JUMP START COURSE

Information at a glance: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DmkulM_xrRN3W_ireYytSP52wFICg1gI/view?usp=sharing
The Jump Start course (JS) is an intensive course to equip prospective master students with notions and methods that may be lacking or underdeveloped in their academic background. The course will be delivered in a blended format, with online meetings, and work to be completed independently in preparation for each session (distance units). Details will slightly vary depending on the edition, see below. The course requires an effort corresponding to 6 ECTS credits, for a total of about 150 working hours of which 30 equivalent-hours of face-to-face lectures.

The course is delivered four times in the span July / December 2026.
The editions will be in English, using a blended format (mostly online lectures, and distance learning units).

Students will be made familiar with linear and quadratic functions and models, will acquire the ability to create graphs and visualize data, express relationships in verbal and algebraic/statistical form, understand the basic of data organization and related techniques. Some practical real-world problems will be presented and solved.
Some proficient students may get the proposal to work on more challenging material, see below.

Bachelor degree (only prospective students to some master's degree can attend).

Selected material from the following free and downloadable books will be covered:
Mathematics. Donna Kirk, “Contemporary Mathematics”, https://openstax.org/details/books/contemporary-mathematics . Focus on chapters 5 (Algebra) and, if possible, 6 (Money Management);
Statistics. Donna Kirk, “Contemporary Mathematics”, https://openstax.org/details/books/contemporary-mathematics . Focus on chapters 8 (Statistics) and, if possible, 7 (Probability);
More challenging topics and projects (when appropriate) from Gilbert Strang and Edwin “Jed” Herman, “Calculus I”, https://openstax.org/details/books/calculus-volume-1 (for instance, “Formula One grandstands” p. 261 or “Iterative Processes and Chaos” p. 481).
Guest lectures on microeconomics, macroeconomics, foundational economic principles and, depending on the master’s focus, programming, data analysis, or other areas may be included.

Textbooks are open-source and can be freely downloaded:
Donna Kirk, “Contemporary Mathematics”, https://openstax.org/det ails/books/contemporary-mathematics.
(When appropriate,) Gilbert Strang and Edwin “Jed” Herman, “Calculus I”, https://openstax.org/details/books/calculus-volume-1

Active engagement and effort by the students are needed. Derek Bok used to say 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance'. Think about it, even if there will be no final exam.

not present

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

There will be no final exam and, hence, no final grade.

The course is delivered twice in the span July / December 2026.
The links to the online lectures will be made available on Moodle, where information on how to access the distance learning units will also be provided.

Moodle will be the learning management system for the course, you will have to enrol and login to interact with instructors, peers and with the material. Online meetings will be organized on Gmeet and/or Zoom.