The Feedback: Start of Spring Semester 2024

This is a blog specifically about the System Dynamics Master’s program at the University of Bergen (UiB) from the perspective of a student. For now, that person is me, Aidan, a student from the United States who is entering his second semester. The Feedback will aim to provide insight into student life and research, as well as providing updates on the exciting work of our faculty and PhD candidates.

The international nature of our program brings together students and professors from all over the world. This unique intermingling of stories and culture is something that I truly appreciate as part of my student life. Some may say that in this program you learn the way in which different cultures laugh. A mixture of stories comes with a mixture of jokes and humor that cements the connections students make during their learning experience. Even professors and PhD candidates reflect this international nature of the program as it is one of the few English language master’s programs at UiB. Since this is a small community, it allows for students to connect with our professors both in and outside of the classroom. While this creates a vibrant culture outside of the classroom, it also cultivates a broad research collective with a variety of interests. Just as the people span from all over the world, be that the United States, Norway, Zimbabwe or Vietnam, research interests range from public health policy, agricultural economics, climate change, and even deep-sea mining research. These diverse interests are nurtured throughout this program. Many students might come with predetermined interests in a specific academic field, however, there is room and encouragement for exploring one's curiosities.

As System Dynamics is a methodology that helps us study a variety of dynamic problems, each student is developing the skills to identify and model different problems in different fields. For instance, I am a first year student that completed my Bachelor’s degree in business back home in the United States. I am now exploring how models are used for problem identification concerning terrorism and insurgency, agriculture, and even public health policy, fields that I have had little experience with before. As I am someone who is curious and eager to explore, I love that I get to see how different models work in relation to the world’s many complex problems. With a shared lens of System Dynamics, I am able to learn more about fields of research that I was unable to during my bachelor’s degree.

Our journey into System Dynamics starts with the first semester, which is meant to be an in-depth and intensive introduction into the methodology and discipline. Your mindset is adapted to identify what constitutes a dynamic problem, which means the problem must be changing over time and there must be feedback. We also begin to learn and use what terms mean such as exogenous variables, endogenous variables, feedback loops, stocks, flows, and converters. By the end of the semester, I started off as a System Dynamics rookie to now being able to complete my first explanatory model on how the introduction of vertical farming could work in Norway. I aim to submit my model to the upcoming 2024 System Dynamics Conference which will be held here in Bergen. Already, I am doing things I never thought of myself being able to do.

Now, with my second semester starting, I aim to explore more how to use System Dynamics when creating policies with a wide variety of clients, be that governments, NGOs or private businesses, to name a few, and analyzing their impacts. This is an opportunity to become more fluent in the System Dynamics modeling process. I see my peers who are starting their thesis projects. I know that this semester proves to be a key learning experience in preparation for their thesis. Some are looking to test policies in relation to an existing model, while others are working with real-life clients to build models to help with real-life issues.

While I have only been at UiB for the past six-months, I can say that I have not been more excited. Yes, I have worked hard, but I have also built connections with both my peers and my professors that will last beyond my time here. I am eager I am able to share a little bit of this experience with you.