Dear evoldir community,

Spots are still available for Modern Statistical Thinking for Biologists,
running online from 11 February till 13 May. The course follows the
principle that statistics is not merely applied maths: it is a distinct
way of thinking about the world. And it is best learned through honing our
logical thinking skills and our intuitions about data, rather than through
rote memorisation of tests or through excessive mathematical detail. The
course therefore has no prerequisites in terms of maths skills.

Importantly, we will approach statistics through the Bayesian
framework. Even though Bayesian methods are used throughout biology,
they are particularly prevalent in ecology and evolutionary biology. This
is because this framework is particularly well adapted to the noisy and
complex data sets routinely produced in these fields. It is often also
considered to be more intuitive for beginners. The course is therefore
open both to those who are beginners in any kind of statistics, as well
as those who already have a background in frequentist methods and would
like to learn about the Bayesian perspective specifically.

The course is composed of weekly Zoom sessions with lots of interaction
and lots of group work in breakout rooms. The concepts learned are
immediately applied to real data sets from the biological sciences. There
are also weekly assignments, to which the participants receive individual
written feedback each time. Towards the end of the course, the students
will have several opportunities to put what they have learned to the
test in realistic research settings. Notably, one session is devoted to
a journal club, where we practice reading real papers that use Bayesian
methods. There are also two projects: one on data provided by the
instructor and another on each participant=92s own data.

The course takes on 15 participants on a first-come-first-served
basis. For registration and for more information, see here:

https://www.mondegoscience.com/courses/modern-statistical-thinking-for-biol=
ogists-online-11-feb-13-may-2025

If you have any questions, don=92t hesitate to drop me a line on
rosina@mondegoscience.com.

Have a lovely week and a lovely 2025,

Rosina.

Rosina Savisaar <rosinasavisaar@gmail.com>

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