International MSc and PhD Programs in Complexity Sciences

 
The overall structure of the 1st curricular year of the Master and Doctoral programs is similar in both programs. For a detailed description of each subject please refer to the Modulespage.
 

First year
The 1st curricular year of the Doctoral Program in Complexity Sciences is organized in the following disciplinary blocks: introduction, fundaments, tools, applications and conclusion.

 
The introduction (1/2 trimester) is composed by:

• Research Methodologies in Complexity Sciences - refers to the basic research procedures and methodological tools in the domain.

The fundaments trimester concerns concepts and models used subsequently in the course:

• Complexity I : life sciences - regards complex problem modeling and solving approaches proposed by mathematics, physics and biology.

• Complexity II: social and human sciences - presents the point of view of human and social sciences, namely, economics, sociology, anthropology and psychology.

• Programming for complexity sciences - teaches the programming languages that will be used in the course.

The tools trimester proposes the study and practice of libraries to model and simulate complex systems:

• Artificial worlds I: computational methodologies to complex systems simulation - refers to some methodological aspects of computational simulation and presents programming libraries for multi-agent simulation.

• Artificial worlds II: multi-agent systems - discusses the notion of artificial agent and other issues concerning modeling agents.

• Organizational computer applications - focuses on interactions between human and artificial agents, including an agent’s cognitive capabilities and collective social learning, from the point of view of supporting organizational processes.

The applications trimester corresponds to the practice of tools studied earlier:

• Elective I – to be chosen from other academic program.

• Elective II – to be chosen from other academic program.

• Organizational intelligence in complex systems - discusses the complexity of organizational processes from the point of view of the emergence of collective intelligence based on individual perspectives. The notion of organizational learning is discussed.

The conclusion (1/2 trimester), which includes:

• Applied Computational Simulation Project - helps students develop a case study, wherein they apply the notions and tools studied in the prior disciplines.

• Seminar - includes presentations of several experts in new application domains for complexity studies.

 
Second and third years
The second and third years of the Doctoral Program in Complexity Sciences concern support to research activity and dissertation through the following disciplines:

• Research and communication seminar I - Each student will openly present, in front of professors and colleagues, its dissertation project. A panel composed by professors and, eventually, specialists of the domain will evaluate the project. This discipline is common to the DCTI-ISCTE doctoral program.

• Research and communication seminar II - Each student will openly present, in front of professors and colleagues, its dissertation project. A panel composed by professors and, eventually, specialists of the domain will evaluate the project. This discipline is common to the DCTI-ISCTE doctoral program.

• PhD thesis in complexity sciences Each student dissertation will be prepared with the support and under the direction of a university professor.

Dissertation subjects will be oriented to the application domains of the program.