REGNAMO

Community-Centered Modeling of Housing Related Health Disparities (ComDisp) is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional project funded by Belmont Forum with €1.632M budget. I am a Co-PI and the lead of the modeling team of the project. My main partner in this project is a team of public health researchers from Vietnam. We will hire a PhD to work as the main modeler on this project. There will be no additional funding available for students. I would, however, consider requests for unpaid internship for master’s thesis projects.

Systemika is a project to develop a web-based software for learning (and teaching) system dynamics. The software will be a simple, interoperable, libre tool that makes system dynamics accessible to all, empowering teachers and students: simple because it will focus on the essentials of the system dynamics method, like basic stock-flow modelling, with a pleasant and easy-to-use interface; interoperable because it will rely on open standards, like mathematics and the XMILE standard, CSV and, of course, the web platform.

To create the software, we need innovative minds to help us design and implement the software so that it achives what it promises. Thesis topics can be defined around the design process and measuring its effectiveness.

In collaboration with the University of Tehran, I am doing some system dynamics modeling to understand the root causes of forest decline in north of Iran. This understanding will then help us design and test policies that can mitigate the issue without generating unintented societal consequences.

The modeling is still at a very early stage but data and domain (forest management) expertise are available. We can help define thesis topics around the problem.

The global phenomenon of an aging population poses significant challenges to societies, impacting socioeconomic dynamics and potentially exacerbating inequality within and between age groups. As the average age of populations continues to rise, it becomes imperative to understand the long-term, systemic consequences and devise strategies to address emerging issues.

The inequality may be further exacerbated by outmigration of the younger workforce from rural to urban regions. The issue of migration can also be observed on a global scale, where younger workforce may seek more favorable employment conditions outside their home country. Another possible dynamic may be that an older working population would equate to a more experienced workforce, and may contribute to the society’s productivity through their stock of knowledge and experience.

While the literature suggests that productivity of older individuals can decline in jobs that require speed or physical strengths, they might outperform younger individuals where experience and verbal abilities matter the most. Especially, as developed societies continue to shift away from labor-based work to service-oriented employment, age may become a less significant contributing factor to worker productivity. Considering all these complexities, computer modeling and simulation can explore the socioeconomic implications of aging populations.

Two theses have already been produced out of this project. However, much more modeling is needed to fully explore the complex dimensions of the issue.