Crash courses

The Mathematics 2025 crash course is now available on Coursera. This course covers standard topics such as functions of a single variable and is composed of 5 modules, each with a corresponding test:

1. Precalculus
2. Functions
3. Introduction to Differential Calculus
4. Properties and Applications of Derivatives
5. Introduction to Integral Calculus

You can find the course at the following link: Introduction to Calculus.

While it is recommended to complete the course within 3 weeks, it is possible to finish it in a shorter period. By the way, we recommend you end this course before the beginning of the academic year (September 15th, 2025).

Please note that a free version of the course is available; there is no need to pay for it.

EPS students who do not meet the minimum mathematics requirements (you have received a recommendation in your admission notice to attend the Mathematics Crash Course) must obtain the free version of the certificate. After completing the course, download the certificate from your Coursera page and send it to eps@unimi.it.

For further questions, please get in touch with Professor Lorenzo Mercuri through this email address lorenzo.mercuri@unimi.it – Please consider that during the summer break in August, professors and offices have limited access to e-mails, therefore we invite you to contact us after August 31st.

The crash course in Statistics is available for free before the starting of official classes from 15 September 2025, so that you can revise fundamentals online by yourself.

Please click on the following link to access the Crash Course in Statistics.

EPS students who have been recommended the Statistics Crash Course (you have received a recommendation in your admission notice to attend the Statistics Crash Course) must submit a proof of completion of the course. After completing the course, forward the email from Khan Academy to eps@unimi.it.

The crash course in Microeconomics is available for free before the starting of official classes from 15 September 2025, so that you can revise fundamentals online by yourself.

The Microeconomics 2025 Crash Course is on Coursera. It is a series of two courses - one basic micro (goes over scarcity, gains from trade, supply & demand, and perfect competition; there is some math but very little calculus) and another introducing market imperfections (monopoly, monopolistic competition, and externalities and public goods).

• Microeconomics: The Power of Markets
• Microeconomics: When Markets Fail

Both courses are held by Rebecca Stein (UPenn). The course takes about 27 hours and there are quizzes. The course without the completion certificate is free. No need to request the final certificate, as it must be paid.

Official syllabus 1: We make economics decisions every day: what to buy, whether to work or play, what to study. We respond to markets all the time: prices influence our decisions, markets signal where to put effort, they direct firms to produce certain goods over others. Economics is all around us. This course is an introduction to the microeconomic theory of markets: why we have them, how they work, what they accomplish. We will start with the concept of scarcity and how specialization according to comparative advantage helps us achieve more than we could alone. Next we model a marked using the tools of Supply and Demand and learn what well working markets accomplish and what their limit are. We end by exploring the impact of government intervention on perfect markets. Examples are taken from everyday life, from goods and services that we all purchase and use. We will apply the theory to current events and policy debates through weekly exercises. These will empower you to be an educated, critical thinker who can understand, analyse and evaluate market outcomes.

Official syllabus 2: Perfect markets achieve efficiency: maximizing total surplus generated. But real markets are imperfect. In this course we will explore a set of market imperfections to understand why they fail and to explore possible remedies including as antitrust policy, regulation, government intervention. Examples are taken from everyday life, from goods and services that we all purchase and use. We will apply the theory to current events and policy debates through weekly exercises. These will empower you to be an educated, critical thinker who can understand, analyze and evaluate market outcomes.

For further questions, please get in touch with Professor Vojtech Bartos at vojtech.bartos@unimi.it.

EPS students who have been recommended the Economics Crash Course (you have received a recommendation in your admission notice to attend the Economics Crash Course) must submit a proof of completion of the course. After completing the course, forward the email from Coursera and send it to eps@unimi.it.

The crash course in Political Science is available for free before the starting of official classes from 15 September 2025, so that you can revise fundamentals online by yourself.

Please find here below information on the crash course in Political Science.

Teacher: Andrea Cassani

Duration: 20 hrs.

Teaching mode: async lectures only, audio-video recordings and other materials are available on a dedicated Ariel website.

In order to attend this course please follow the instruction attached to this message.

Course description and syllabus:

1. A science of politics?
2. Political regimes
3. Democracy and democratization
4. Electoral systems
5. Parties
6. Party systems
7. Governments
8. Institutional veto players
9. Models of democracy
10. Public policies

The course builds on the following textbooks (suggested non-compulsory readings):

• Clark, William Roberts, Matt Golder, and Sona Nadenichek Golder. “Principles of Comparative Politics”. CQ Press, 2017 (3 edition).
• Caramani, Daniele (ed.). “Comparative Politics”. Oxford University Press, 2020 (5 edition)

Please note that this crash course is not organized by DEMM.

DEMM would like to thank Andrea Cassani and the UNIMI Department of Social and Political Sciences (SPS) for making this course also available to EPS students.

All EPS students who didn't take any political science course in the Bachelor (or passed it with low grades) are warmly recommended to attend this course.

Please note: if you have chosen a different master or University, you are not authorized to attend this course.

EPS students who have been recommended the Political Science Crash Course (you have received a recommendation in your admission notice to attend the Political Science Crash Course) must submit a proof of completion of the course. After completing the course, forward the email from Ariel to eps@unimi.it.