Course Contents

Agent based modeling is a flexible framework to simulate the action and interaction of entities of complex systems. The course will give an introduction to this topic by making students acquainted with the most important concepts and tools. A versatile, open access easy-to-use platform will be presented, which enables to construct own models and simulations. Relevant agent based models will be discussed from the field of biology, sociology, economics and finance. Issues include conflicts and consensus in opinion formation, segregation as a result of homophily, origins of cultural diversity and market simulations. Techniques of model calibration and validation will be presented.

Course Synopsis

The course will provide students with a theoretical framework for, and practical familiarity with, the current technologies and research directions in the field of computer based agents. This course will explore how to use agent-based modeling to understand and examine a widely diverse and disparate set of complex problems. how to build a model from the ground up and how to analyze and understand the results of a model using the NetLogo programming language.

Course Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, you should be able to: • Identify core mechanisms of novel agent-based models • Identify trade-offs in the design and use of agent topologies • Construct original multi-agent models • Use behavior run and analysis tools to analyze model parameter space • Verify and validate agent-based models • Apply agent-based modeling to both scientific and everyday phenomena