Course on randomness launches with over 42,000 students

More than 42,000 students today begin the course "Unpredictable? Randomness, Chance and Free Will" by CQT Principal Investigator Valerio Scarani. The eight-week course is being offered online for free on Coursera.org.

Anyone, anywhere can enrol for free in the online course "Unpredictable? Randomness, Chance and Free Will" by CQT PI Valerio Scarani

Valerio has pre-recorded lectures covering a gamut of topics on randomness – from its history and definition, to its application in things such as simulation and cryptography. The course will also delve into the idea of inherent randomness in quantum theory. Each week, video lectures and slides will be made available to registered students on the Coursera website.

Valerio notes that it's difficult to prepare a course for people coming from a vast range of backgrounds. Some will have no existing knowledge of the subject matter, others may be experts in some of the material. "At this moment, I just hope to have hit the right level of speech so that there will be personal discovery for everyone," says Valerio.

Students can participate not only by watching the lectures, but also by joining the discussion forums and taking the two multiple-choice tests to receive a grade – a passing grade or, for high-scorers, a statement of accomplishment.

For more details of the course and to register, visit the course homepage here: Unpredictable? Randomness, Chance and Free Will

Valerio's course is one of the first offerings from the National University of Singapore on Coursera. The University established a partnership with Coursera last year. Other courses from NUS are "Write like Mozart: An Introduction to Classical Music Composition:" also starting 6 January, and "Reason and Persuasion: Thinking Through Three Dialogues By Plato" starting 10 February.

If you have any questions about the course, please ask them on the course's Discussion Forums, where lively conversations are already underway. Valerio and his two course assistants, CQT Research Assistants Melvyn Ho and Law Yun Zhi will be monitoring the forums.