Game Theory and Market Design - Strategic Thinking for Professionals
How do you decide on your best next move when playing a game of poker, when bidding in an auction, or when deciding on the list of schools you want your child to apply to? Professionals regularly face situations where they need to take a consequential strategic decision in highly complex environments. This masterclass will provide a hands-on introduction to game theory and market design, offering deep insights into the science of strategic decision making and equipping you with powerful tools to design well-functioning markets yourself.
Nobel Prize material
AI and strategic thinking
Case studies
Networking opportunities
For whom?
This masterclass will suit professionals, in both the private and the public sector, who regularly face situations where they need to take a consequential strategic decision in a highly complex environment, with outcomes that will depend as much on their own choices as on those made by others. It will provide an opportunity to reflect on this process of decision making in a systematic and scientifically grounded manner. The masterclass will also suit professionals who need to design systems (“markets”) that will be used by multiple self-interested individuals and that nonetheless need to function well.
Prior knowledge: We assume familiarity with basic concepts from high-school mathematics and, more importantly, lots of intellectual curiosity.
About the masterclass
Game theory is the study of mathematical models for strategic decision making, while market design is the art and science of designing the rules for a market that functions well even when people behave strategically. The emerging discipline of market design provides principled and actionable advice to anyone faced with the challenge of designing a system in which strategic individuals interact.
Examples are plentiful. How do you design a sponsored search auction to decide which ads to place on the website of a search engine? And as a business advertising on such a site, how to you decide on your own bidding strategy in such an auction?
Not all markets involve money. How do you design a system for matching workers to tasks? And as a participant in such a market, when is it in your best interest to truthfully reveal your own preferences and when do you need to be strategic?
This masterclass will provide a hands-on introduction to game theory and market design, while paying special attention to the potential of algorithmics and AI in this domain. Can we use computers to help us take better decisions and design better markets?
What will you learn?
After this masterclass, you will:
- have learned about ground-breaking ideas that received Nobel Prizes and that had a direct impact on business practice and governmental policy.
- be able to systematically analyse a range of complex situations requiring strategic decision making using the mathematical tools of game theory.
- appreciate the tension between the predications provided by mathematical models of decision making and the intricacies of real-world human behaviour.
- have accumulated a small portfolio of examples for best practices of market design in both business and governmental contexts.
Classes will be taught by Ulle Endriss, Professor of AI and Collective Decision Making at the University of Amsterdam. Prof. Endriss is widely known for his innovative research contributions at the interface of AI with Mathematical Economics. He is also known as a dedicated teacher, regularly delivering advanced tutorials at international conferences and having been elected ‘Lecturer of the Year’ at the UvA’s Faculty of Science in 2014.
Fees:
| Fee:* | Application date: | Start date masterclass: | |
| Early bird: | €1,550 | 16 March 2025 | 05 June 2025 |
| Standard: | €1,795 | 04 June 2025 | 05 June 2025 |
* The fee is VAT-exempt.
Alumni get a 10% discount
UvA Alumni receive a 10% discount on the standard fee. Please note that this discount cannot be combined with the early bird discount.
Top location
The masterclass will be held at Amsterdam Science Park in LAB42, an international hub for knowledge and talent development in digital innovation and AI. LAB42 is a vibrant space where AI researchers, computer scientists, students, and entrepreneurs come together to explore and advance the possibilities of artificial intelligence.
Contact
Do you have questions about this masterclass?
Please contact our professional education team: professionaleducation-ivi@uva.nl