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860-0022-00L 3 Credits BSC , DS , DR , MSC D-USYS , D-GESS
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Complexity and Global Systems Science

Lecturers & Examiners: Prof. Dr. Dirk Helbing, Andrea Musso, Dr. Cesare Carissimo
Prerequisites: solid mathematical skills. Particularly suitable for students of D-ITET, D-MAVT and MSc STP.
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-06-01 11:33:17

Abstract

This course discusses complex techno-socio-economic systems, their counter-intuitive behaviors, and how their theoretical understanding empowers us to solve some long-standing problems that are currently bothering the world.

Objective

Participants should learn to get an overview of the state of the art in the field, to present it in a well understandable way to an interdisciplinary scientific audience, to develop models for open problems, to analyze them, and to defend their results in response to critical questions. In essence, participants should improve their scientific skills and learn to think scientifically about complex dynamical systems.

Content

This course starts with a discussion of the typical and often counter-intuitive features of complex dynamical systems such as self-organization, emergence, (sudden) phase transitions at "tipping points", multi-stability, systemic instability, deterministic chaos, and turbulence. It then discusses phenomena in networked systems such as feedback, side and cascading effects, and the problem of radical uncertainty. The course progresses by demonstrating the relevance of these properties for understanding societal and, at times, global-scale problems such as traffic jams, crowd disasters, breakdowns of cooperation, crime, conflict, social unrests, political revolutions, bubbles and crashes in financial markets, epidemic spreading, and/or "tragedies of the commons" such as environmental exploitation, overfishing, or climate change. Based on this understanding, the course points to possible ways of mitigating techno-socio-economic-environmental problems, and what data science may contribute to their solution.

Resources

Lecture Notes

"Social Self-OrganizationAgent-Based Simulations and Experiments to Study Emergent Social Behavior"Helbing, DirkISBN 978-3-642-24004-1

Literature

Philip Ball Why Society Is A Complex Matter https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783642289996 Globally networked risks and how to respond Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12047 Global Systems Science and Policy Link Managing Complexity: Insights, Concepts, Applications https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783540752608 Further links: http://global-systems-science.org Link Link Further literature will be recommended in the lectures.

Learning Materials (Links)

General Information

Language
English
Levels
BSC , DS , DR , MSC
Frequency
Yearly recurring

Examination

Type
graded semester performance
Students are expected to actively contribute to the lectures if there are sufficiently few participants, each one will have to give a 20 minute presentation on a scientific paper selected together with the lecturer. These papers are typically about mathematical derivations and models related to the lecture.

Registration & Places

Max Places
50

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
seminar Complexity and Global Systems Science
  • Tue 10:15-12:00 (ML J 34.1)
2 h weekly

Offered In