English

This course offers an introduction to the tools for the estimation, detection, and prediction of discrete-time random signals. It is divided into three units: stochastic processes; estimation theory; detection theory.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course studies contemporary forms of terrorism, its definitions and origins, as well as its objectives, functions, and forms, with a particular focus on counterterrorism measures implemented both by individual states and the international community. It approaches classic and current scholarship on terrorism and counterterrorism and explores many of the research puzzles that remain unanswered. Underpinned by the existing debates among scholars of terrorism, ranging from mainstream to critical perspectives, the course examines the spectrum of terrorist motivations, strategies, and operations; the socio-political, economic, and other factors and causes that can create enabling environments for terrorist group activities; and finally, the means by which governments (especially liberal democratic states) react to contemporary forms of terrorist violence in different regions of the world. Classes are enriched by guest lectures who present case studies and focus on specific geopolitical spaces that are of critical relevance for current and future trends and scenarios on terrorism and counterterrorism. This comparative analysis develops a complex understanding of historical trends, meanings, contemporary dilemmas, and challenges related to this form of political violence.

This course gives students an understanding of the fundamental science governing the electronic and ionic conductivity of metal oxides and to then use this knowledge to describe the operation of devices based on these properties, such as gas sensors, fuel cells, batteries, varistors, and PTCRs.

Students work in a multidisciplinary team to develop a game or graphics system up to release quality. The course brings together practical development and theoretical analysis to ensure students know both how to make games and how to assess them.

This course covers amino acids, the fundamentals of protein structure, isolation and purification of proteins, modification of proteins, and methods of determining protein conformation. It also covers the basics of enzyme catalysis and kinetics with specific case studies. Other topics include ion transport, and other transport proteins, and the utilization of proteins and soluble cofactors to generate and store metabolic energy. Students learn the basics of metabolism in glycolysis and the citric acid cycle, as well as ATP synthesis and membrane bound electron transfer in mitochondria. Chloroplasts in plants and algae, and molecular motors, such as muscles, that consume metabolic energy are also covered. 

This course studies topological spaces and continuous maps. Main topics include: topological spaces; subspace, order, product, metric and quotient topologies; continuous functions; connectedness and compactness; countability and separation axioms. Secondary topics include: retractions and fixed points; Tychonoff Theorem; compactifications; and vistas of algebraic topology. 

Aviation is a rapidly expanding sector in developing economies like those in Asia. Aeronautical engineering is the foundation of aviation as a mode of transport. Together with space flight, aeronautics has been a driving force behind many of the modern technological development in the past century or so. This course aims to provide students with a solid foundation in the most important aspects of aircraft design and operation. The underlying science is common with many technological branches in general mechanical engineering, but it also has distinctive features that make aeronautics more challenging and interesting. For example, flow around aircraft is compressible with possible presence of shock waves while ordinary flows in engineering is low-speed and incompressible. The engine has similar thermodynamic cycles like that found in a gas turbine power plant but its main output is not derived from the turbine. Materials used in aircraft design must have the lowest possible weight for a given strength requirement. Specifically, the course will cover the following topics: aerodynamics and propulsion, materials and structures; safety and some aspects of operation and maintenance of aircrafts. Topics include: history of aeronautical science; wing aerodynamics; propulsion; flight mechanics; systems and airframe structures; fatigue-crack growth; crack monitoring; damage tolerance; metallic materials; composites; fibre-reinforced laminates; high-temperature alloys for turbines; creep damage.

This course considers art from around the world in order to understand the ways in which different religions, power structures, and intercultural relations impacted upon artists, objects, and audiences. Students learn about the key works and ideas that underpin this period in the history of art. Lectures are supported by readings and activities on the course website. In tutorials, students put ideas and skills into practice. Some of the tutorials take place in Edinburgh's museums and galleries. 

Since at least the 1980s gender has been considered a "useful category of historical research." In this class we will use this lens in order to understand major events and developments in U.S. history. By focusing on gender as a relation of power in social contexts we will explore changing images of masculinity and femininity as well as mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. In addition to that, we will also discuss intersectional connections to other categories of identification (e.g. race and class).