The Big Questions: On the Building Blocks of Nature, the Universe, Life and the Future, 7.5 ECTS credits

About the course

How do the building blocks of the world work, are we truly alone in the universe, and what challenges lie ahead for humanity? These are some of the big questions you can explore in depth in this standalone evening course.

Learning objectives

On completing the course, the student will be able to:

1. Account for the various components of the universe and their properties (for example the fundamental properties of elementary particles, how atoms build up larger structures, and the composition of the universe).
2. Describe how life can be defined, and how it arose and evolved on Earth.
3. Describe the conditions under which life may arise elsewhere in the universe, and how and where we can search for it.
4. Account for the long-term challenges facing humanity.

Content

For thousands of years, humankind has questioned the world around us and our own place in it. The course is built around four topics, or central questions. These questions are so fundamental that they not only define much of today’s research, but were just as important 100 years ago and 2,000 years ago, and will likely still be relevant 100 years from now. They form an essential and defining part of what characterises us as a species, and a central part of what sets us apart from other living organisms.

While humankind affects the environment, the climate and the planet as a whole, we have also managed to learn a great deal about how nature works. What made this possible is the fact that we’ve developed capable brains, brains that can store information, process it together with others, put it in context and pass it on between generations. Alongside the development of the brain, we’ve developed curiosity and asked questions about how things connect. The work on these big questions, that is, research, is what has given us the considerable knowledge we have today about the structure and function of nature. Throughout history, we’ve gathered so much knowledge that our lives are utterly different from those of our ancestors. We live longer, safer lives and can experience far more than we once could. All of this, and much more, stems from our innate hunger for knowledge.

Topics: 1) What are the building blocks of the world and how do they work? 2) What is life? 3) The universe: are we alone? 4) What are the challenges of the future?

Organisation

The course is based on lectures and independent study. It runs during the autumn semester at 25% pace and consists of twelve sessions (lectures, seminars and Q&A sessions), three for each of the four topics. Each session is up to three hours long, including breaks. Part of the teaching is delivered in Norwegian.

Examination, including compulsory elements

Assessment consists of individual written assignments.

The course examiner may examine individual students by other means than those stated above if there are special grounds for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers granting targeted educational support due to a disability.

Language of instruction

The course is taught in Swedish.