Accepted to graduate school
In October of last year i chose to apply to graduate school. Im from a country where education is free so why not take advantage of that, right?
I had forgotten about my application but found out yesterday that i had been accepted! Woohoo!!
It is a Master’s program in Decision Support and Risk Analysis and is a part of the “Department of Computer and System Sciences”.
In this program i’m supposed to learn how to handle decision situations in a systematic way so that preferred consequences are probable.
I haven’t decided whether to accept my place in the program or not but i am definitely leaning towards doing it! This is a program i’ll study online – “distance studies”. It will require a lot of time in the early mornings as well as nights. I know myself and i’m positive that i’d be able to handle the work load.
Here are the classes i’d be taking:
1st Semester
Mandatory courses 4 x 7,5 credits
Decision Support Methods 7,5 credits
The course aims to provide basic knowledge on decision support methods and decision analysis, ability to structure and evaluate decision problems and to analyze and evaluate different solutions.
Risk Management 7,5 credits
In this course probabilistic as well as non-probabilistic approaches to risk management are presented, and the rationale behind various types of risk analyses are discussed in some detail. The main focus, however, is on examining how the authorities of a modern society copes with risks within their domains.
Decision Theory 7,5 credits
In this course, the basic ingredients of a decision-theoretic approach to decision problems are presented. Moreover, the concepts of classical decision theory are introduced in some detail and various modern attempts at modifying the classical theory are discussed at some length.
Scientific Communication and Research Methodology 7,5 credits
Computing as a discipline combines three academic traditions: the theoretical tradition, the scientific (experimental) tradition, and the engineering tradition. Due to that combination, there is no clear methodological tradition in computer science. This course introduces computer science students to the principles of scientific research: how to design, implement, and report a research study. The main focus of this course is in research design and reporting: students will learn how to align problem statement, aims, objectives, research questions, data collection and analysis, and reporting into a coherent and logically flowing whole.
2nd Semester
Mandatory courses 2 x 7,5 credits and Master Thesis 1 x 15 credits
Analysis of Bases for Decisions 7,5 credits
In this course some useful tools from the Theory of Argumentation are presented but the main focus is on applying these tools and the ones introduced in previous courses in detailed examinations of the bases for decisions made by political assemblies and authorities. The student here has the opportunity of selecting decisions that is of particular interest to her.
Logic 7,5 credits
Formal analysis can compensate for the usual ambiguity of normal human reasoning and uncertainties of the human cognition. Furthermore, it can increase the understanding of human communication and assist in avoiding many misunderstandings and misconceptions in real life situations and facilitate the analysis of argumentation and decision-making. This course is an introduction to the principles of correct reasoning as they are manifested in various uses of languages. The course focuses on formal logic and practical applications thereof with the purpose of getting a better capacity to understand many fallacies in reasoning and to practice deductive thinking. To be able to do this, some knowledge of formal languages and rules of deduction is inevitable.
