An Introduction to Sequential Decision Problems
(Mandatory for the first-year Ph.D. Students)
Speaker: Prof. Justin Goodson, Saint Louis University (USA)
Wednesday, May 20th, 2026, 10:00 AM
Room A6, Contrada S. Chiara, 50
Abstract
This short lecture introduces stochastic dynamic programming as a framework for modeling and solving sequential decision problems under uncertainty. Participants will learn how to formulate a problem as a Markov decision process, interpret decision trees, and understand the value function and backward induction. Because exact solutions are often impractical, the session surveys practical policy design strategies, including policy, cost, and value function approximations, as well as direct lookaheads. The lecture also introduces dual bounds and information relaxations as tools for benchmarking policies and quantifying optimality gaps. Examples from dynamic delivery and routing illustrate how these ideas translate into implementable decision rules in practice.
Optimization Models for Energy Economics
(Mandatory for the first-year Ph.D. Students)
Speaker: Prof. Antonio J. Conejo,The Ohio State University, USA.
Speaker: Prof. Miguel Carrión Ruiz Peinado, Universidad de Castilla - La Mancha, Spain.
Speaker: Prof. Álavaro García Cerezo, Universidad de Castilla - La Mancha, Spain.
Chair: Prof. Ruth Dominguez, University of Brescia
Thursday, May 21st, 2026, 09:30 AM
Room A5, Contrada Santa Chiara, 50
Bounded Backward Induction for Max-Min Dynamic Programs
(Mandatory for the first-year Ph.D. Students)
Speaker: Prof. Justin Goodson, Saint Louis University (USA)
Chair: Prof. Luca Bertazzi, University of Brescia
Wednesday, May 27th, 2026, 11:00 AM
Sala Biblioteca, Via San Faustino 74/b
Solving the Consistent Travelling Salesman Problem
(Mandatory for the first-year Ph.D. Students)
Speaker: Prof. Juan José Salazar González, Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife
Chair: Prof. Carlo Filippi, University of Brescia
Wednesday, May 20th, 2026, 02:30 PM
Room D2, Via San Faustino 64 (Brixia Building)
Designing tournaments in sports: balancing chance and fairness
(Mandatory for the first-year Ph.D. Students)
Speaker: Prof. Frits Spieksma, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.
Chair: Prof. Carlo Filippi, University of Brescia
Wednesday, May 6th, 2026, 11:30 AM
Room D4, Via San Faustino 64 (Brixia Building)
Price of Diversity: the case of the TSP
(Mandatory for the first-year Ph.D. Students)
Speaker: Prof. Frits Spieksma, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.
Chair: Prof. Carlo Filippi, University of Brescia
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026, 2:30 PM
Room D2, Via San Faustino 64 (Brixia Building)
Energy communities: technologies, regulations, and economics. The Spanish case.
(Mandatory for the first-year Ph.D. Students)
Speaker: Prof. Luis Varela Cabo, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain.
Chair: Prof. Paolo Falbo, University of Brescia
Thursday, February 12th, 2026, 12:30 PM
Room D5, Via San Faustino 64 (Brixia Building)
Great Layoff, Great Retirement and Post-Pandemic Inflation
Speaker: Prof. Domenico Massaro, University of Milan, IT
Chair: Prof. Mattia Guerini, University of Brescia
Wednesday, January 21st, 2026, 01:30 P.M.
Room D2, Via San Faustino 64
Abstract
This paper examines how pandemic-induced layoffs contributed to post-Covid-19 inflation through their effects on retirement and labor supply. Using CPS microdata, we show that the unprecedented “Great Layoff” triggered a sharp rise in early retirements – the “Great Retirement” – which increased labor market tightness and nominal wages. Younger non-participants were drawn into employment, partly offsetting the loss of older workers. To quantify this mechanism, we estimate a New Keynesian model with endogenous participation and retirement. Counterfactual simulations show that the Great Retirement accounted for roughly three cumulative percentage points of inflation from 2020 to 2024, with modest GDP effects.
Introduction to intervention meta-analysis
Speaker: Prof. Marta Pellegrini, University of Cagliari, IT
Chair: Prof. Giovanni Maria Abbiati, University of Brescia
Thursday, January 22nd, 2026, 3-6 P.M.
Friday, January 23rd, 2026, 9-12 P.M.
Room D2, Via San Faustino 64 (both seminars)