860-0011-00L Agent-Based Modeling and Social System Simulation - With Coding Project
| Semester | Autumn Semester 2021 |
| Lecturers | N. Antulov-Fantulin, T. Asikis, D. Helbing |
| Periodicity | yearly recurring course |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Comment | Only for Science, Technology, and Policy MSc. Prerequisites: Good mathematical skills, basic programming skills, elementary probability and statistics. |
Courses
| Number | Title | Hours | Lecturers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 851-0101-86 S | Complex Social Systems: Modeling Agents, Learning, and Games
 Online seminar: This seminar will primarily take place online. Reserved rooms will remain blocked on campus for students to follow the seminar from there. | 2 hrs |
| N. Antulov-Fantulin, T. Asikis, D. Helbing | |||
| 860-0011-00 A | Complex Social Systems: Modeling Agents, Learning, and Games - With Coding Project | 2 hrs | N. Antulov-Fantulin, T. Asikis, D. Helbing |
Catalogue data
| Abstract | This course introduces mathematical and computational models to study techno-socio-economic systems and the process of scientific research. Students develop a significant project to tackle techno-socio-economic challenges in application domains of complex systems. They are expected to implement a model and communicating their results through a seminar thesis and a short oral presentation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The students are expected to know a programming language and environment (Python, Java or Matlab) as a tool to solve various scientific problems. The use of a high-level programming environment makes it possible to quickly find numerical solutions to a wide range of scientific problems. Students will learn to take advantage of a rich set of tools to present their results numerically and graphically. The students should be able to implement simulation models and document their skills through a seminar thesis and finally give a short oral presentation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | Students are expected to implement themselves models of various social processes and systems, including agent-based models, complex networks models, decision making, group dynamics, human crowds, or game-theoretical models. Part of this course will consist of supervised programming exercises. Credit points are finally earned for the implementation of a mathematical or empirical model from the complexity science literature and the documentation in a seminar thesis. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture notes | The lecture slides will be presented on the course web page after each lecture. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | Agent-Based Modeling https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-24004-1_2 Social Self-Organization https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783642240034 Traffic and related self-driven many-particle systems Reviews of Modern Physics 73, 1067 https://journals.aps.org/rmp/abstract/10.1103/RevModPhys.73.1067 An Analytical Theory of Traffic Flow (collection of papers) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261629187 Pedestrian, Crowd, and Evacuation Dynamics https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/handle/20.500.11850/45424 The hidden geometry of complex, network-driven contagion phenomena (relevant for modeling pandemic spread) https://science.sciencemag.org/content/342/6164/1337 Further literature will be recommended in the lectures. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | The number of participants is limited to the size of the available computer teaching room. The source code related to the seminar thesis should be well enough documented. Good programming skills and a good understanding of probability & statistics and calculus are expected. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Competencies |
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Performance assessment
| Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again) | |
Performance assessment as a semester course | |
| ECTS credits | 6 credits |
| Examiners | N. Antulov-Fantulin, T. Asikis, D. Helbing |
| Type | graded semester performance |
| Language of examination | English |
| Repetition | Repetition only possible after re-enrolling for the course unit. |
| Additional information on mode of examination | Students have to implement an established mathematical model from the computational social science literature in MATLAB or/and python. During the course students have to submit a short proposal specifying their project. At the end, projects must be documented in a 15 page seminar thesis and presented in a 15 minute seminar talk. The thesis should include a discussion of the mathematical model, its theoretical concept, properties of the model, and parameter dependencies, but also possible practical implications. |
Learning materials
| No public learning materials available. | |
| Only public learning materials are listed. |
Groups
| No information on groups available. |
Restrictions
| General |  : Special students and auditors need a special permission from the lecturers |
| Priority | Registration for the course unit is only possible for the primary target group |
| Primary target group | Science, Technology and Policy MSc (860000) |
Offered in
| Programme | Section | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science, Technology, and Policy Master | Case Studies | W | |