Statistics courses
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PDF GENERAL COURSE
FLYER -
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Here are some of the comments from people who have done one of our
courses.
- I did not realize that statistics can be fun.
- I wish I had done this course 10 years earlier.
- I need to rewrite all my papers.
- Can you come back for another course?
- I like your step by step didactical approach.
Not many people enjoy statistics; our course participants did! Well, in
as far as statistics can be enjoyed. We will throw protocols and flow charts
at you, plus a certain amount of humor. We don't use toy data, but real
data.
We have been in nearly every country in Europe for courses. From the warm
south (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece) to the cold north (Norway, Finland,
Lithuania). From the west (Ireland) to the east (Bulgaria). We have also
been in the United Arabic Emirates and Mexico, and in the extreme south,
Argentina and New Zealand.
All in all we have educated about 5000 ecologist. We have revisited some
institutes more than 5 times. Some of our courses are part of national or EU
funded MSc or PhD programmes. Other courses were funded by UNESCO or were
part of EU projects.
The course instructors are a statistician (Dr. Alain Zuur) and a
biologist (Dr. Elena Ieno). Our biological and statistical backgrounds
ensure a lively and enjoyable interaction with our participants. One of our
strong points is that we can explain statistics in an understandable
language.
Unfortunately, we cannot teach you everything in one
week (unless you are Einstein). We can entertain you for about 25 days;
should you wish to do so. We provide a series of courses, see the table
below.
|
Course
|
Content
|
Days
|
Pre-knowledge
|
|
1
|
Data
exploration and visualization
|
3
|
-
|
|
2
|
Basic
statistics
|
2
|
-
|
|
3
|
Data
exploration, regression, GLM and GAM
|
4-5
|
Basic stats
|
|
4
|
Mixed
effects modeling (dealing with heterogeneity and nested data)
|
3-4
|
Course 3
|
|
5
|
Mixed
effects modeling (dealing with heterogeneity, nested data and
correlation)
|
4-5
|
Course 3
|
|
6
|
Analyses of zero inflated data (ZIP, ZAP, ZINB, ZANB)
|
3
|
Course 3
|
|
7
|
Introduction to R
|
3
|
-
|
|
8
|
Multivariate analysis
|
4-5
|
-
|
In practice people do course 3 (data exploration/regression/GLM/GAM),
followed by course 4 or 5 (mixed effects modeling) six or twelve months later.
We also run R courses and multivariate courses. The new module on
zero inflated data will start in November 2010. A few brave institutes have
organized courses 4 & 5 in 10 sequential days (to reduce our travel costs);
that is possible.....but hard.
Our course material is based on our three Springer books Analyzing Ecological Data
(Zuur et al. 2007), Mixed Effects Models and Extensions in Ecology with R
(Zuur et al. 2009) and the best-seller A Beginner's Guide to R (Zuur
et al. 2009).

The zero inflated module is taken from Analyzing Ecological Data - Practical solutions when things get
complicated. (Zuur et al., In prep), and the data exploration and
visualization module comes from a book in preparation with the same title
(Ieno & Zuur, In prep).
Your university library probably has a copy of one of our books. Have a look at the case study chapters; most are
based on data sets from previous course participants and are in fact the
exercises that you will be doing during the course.
Note that during the courses we discuss concepts, and we will avoid the
(limited and isolated) matrix algebra that is in the books.
The
easiest option is to participate in one of the open courses, e.g. in
Portugal, Spain, UK or Ireland. You can also contact us to see whether a
seat is available in one of the in-house courses. Alternative, you can
organize an open or in-house course at
your institute. In-house courses are for a pre-set fee, and you decide who
participates. With open courses, you arrange the room and we charge per
person. Hence, you do not have to fight for a training budget (except for
your own participants).
However, there is a waiting list for new courses of about 12
months. But we do allow for provisional bookings that can be cancelled
without penalty. Just email us if you have any questions. Here is a
general course flyer.
Yes of course. In general our audience consists of postgraduate
ecologists, and the theory and exercise data sets are relatively easy to
grasp. Occasionally, we get requests to organize a course for a specific
audience. For example, in October 2009 we ran a course for 12 forensic
entomologists at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Frankfurt, Germany.
CSI viewers will know that these folks have quite interesting data sets; but
rather different to what you will find in general statistical textbooks. The
course organizer gave us a couple of data sets which we used as exercise
data during the course, and we changed some of the examples during the
lectures. In fact, they liked it so much that the European Association for
Forensic Entomology will run another course during their next annual
meeting. And the course instructor Elena Ieno liked it so much that she
wrote a case study chapter using one of their data sets:
- Ieno, Amendt, Fremdt, Saveliev, Zuur. (In press). Analyzing forensic
entomological data using mixed modeling and extensions. In:
Forensic Entomology - Novel Arthropods, Environments and Approaches.
Editors: Amendt, Goff, Campobasso & Grassberger. Springer.
So yes, we can provide tailored courses, and we may like it as you can
see from the chapter above.
Where do we run our courses?
Anywhere. We have given courses in the UK, Portugal, Ireland, Mexico, New
Zealand, Argentina, Italy, The Netherlands, Finland, Spain, Germany,
Lithuania, Norway, Bulgaria, etc.
| Course |
Remaining seats |
Price |
Mixed effects modeling course
17 - 21 May 2010. Coimbra, Portugal
http://www1.ci.uc.pt/imar/mixed_model/ |
10 out of 20 |
See URL |
Data exploration, linear regression, GLM &
GAM
15 - 19 February 2010. Coimbra, Portugal.
http://www1.ci.uc.pt/imar/mvs_10/ |
0 out of 23 |
See URL |
A
Beginner's Guide to R
15 - 16 November 2010. University of Evora, Portugal |
20 out of 25 |
175 Euro |
An
introduction to the analysis of zero inflated data (ZIP, ZINB,
ZAP, ZANB)
17 - 19 November 2010. University of Evora, Portugal |
20 out of 25 |
325 Euro |
| An open 12-person zero inflation course
will be given in Aberdeen (UK) towards the end of 2010, early 2011 |
|
|
Data exploration, linear regression, GLM &
GAM
7 - 11 February 2011. Coimbra, Portugal. |
Registration will start in September 2010 |
Around 500 euros per person |
*: VAT is 17.5%.
More Detailed information:
Mixed effects modeling course, Coimbra, Portugal. 17 - 21 May 2010.
Program:
- Monday morning: Introduction to R. (We will revise the linear
regression example in Appendix A in Zuur et al. (2009).
- Monday afternoon: Generalized least squares (GLS) to deal with heterogeneity
in linear regression and additive models. This is based on Chapter 4 in Zuur
et al (2009).
- Tuesday morning: GLS
- Tuesday afternoon: Linear mixed effects modelling. This is based on
Chapter 5 in Zuur et al. (2009).
- Wednesday: Linear mixed effects models and additive mixed effects
models.
- Thursday morning: More (additve) mixed effects modelling.
- Thursday afternoon: Dealing with temporal correlation in linear
mixed effects models and additive mixed effects models. Based on Chapter
6 in Zuur et al (2009)
- Friday morning: Dealing with temporal correlation.
- Friday afternoon: Dealing with spatial correlation. Based on Chapter
7 in Zuut et al. (2009).
Zuur et al. (2009).
Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with R.
Further details, registration and costs:
http://www1.ci.uc.pt/imar/mixed_model/index.php
- Pre-required knowledge: Linear regression (as in Appendix A from Zuur et
al. (2009) or Chapter 5 in Zuur et al. (2007). Additive
modelling (as in Chapter 7 of Zuur et al. 2007). No R knowledge is
assumed, but to avoid a steep learning curve we will provide a document
with essential R code a few weeks before the course.
- On Monday morning we will provide an elementary (!) introduction to
R. There is no reduction if you want to skip this section.
- This is a non-technical course.
Data exploration, regression, GLM and GAM course in Coimbra, February
2010
An introduction to R.
- 15 - 16 November 2010. University of Evora,
Portugal
- Details:
See pdf.
Analysis of zero inflated data (zero inflated and hurdle models).
- 17 - 19
November 2010.
- University of Evora, Portugal
-
Course flyer
- Course content:
- Day 1: Poisson
and negative binomial GLMs.
- Days 2 & 3: Zero inflated models (ZIP) and zero
altered (hurdle) models (ZAP). Extensions to negative binomial. Zero
inflation for continuous data.
- Costs: 325 Euro
- Maximum number of participants: 25
- Prerequired knowledge:
Good R skills. We strongly advise that you have attended one of our
regression, GLM & GAM courses.
- Note that the Poisson and negative binomial
GLM modules in the ZIP course are more technical. We assume working
knowledge of data exploration, regression, GLM and GAM.
- Course times: 09.30
- 17.00. With a 1 hour lunch break.
To register for a course, please contact us by email
(highstat@highstat.com). We need
to know: Your name and address for the invoice. Which course you wish to
attend. Please read the conditions below before registering.
Conditions:
- All fees
are payable 6 weeks in advance and no admission to the course will be
permitted until payment has been received.
- Course literature and software
is copyright protected and may not be reproduced or distributed without
permission.
- For some courses, participants will be given a personal license
for the software package Brodgar. The license will be valid for a period of
1 year.
- The course content might be modified or improved prior to the
course start date.
- Accommodation is not included as part of the course fee
and participants are expected to make their own arrangements.
- Refunds
(after deducting a 15% bank and administration fee) will only be given if a
place is cancelled at least 6 weeks before the start date of the course.
- A
course participant can be substituted at any time before the start of the
course.
- We reserve the right to cancel any course without liability other
than a refund of the full course fee.
- Unfortunately, we cannot assist with
VISA application.
- The courses are designed for biologists and we will only
discuss concepts; no detailed mathematics. As such, these courses are less
suitable for statisticians who wish to learn all the mathematical details.
The calendar below shows where we have been, are and will be.
Here is a list of past, present and future courses. We have seen a lot of
people and it was (is) great fun!
2010
- January 2010: In-house PhD course University of Aberdeen, UK.
- February 2010: Open course: regression, GLM & GAM. Dep. Zoologia da
Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra. Portugal.
2009
- January: In-house PhD course University of Aberdeen, UK.
- January: Two in-house courses at IMARES, IJmuiden, The Netherlands
- February 2009: In-house course at CSL, York, UK
- February 2009: Open course:
regression, GLM & GAM. Dep. Zoologia da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra.
Portugal.
- March 2009: Two in-house courses at National Avian Research
Center, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
- April 2009: In-house course at NIWA, Auckland, New
Zealand April/May 2009: Three courses at Cawthron, Nelson, New Zealand
- June
2009: In-house course at AZTI, Spain
- June 2009: In-house course Instituto de
Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (Ciudad Real).
- July 2009: In-house
course at University of York, UK
- August 2009: In-house course at IMR,
Bergen, Norway
- September 2009: In-house course at UCC, Cork, Ireland.
- September/October 2009: Open course: Statistics in forensic entomology,
Zentrum der Rechtsmedizin, Frankfort am Main, Germany.
- November 2009:
In-house course at NIOZ
- November 2009: In-house course at IMR, Tromso,
Norway
- December 2010: Course in Vigo
- December 2011: Course in Newburgh, UK
2008
- January 2008: In-house PhD course University of Aberdeen, UK.
- February
2008: In-house SPSS course University of York, UK.
- February 2008: In-house
mixed modelling, GLMM and GAMM course at IMARES, The Netherlands.
- March
2008: Open course: regression, GLM & GAM. Dep. Zoologia da Universidade de
Coimbra, Coimbra. Portugal.
- March 2008: In-house regression GLM & GAM
course, University of York, UK.
- April 2008: In-house time series course,
IMR, Bergen, Norway.
- April 2008: Open course mixed modelling, GLMM and GAMM,
Newburgh, UK
- May 2008: In-house ECOSUMMER training course.
- May 2008: In-house course at CSL in York, UK.
- June 2008:
In-house course: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (Ciudad
Real).
- July 2008: In-house regression, GLM & GAM course, AZTI, Spain.
- July
2008: Summer School "Statistics in Biology", Institute of Oceanology,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Varna, Bulgaria.
- September 2008: Open
course: Regression and mixed modelling course, CSC, Helsinki, Finland
- September 2008: In-house mixed modelling course at UCC, Cork, Ireland.
- October 2008: In-house time series course at IMR, Bergen.
- October 2008: MSc
course at Aberdeen Univertsity.
- November 2008: In-house course, University
of York, UK.
- November 2008: In-house course for BioChange students, Galway,
Ireland
- December 2008: In-house R course at IMR, Bergen, Norway.
2007
- February
2007: In-house course NIOZ, Holland.
- February 2007: In-house course Evora,
Portugal.
- February 2007: In-house course Marine Laboratory, UK.
- March 2007:
In-house course Marine Laboratory, UK.
- March 2007: In-house course NIOZ,
Holland.
- March 2007: In-house course Newcastle University.
- April 2007: Open
course regression, GLM & GAM course, Newburgh, UK.
- May 2007: Open course
mixed modelling, GLMM and GAMM, Newburgh, UK.
- May 2007: R course at SAMS,
Oban, UK.
- May 2007: Marie-Cure training course in Greece:
ECOSUMMER training course
- June 2007: UNESCO funded course in Sofia, Bulgaria. Subject: regression, GLM
& GAM.
- August 2007: In-house R course in Vigo.
- September 2007: In-house
course at SAMS, Oban, UK. Subject: Linear mixed modelling and additive mixed
modeling with emphasis on temporal correlation.
- September 2007: In-house
course Zoology department in Cork, Ireland.
- October 2007: OPEN course: Mixed
modeling, Newburgh, UK.
- October 2007: In-house course for MSc students at
the University of Aberdeen, UK.
- October/November 2007: In-house time series
analysis course at IMARES, The Netherlands.
- November 2007: OPEN course;
Mexico (a series of 2 courses).
- Instituto de Oceanografia, Faculdade de
Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal (2x)
2006 - 2002
- Zoology department in Cork,
Ireland.
- As part of a Marie-Cure training site: Course in Vigo, Spain:
ECOSUMMER training course
- Centro Interuniversitario di Biologia Marina and Agenzia Regionale per la
Protezione Ambientale della Toscana, Livorno, Italy.
- Universidad Nacional
de Mar del Plata, Argentina. University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK (7x).
- Newburgh, UK (5x). Also with
Professor Ian T. Jolliffe as guest lecture. Faro, Portugal (4x).
- AWI,
Helgoland, Germany. Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Centro de Informática,
Tapada da Ajuda, Lisboa, Portugal.
- CNR-ISMAR, Ancona, Italy. Marine
Institute, Ireland (4x).
- CORPI, Klaipeda University, Klaipeda, Lithuania.
- Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico.
- Central Science
Laboratory, York, UK (4x).
- FRS Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, UK (3x). Course
as part of the EU WESTHER project at the 'Institut fuer Seefischerei
Hamburg', Germany.
- FIMR, Helsinki, Finland.

Six smiling Nigerian MSc students after 40 hours
statistics!
More smiling people, this time from the Marine Institute in
Ireland. Note the chocolate boxes on the table. The daily rate was three
boxes!


Not difficult to guess where this course was.
Well...close....it was in Livorno.

Course attendants in Livorno, October 2005:

Course attendants in Faro, May 2005. Part of an EU masters
degree.

In-house course at the Marine Institute in Newport,
Ireland. April 2005.
 |
Course instructor and local friends.
|
 |
One of the course instructors (Dr. Alain Zuur) climbing the Pyramid
of the Sun, Theotihuacán, Mexico. Course at UNAM, Mexico City. March
2005.
|
Lithuania, July 2005.

Participants of the R course
in Newburgh, UK. January 2005.
Here are some pictures made
by Dr. Bert Brinkman, who attended the GLM-GAM course in April 2006 and the
multivariate course with Prof. Ian Jolliffe in May 2006. The link will guide
you to his own website.
http://home.planet.nl/~brin3396/Foto/PhotoIndex.html