Second Level Algorithms

By Prof. Palash Dey | IIT Kharagpur

Learners enrolled: 175

ABOUT THE COURSE:

This is a second level algorithms course. We will cover the following topics: amortized analysis, Fibonacci heap, network flow, computational geometry, NP-completeness, approximation algorithms, randomized algorithms, and parameterized algorithms.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: PG students

PREREQUISITES: A first level course on Algorithms

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Every software company including Google, Microsoft, IBM, etc.

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Computer Science and Engineering Foundations of Computing
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Postgraduate
Start Date :	21 Jul 2025
End Date :	10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends :	28 Jul 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	15 Aug 2025
Exam Date :	02 Nov 2025 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Amortized Complexity: aggregate method, accounting method, potential function method

Week 2: Fibonacci heaps.

Week 3: Max flow problem: Ford-Fulkerson method, Edmond-Karp algorithm, Dinic’s algorithm

Week 4: Max flow problem: Push relabel method,Applications of max flow: Hall’s Theorem

Week 5: Applications of max flow: Maximum bipartite matching, Konig’s Theorem.

Week 6: Edmond’s blossom algorithm for maximum matching

Week 7: Stable matching

Week 8: Order Statistics, String Matching

Week 9: Randomized algorithms: Karger's algorithm, Karger-Stein algorithm

Week 10: Lower bound on sorting, introduction to NP-completeness

Week 11: Np-completeness: reductions

Week 12: Approximation algorithms for 3SAT, Metric TSP

Books and references

Thomas H Cormen, Charles E Lieserson, Ronald L Rivest and Clifford Stein, Introduction to Algorithms.
Jon Kleinberg and Éva Tardos, Algorithm Design, Pearson, 2005.
Jeff Erickson, Algorithms, 2019.
Vijay V Vazirani, Approximation Algorithms, Springer-Verlag, 2001.
Mark de Berg, Otfried Cheong, Marc van Kreveld, Mark Overmars, Computational Geometry, Springer, 2008.
Marek Cygan, Fedor V. Fomin, Łukasz Kowalik, Daniel Lokshtanov, Dániel Marx, Marcin Pilipczuk, Michał Pilipczuk, Saket Saurabh, Parameterized Algorithms.
Rajeev Motwani, Prabhakar Raghavan, Randomized Algorithms
Eli Upfal and Michael Mitzenmacher, Probability and Computing: Randomization and Probabilistic Techniques in Algorithms and Data Analysis

Instructor bio

Prof. Palash Dey

IIT Kharagpur

Prof. Palash Dey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur since 2018. Before joining IIT Kharagpur, he was a post-doctoral INSPIRE faculty in TIFR, Mumbai for one year. He finished his Ph.D. and M.E. from the Department of Computer Science and Automation at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 2017 and 2013 respectively. Prior to that, he finished his B.E. from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Jadavpur University in 2010. His primary field of research is algorithmic game theory. He is broadly interested in theoretical computer science.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: November 02, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kharagpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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