FutureLearn

Decision Making in a Complex and Uncertain World (FutureLearn)

Offered by University of Groningen,
Decision Making in a Complex and Uncertain World (FutureLearn)

This course will teach you the first principles of complexity, uncertainty and how to make decisions in a complex world. To learn how complexity and uncertainty influence and constrain our decisions. Our world seems to ever become more complex and uncertain. Future leaders must be able to act under these conditions. This course provides you with the broad scientific background necessary to develop yourself into one of the future’s key decision makers. First, this course will address the core concepts of complexity and uncertainty.

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Next, guest lecturers will related sub-fields. Finally, relating this all back together in case studies about financial stability and city development will conclude the course.

Syllabus

Week 1: Complexity & uncertainty
Week 2: Emergence & networks
Week 3: Agent based modelling
Week 4: Evolutionary dynamics
Week 5: Self-organisation & history
Week 6: Individual decision making & entrepreneurship
Week 7: Case study: Financial crisis & city development

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Explain the difference between complex and complicated
  • Explain the difference between risk and uncertainty
  • Explain the following concepts: emergence, networks, evolutionary dynamics, social self-organisation and path dependence
  • Experiment with complex systems in simple agent-based models.
  • Apply the course concepts and tools to the social sciences of history, entrepreneurship, economics and spatial planning
  • Debate how complexity and uncertainty influence human decision making and how you can counter these effects

Who is the course for?
Anyone who needs to make decisions in a complex and uncertain context (e.g. managers and project coordinators). The course will be taught at undergraduate level. Basic knowledge of economic, financial institutions, mathematics and logic will be helpful.

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