The solutions for these crises involve changing social and technological systems at unprecedented rates while we balance fairness and moral principles in the process. Juggling these interdisciplinary and multidimensional problems requires understanding the issues across the traditional boundaries of science. That means that we need a common language! Complexity.

Complexity refers to a property of many systems and their emergent features that make them hard to manage. It means having multiple different elements interacting and adapting in ways that are not (at first) intuitive. Only through the experience of the phenomena that arise in complex systems, in several contexts, is it possible to be familiar with the features of complexity and gain intuition on why they exist and behave the way they do.

In this course, you will learn about complex systems and how we can understand them. You will hear examples from experts in different fields – e.g., ecosystems and evolution, the global climate, stock markets, epidemics, criminal, neural, and social networks -- and hear about their intricate behavior. In the meantime, you will develop a common language to consolidate and communicate complex concepts. You will learn a tool to quantify these difficult concepts and build a simple complex system.

Coordinator

Vítor Vasconcelos

Timetable

All lectures will take place on-campus and we assume you can be physically present during the scheduled hours. You can find the timetable on Datanose.

Registration

Registration is possible for students participating in an Honours programme. The registration period for the Honours courses will be from November 29, 10:00 am to December 3, 11.59 pm. You can register through the online registration form that will appear on Honoursmodules IIS. (registration is NOT through SIS)

Please note: Placement is not guaranteed if you register after December 3, so make sure you register on time. You will hear which course(s) you are registered for before December 15. 

For questions about registration, please contact us at: Honours-iis@uva.nl