We run the following statistics courses for PhD Students:
Introductory Statistics for Life Scientists – Level 1
This is a 5 week course delivered entirely on-line within Learn (the University’s virtual learning environment, VLE). It will introduce students to the basic principles of statistical thinking (statistical inference) and one or two of the most common types of analysis that might be needed for Masters or PhD research projects. It is aimed mainly at students undertaking projects (at either level) in the College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine (particularly in lab-based subjects), but it may be of more general use, too – we welcome participants from any discipline, although the examples used will tend to reflect the instructors’ backgrounds in clinical research, public health and veterinary medicine. The principles taught, however, are universal!
Each week, participants will use resources such as recorded PowerPoint presentations, quizzes, and directed reading to investigate a topic, and will try some practical examples in Minitab, a statistical package available on the University’s Managed Desktop and in general-access computing facilities. Support is available through discussion boards that allow queries on specific points, as well as more general interaction with the course team. The course runs asynchronously – participants work on course material and exercises in their own time, and interact via the discussion boards when required.
The following topics are covered in the 5 weeks:
- An introduction to the course and VLE
- Basic principles of statistical inference and exploratory data analysis
- Some basic concepts in probability
- Confidence intervals
- Hypothesis testing
For more information see: http://edin.ac/1qJvLeK
Introductory Statistics for Life Scientists – Level 2
This is a 5 week course delivered entirely on-line within Learn (the University’s virtual learning environment, VLE). It will build on the material covered in the Level 1 course to describe a number of useful principles and methods of analysis that are commonly needed for Masters or PhD research projects. Participants should either have completed Introductory Statistics for Life Scientists – Level 1 or be familiar with the basic ideas of the statistical approach, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing and so on.
It is aimed mainly at student undertaking projects (at either level) in the College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine (particularly in lab-based subjects), but it may be of more general use, too – we welcome participants from any discipline, although the examples used will tend to reflect the instructors background in clinical research, public health and veterinary medicine. The principles taught, however, are universal!
Each week, participants will use resources such as recorded PowerPoint presentations, quizzes, and directed reading to investigate a topic, and try some practical examples in Minitab, a statistical package available on the University’s Managed Desktop and in general-access computing facilities. Support is available through discussion boards that allow queries on specific points, as well as more general interaction with the course team. The course runs asynchronously – participants work on course material and exercises in their own time, and interact via the discussion boards when required.
The following topics are covered in the 5 weeks:
- Study design – randomisation and blocking
- Study design – power calculations
- Correlation and simple linear regression
- One and Two-way analysis of variance models
- Method comparison/ reproducibility studies
For more information see: http://edin.ac/WFSuNh
Statistics Consultancy 1:1 Session
This is an opportunity to discuss your research one-to-one with an experienced medical statistician during a 45 minute slot. Please bring along your queries about your study design or data.
Each student will be allocated a 45 minute slot.
For more information see: http://edin.ac/1nza28W
Statistical Consultancy Workshop
A half-day workshop for doctoral research students to discuss their research projects and data analysis needs. Led by an experienced medical statistician, the session will provide an opportunity for up to 5 participants to present a brief (5 minute) summary of their work, and then to lead a discussion of the statistical issues raised. Each participant presenting should take away some ideas for the most appropriate and robust statistical methods that they should employ in their projects subsequently. There will also be room for up to 10 non-presenting participants – they will be very welcome to observe and to take part in discussions and may take away some valuable insights of their own.
The workshop is intended to provide support to students from the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine who are carrying out research in medical or biomedical areas. However, students from other disciplines/ colleges may find something of value too, as many of the general issues remain the same regardless of research topic. We would be very happy for non-CMVM students to participate.
For more information see: http://edin.ac/13AOtJB
