This course offers a basic and accessible introduction to programming in Python, aimed specifically at researchers and teachers without prior coding skills. Due to limited capacity, we can only offer this course to staff affiliated with Leiden University. You can find a link to the registration form at the bottom of this page.

During five sessions, this course will explain the core principles of programming using Python, including topics such as variables, data types and conditional execution (e.g., if X, then Y). You will be able to perform basic calculations, manipulate text and read from and write to files.

The course consists of five sessions on 23 February, 1 March, 8 March, 22 March and 5 April. The sessions will last 3 hours, and they take place in between 09:30 and 12:30.

For more information on the contents of the course, you can send an email to [email protected]. 

What you'll learn

Session 1:

• Using Jupyter notebooks
• Variables and data types
• Conditional and repeated execution of code

Session 2: 

• Lists and dictionaries
• Working with String
• Functions, modules and packages

Session 3:

• Working with files and folders
• Regular expressions

Session 4:

• Acquiring data
• Data analysis with Python

Session 5:

• Data visualisation
• Interactive mapping

Workload

The course consists of five sessions of three hours each. Participants are also requested to do some background reading and to carry out simple coding tasks as homework. The total workload is estimated at about 25 hours.

Approximately two weeks before the start all registered participants will receive practical instructions on how to prepare for the course.

Application form