Netherlands

This course introduces students to the world of start-ups, SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), and corporate venturing. It acquaints students with concepts and theories that are relevant to the process of setting up and managing a business. Students explore how entrepreneurial behavior in large companies can positively influence multiple individual and firm-level performance variables. The course also offers students a "learning-by-doing" environment in which they practice certain fundamentals of the entrepreneurial process such as value creation, opportunity recognition, and creativity. The theories covered are then applied in their specific business context. The course discusses the different steps in the entrepreneurial and small-business process including opportunity recognition; gathering resources; strategic planning in smaller companies; managing the venture; and growth, exit, or failure of the business. It also introduces different types of entrepreneurships, such as social, academic, and corporate venturing, as well as the theories that are important within this research field.

In their struggle for survival, organisms have to adapt continuously to changes in their abiotic and biotic environment. This course focuses on the molecular mechanisms and consequences of these adaptations for individual organisms and interactions among organisms. Attention is paid to various (a)biotic factors including temperature, drought, feeding conditions, photoperiodicity, intraspecific competition, symbiosis, and parasitism. Common mechanisms and key concepts across kingdoms underlying adaptation and plasticity are analyzed in depth. Examples show how environmental conditions affect signal transduction pathways leading to adaptive changes in ecology, behavior, and phenology.

This course explores key themes in political sociology, a major sub-field of sociology with strong linkages to political science and political philosophy. The focus is on the dynamics and relations of power in society, specific problems and issues related to ‘power’ are examined across the grassroots and global levels of sociological investigation. Intersectional and global comparative perspectives are stressed through an exploration of diverse case studies that span different historical eras and contemporary settings. Principles of ‘research-based learning’ (RBL) are emphasized throughout the course to stress the intimate link between sociological theory and methodology. Salient themes explored include democratization, active citizenship, nationalism, neoliberalism, elitism, populism, authoritarianism, repression, protest, and revolution. A working knowledge of introductory sociology and social science research methods is required.

This course offers an introduction to the historical and cultural aspects of Medieval European Civilization by drawing parallels between modern-day societal, economic, and cultural occurrences and the Medieval past.  The course explores weekly themes that reflect contemporary societal issues that lend themselves to a (historical) comparative analytical approach. Themes include modern misrepresentation of Medieval culture, the ‘White’ Middle Ages, modern reflections on Medieval pandemics, revolts and political order in the Middle Ages, and minorities and persecution in the Middle Ages. The course consists of lectures and tutor groups. Students are evaluated on their participation, presentation, scientific paper, and written exam. Prerequisites include any course in history or sociology or substantial high school knowledge in history.

This course is for people with a basic knowledge of Italian and for people who have completed level A1. An intake is necessary when you do not have a recent A1 certificate. The course builds vocabulary and understanding of how the language works. Traditional learning materials as well as online learning tools, such as Google Classroom and social media are used. Although the content of the course especially focuses on speaking skills, additional work on reading, listening, writing, and grammar supports the language learning process. The teacher is a native speaker, and the group lessons are conducted in Italian. Instructions is only be given in English if it's necessary.

The course is structured around five fundamental questions that have shaped anthropological inquiry and the development of the discipline: What is society? What is culture? How are societies organized? What holds societies together? What makes societies run? With these questions as a guide, the course explores the evolution of anthropological thought about its main subject matter, namely, society and culture, and the methods that should be used to understand what they are and how they work. For each question, how society, culture, and their organization and function emerged as problems for anthropology, and the methods and theories that anthropologists have employed to explain them are examined. A variety of readings, from classical anthropological texts to more recent ones are used to chart a history of anthropological thought that pays particular attention to ethnographic method and questions of ethics in fieldwork. Reading assignments will be available on Blackboard.

The language part of the course improves and develops skills and strategies to successfully handle uncomplicated oral and written tasks and social situations confronted during daily life in the German language area. From there the course moves to the first stadia of a higher level of understanding and discussing texts and topics in the cultural and social field. The cultural part of the course provides an understanding of various cultural aspects of German, Austrian, and Swiss society including German post-war cultural history and current topics of the German news. The classroom language is German. An Intermediate Low (IL) level of speaking and writing is required. 

This course provides an introduction to topics in the field of (international) financial markets, central banks, monetary policy, and the banking sector.  It begins with a classification of financial markets (e.g. capital markets, money markets) as well as an analysis of the role financial markets play in the overall economic framework, both from a macro-economic as well as a micro-economic perspective. Thereafter, the "management" of financial markets is discussed, in particular the central role played by central banks in this respect. The functions and tasks of central banks are analyzed, in particular their responsibility for monetary policy. The course deals with the operational framework for monetary policy, and the interaction of central banks and banks in the money market. The functions of banks are elaborated upon, as well as their respective business activities, and the developments in the (international) banking sector are analyzed. The course finishes with an analysis of risk management at banks, and the importance of adequate risk management from the point of view of overall financial stability. In this context, the role of financial supervisors is also discussed.

Linear algebra is the branch of mathematics that is primarily concerned with problems involving linearity of one kind or another. This is reflected by the three main themes around which this introductory course is centered. The first theme concerns how to solve a system of linear equations. For this problem, a complete solution procedure is developed which provides a way to deal with such problems systematically, regardless of the number of equations or the number of unknowns. The second theme addresses linear functions and mappings, which can be studied naturally from a geometric point of view. This involves geometric ‘primitives’ such as points, lines, and planes, and geometric ‘actions’ such as rotation, reflection, projection, and translation. One of the main tools of linear algebra is offered by matrices and vectors, for which a basic theory of matrix-vector computation is developed. This allows one to bring these two themes together in a common, exceptionally fruitful, framework. By introducing the notions of vector spaces, inner products, and orthogonality, a deeper understanding of the scope of these techniques is developed, opening up a large array of rather diverse application areas. The third theme shifts from the geometric point of view to the dynamic perspective, where the focus is on the effects of iteration (i.e., the repeated application of a linear mapping). This involves a basic theory of eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Examples and exercises are provided to clarify the issues and to develop practical computational skills. They also serve to demonstrate practical applications where the results of this course can be successfully employed. Prerequisites include Basic Mathematical Tools or substantial high school experience in Mathematics. 

This course begins by discussing the physiology of the cell and the function of the cell membrane. It then continues to cardiovascular physiology, respiratory, fluid, and salt balance, followed by the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system and ending with gastrointestinal physiology, control, and feedback. This course is designed to be taken in combination with SKI2079 Lab Skills: Human Anatomy and Histology. Students wishing to take the Lab Skills should concurrently enroll in or have completed this course. Students wishing to take SCI2009 Human Physiology without taking the Lab Skills may do so. Prerequisites include Introduction to Biology.