Life is a series of choices, great and small. And even larger than life concepts such as international trade balances, flue pandemics, and...traffic jams, can be seen as the aggregate result of choices made by ordinary people like you and me. Hence it should come as no surprise that understanding and predicting human choice behavior has always been one of the most important goals of the Social Sciences. And when someone who is educated in a place like Delft says 'understanding and predicting', he or she thinks 'modeling', and preferably using mathematics. Luckily - for Delftenaren at least - in the late 1970s a new research field was born^, that concerns itself with the development of mathematical choice models. Some ofthe baby's crucial first steps were actually made - and not coincidentally so - at another university of technology: MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Ben-Akiva, 1973). This makes perfect sense given the notion that over the past few decades, many prominent universities of technology, including TU Delft, have come to understand that they could, and should, make important contributions to the Social Sciences as well, using their highly effective toolbox of mathematical modeling skills. This lecture has some goals: first, I want to convince you of the importance and beauty of my research field; and I want to show you what an interesting future lies ahead for choice modelers. Third, I want to explain why Delft, and in particular its Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, is the perfect place for hosting a team of choice modelers. Fourth, if you are a scholar or a student, I would like to entice you to join forces with me and my colleagues; and if you are family or friend, my goal is also to provide a bit of entertainment - to the extent possible, that is. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting