Admission requirements
For the Astronomy Bachelor, a passing grade for the course Statistics and Data Analysis (SDA) is required. For the Physics Bachelor, you are very welcome to join this course, but you will need to read up on the material covered in SDA. In addition, a passing grade for Complex Physics of Cooking and Experimentele Natuurkunde is recommended.
Description
In the era of data science, the responsible and accurate use of statistics is of high importance. In this course we first briefly review the foundations of probability theory and statistics. The main focus is on the application of statistics, in particular parameter inference within the Bayesian framework.
The course covers the following themes:
Conditional probability and marginalization
Statistical models and distributions
Likelihood and its connection to generative models
Nested models; hypothesis comparison
Bootstrap confidence intervals
Bayes' Theorem
Bayesian inference, including priors
Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods
Frequentist versus Bayesian framework comparison
Course objectives
This course will give an overview of the basic concepts of statistics and probability theory and provide some practical tools for (parameter) inference with typical datasets in physics and astronomy. After this course, you will be able to:
Explain the difference between least-squares and Bayesian (MCMC) methods for parameter inference
You can implement these two methods and select the best approach for your dataset
Examine the outcome of your analysis and critique its assumptions if needed.
In this course, you will be trained in the following skills:
Problem solving (recognizing and analyzing problems, solution-oriented thinking)
Analytical skills (analytical thinking, abstraction, evidence)
Structured thinking (structure, modulated thinking, computational thinking, programming)
Critical thinking (asking questions, check assumptions)
Writing instructional Notebooks for your peers
Team work, collaborative writing
Using version control software (github)
Timetable
You will find the timetables for all courses and degree programmes of Leiden University in the tool MyTimetable (login). Any teaching activities that you have sucessfully registered for in MyStudyMap will automatically be displayed in MyTimeTable. Any timetables that you add manually, will be saved and automatically displayed the next time you sign in.
MyTimetable allows you to integrate your timetable with your calendar apps such as Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and other calendar apps on your smartphone. Any timetable changes will be automatically synced with your calendar. If you wish, you can also receive an email notification of the change. You can turn notifications on in ‘Settings’ (after login).
For more information, watch the video or go the the 'help-page' in MyTimetable. Please note: Joint Degree students Leiden/Delft have to merge their two different timetables into one. This video explains how to do this.
Mode of instruction
Lectures (interactive)
Exercise classes
Assessment method
There will be a short exam and a written assignment. For the written assignment you will be asked to create one chapter for a website that will contain the lecture notes of this course. You will work in a Python Notebook environment to combine short explanations with code examples. The lecture notes will be combine into a website, to be used by future students of this course (here is one example). You can work in small groups for this written assignment. Each group will also present the content of their chapter in class.
Written assignment, plus short presentation (50%)
Written exam (50%)
Reading list
- No book; relevant material will be distributed via Brightspace
Registration
From the academic year 2022-2023 on every student has to register for courses with the new enrollment tool MyStudyMap. There are two registration periods per year: registration for the fall semester opens in July and registration for the spring semester opens in December. Please see this page for more information.
Please note that it is compulsory to both preregister and confirm your participation for every exam and retake. Not being registered for a course means that you are not allowed to participate in the final exam of the course. Confirming your exam participation is possible until ten days before the exam.
Extensive FAQ's on MyStudymap can be found here.
Contact
Contact details teacher: Dr. S. van Velzen
Remarks
none