Computational social choice is concerned with the design and analysis of mechanisms for collective decision making. This course provides a thorough introduction to both classical social choice theory, originating in Economics and Political Science, and modern computational social choice, emphasising its interface with Computer Science and AI. The intention is to enable students to conduct independent research in this exciting and fast-moving field. This is an advanced, research-oriented course in the Master of Logic that is also listed as an elective for the MSc AI and the MSc Computational Science. Students from other programmes, such as Computer Science, Mathematics, Economics, or Philosophy, are equally welcome (contact me if you are unsure about your qualifications).
Registration and Waiting List: The course filled up completely during the registration period in June. You cannot register any longer using the UvA registration system. But if you missed the deadline or did not get selected after the original deadline you are welcome to email me and ask to be put on the waiting list. If you get in touch no later than the 15th of October you can expect a decision shortly after that date.
Nature of the Course and Prerequisites: The focus of this course is on theory: we will mostly be concerned with developing formal models of collective decision making and with proving theorems about those models. Therefore, I will expect what sometimes is called mathematical maturity, meaning that you need to have prior experience with working out and writing up mathematical proofs.
Literature: We will mostly rely on original research papers, which I will post on this website as we go along. Beyond these papers, the main reference for this course is the Handbook of Computational Social Choice, the electronic edition of which is freely available online.
Research Seminars: You are always welcome to attend our local COMSOC Seminar as well as the international COMSOC Video Seminar.