Course Objectives

Ordinary differential equations serve as models for numerous real-world applications and have led to many significant insights into nature and technology. Examples are the spreading of infectious diseases, the immune response to bacterial and viral infections, transport of particles in the atmosphere and the ocean (eg to understand how ash from wild fires spreads and how to best respond to oil spills), prediction of rapid changes in climate and ecological models, HIV drug therapies, and the distribution of wealth in societies.

Learning Goals

By the end of the course, you will be able to

• formulate questions about real-world problems and create ordinary differential equations models to answer them

• determine when an ordinary differential equation has a solution and when the solution is unique

• analyse and solve ordinary differential equations using qualitative, analytical, and numerical techniques

• draw conclusions about real-world problems from ordinary differential equations models