The exams will be oral, about 25-30 minutes long, and take place as a video conference via Zoom. You will need to show and identify yourself on camera. It does not matter whether it is a computer or a smartphone. No other hardware is required. If you would like to take the exam but not in this form as a video conference, please contact us.

The second period will take place on September 9 and 10. If there are more registrations than time slots, we will also assign time slots on September 7 and 8. Please contact Alexander Braun by August 29 to be assigned a time slot. You will receive a confirmation of the day of your exam on August 30 (e.g. your exam will be on September 9), the exact time will only be announced a few days before the exam (e.g. your exam will take place on September 9, 10:30).

One more thing: If you have been assigned a time slot but then decide to not take the exam, please remember to cancel it as soon as possible. It is very important for us to know that you will not show up because otherwise we will be waiting for you. In this case, send an e-mail to Thomas Kesselheim or Alexander Braun. Even a last-minute cancellation is better than a no-show. Of course, make sure that you also follow the official procedures (if applicable).

In many application scenarios, algorithms have to make decisions under some kind of uncertainty. This affects different kinds of problems. For example, when planing a route, a navigation system should take into consideration the traffic. Also, any machine-learning problem is about some kind of uncertainty. A random sample of data is used as a representative for the entire world.

In this course, we will get to know different techniques to model uncertainty and what approaches algorithms can use to cope with it. We will cover topics such as

• Online Algorithms
• Online Learning Algorithms and Online Convex Optimization
• Markov Decisions Processes
• Stochastic and Robust Optimization

You should bring a solid background in algorithms, calculus, and probability theory. Specialized knowledge about certain algorithms is not necessary.

• Tutorials, April 15
• Tutorials, April 22
• Tutorials, April 29
• Tutorials, May 6
• Tutorials, May 20
• Tutorials, June 10
• Tutorials, June 17
• Tutorials, June 24
• Tutorials, July 1
• Tutorials, July 8
• Tutorials, July 15

• Problem Set 1, due April 21
• Problem Set 2, due April 28
• Problem Set 3, due May 5
• Problem Set 4, due May 19
• Problem Set 5, due June 9
• Problem Set 6, due June 16
• Problem Set 7, due June 23
• Problem Set 8, due June 30
• Problem Set 9, due July 7
• Problem Set 10, due July 14
• Problem Set 11, due July 21