Dimensional Lattices.
Text: pp.461-466 (Section 9.6).

15/December/2010

L

Hopfield Type Networks. Recurrent
Networks with Multiple Feedbacks
, States,
The Model as a Content-Addressable Memory.
Text: pp.680-689 (Section 14.7).

15/December/2010

W

Implementing Hopfield Networks. Training
a Simple Three-neuron Model
.
Text: pp.690-696 (Section 14.7).

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