Introduction to the modeling of dynamical systems

This course focuses on modeling dynamical systems and aims at explaining the research thinking process to first year students.

The first two sessions show a few simple examples (see introduction notebook below) and explain why researchers need models and to what extent they can rely on them. The goal is also to make the students understand what differentiates a good model from a bad one. Students are strongly encourage to use the Python programming language they learned during the first semester. After the first introduction sessions, the students split in groups and choose a “real life” system they are interested in, search for references in the scientific literature, propose a theoretical model for its study, and implement it in Python. At the end of the course, all groups make a presentation explaining their model (parameters, strengths, weaknesses, limits…) and their conclusions.

• The students projects are available here.
• The introduction slides are available here.
• The introduction notebook is available here.