Decision methods and models (A.A. 2025/26)

Schedule and classroom


The lessons take place

  • on Tuesday, from 15.30 to 18.30, in classroom V4 (Venezian)
  • on Friday, from 13.30 to 16.30, in classroom Beta (Computer Science department)

Exam


The exam is written and composed of 8 parts dealing with the main topics of the course. Each part consists of theoretical questions and numerical exercises.

The dates expected for the exams are (but please check on the official site):

  • on 01/12/2025, from 14.30 to 17.00
  • on 17/12/2025, from 14.30 to 17.00
  • on 19/03/2026, from 14.30 to 17.00
  • on 09/04/2026, from 14.30 to 17.00
  • on 22/06/2026, from 10.30 to 13.00
  • on 20/07/2026, from 10.30 to 13.00

Notice: The June and July calls overlap with those of Heuristic algorithms. Please, let me know in advance if you plan to take both exams (probably, one will be moved to the afternoon).

Lessons

Please check the prerequisites to understand whether you have the sufficient background to take the course (foreign students in particular).

Lecture notes in Italian and lecture notes in English are available. Thank you for pointing out errors or unclear statements in either version. Notice that some exercises have not been revised, and provide only the numerical solutions. The students can send their solutions for a check.

The lecture notes include sections marked by an asterisk with a footnote stating that they provide advanced material not required for the exam. To put it as clearly as I can, they provide advanced material not required for the exam.

Additional lecture notes, exercises and solved exams have been provided by a former student. Other students who are keen to take part in this effort are encouraged to contact him. They have not been revised, but there is a partial list of mistakes pointed out by students.

Notice: On Friday the 31st October the lesson will not take place.

A tentative calendar of the course is:

  • 26th September: Introduction to complicated decision problems (slides)
  • 26-30th September: Case studies
  • 30th September: Formal definitions (slides)
  • 3rd October: Weak-order models of preference (slides)
  • 3rd-7th October: Multi-attribute utility theory (1) (slides)
  • 7th October: Multi-attribute utility theory (2) (slides)
  • 10th October: Mathematical programming (1) (slides)
  • 10-14th October: Mathematical programming (2) (slides)
  • 14th October: Mathematical programming (exercises and applications: see the lecture notes)
  • 17th October: The Paretian preference (1) (slides)
  • 17th-21st October: The Paretian preference (2) (slides)
  • 21st October: The Paretian preference (exercises: see the lecture notes and the slides)
  • 24th October: Weak rationality approaches (Analytic Hierarchy Process) (slides)
  • 24-28th October: Weak rationality approaches (ELECTRE Methods) (slides)
    The Italian Republic official gazette introducing legal methods to decide a competitive bid
  • 28th October: Decision-making under uncertainty (slides)
  • 31st October: this lesson will be skipped
  • 4th November: Decision-making under ignorance (slides)
  • 4-7th November: Decision-making under risk (1) (slides)
  • 7th November: Decision-making under risk (2) (slides)
  • 11th November: Decision theory (slides)
  • 11-14th November: Game theory (generalities) (slides)
  • 14th November: Zero-sum games (slides)
  • 18th November: Symmetric games (slides)
  • 18th-21st November: Group decisions (1) (slides)
  • 21st November: Group decisions (2) (slides)