Social Sciences Courses
Under the heading Social Sciences, Utrecht Summer School offers courses in the fields of Migration Studies, Communication, Psychology, Linguistics and Geosciences. Our offer also includes a large selection of Data Science courses, covering subjects such as Survey Research, Multilevel Analysis and Qualitative Statistics.
55 course(s) found
Data Stewardship
Online course
Did you ever wonder how you can improve your data management and handling? Have you ever hoped for a clean and indisputable database that you could easily share with your collaborators? Understand the art of Data Stewardship and get a handle on your data! Data could yield great value when processed intelligently for medical data science but holds great risks when processing is lost in complexity. This online Data Stewardship course will guide…
Data Science in Clinical Practice
Online course
Careful data curation and analyses are essential in developing machine learning algorithms, that may usefully contribute to solving problems encountered in routine healthcare. Nevertheless, many valuable contributions never transition from the computer to the bedside. Often implementation is never attempted, or they fail to get the relevant CE marking (or equivalent local standard), or their implementation fails to elicit the intended health…
Collaborative Data Science
Online course
Data science relies on working across datasets, teams, disciplines and geographies. Collaboration is crucial, as well as key frameworks. In order to be translatable to patient care, the learning health systems framework helps to conceptualize where healthcare data sits in science, care and evidence domains. Knowledge of key competencies and professions in informatics and data science will facilitate team working. Moreover, without awareness of…
LANDac Annual Summer School "Land Governance for Development"
Welcome to the IOS Fair Transitions / LANDac (the Netherlands Land Academy) Summer School “Fair Transitions and the Politics of Land: Institutions and imaginaries for inclusive futures”
This year, for the IOS-Fair Transitions / LANDac Summer School, we are excited to host a range of lectures at the crossroads of the fair transitions and land governance debates in the context of climate change. The summer school is structured around the joint…
European Encounters: Diversity and Integration from West to East
This track is a joint programme on European integration by the Summer School of Utrecht University and the University of Latvia. The aim of the course is to introduce the diversity and unity of European identities, the European Union, (shared) foreign policy, security dilemmas and new challenges. The course delves into the different and diverse political and economic perspectives that can be found in Europe, and provides an insight into the…
Sustainable Futures: Politics, Democracy, and Futuring
What we do in the present is profoundly influenced by our expectations of our futures. The annual Sustainable Futures Summer School (formerly known as 'Futuring for Sustainability' is an interactive course, held from 3 - 7 July 2023. During this one-week course we teach students to appreciate different pathways to sustainability. How can we realize societal transformations towards sustainability, to living well equitably within ecological means…
Structural Equation Modeling in R using lavaan (E-Learning Course)
Online course
In this e-learning course we will cover the basics of structural equation modeling (SEM) using the R package lavaan. Participants will learn how to interact with the lavaan software and how to run common types of structural equation models (e.g., path models, confirmatory factor analyses, latent regression models, multiple group models) using lavaan. No prior knowledge of lavaan is necessary, but some experience with R and SEM (although not…
Data Science: Statistical Programming with R
This course offers an elaborate introduction to statistical programming with R. Students learn to operate R, form pipelines for data analysis, make high quality graphics, fit, assess, and interpret a variety of statistical models, and do advanced statistical programming. The statistical theory in this course covers t-testing, regression models for linear, dichotomous, ordinal, and multivariate data, statistical inference, statistical learning,…
Migration, Integration and Ethnic Relations
During this course, we discuss social scientific theories and empirical research on international migration, the socio-economic and cultural integration of immigrants and their children, and reactions of the host society. Migration has made European countries ethnically and culturally more diverse. While migrants try to find their way in a new and sometimes hostile environment, host populations also have to adapt to migrants and the new cultural…
Data Science: Programming with Python
Python has become the dominant programming language used in data science. This course offers an introduction to computational thinking about data-related problems and the implementation of data analysis programmes with Python. It starts at the very basics and is explicitly intended for students who have no or only little programming experience.
Sense making of GPS Data in a GIS environment
This course focuses on the application of GIS Tools to analyse outdoor movements of people or animals. The objective is to provide students with insight in the principles of sense making of GPS Data in a GIS environment. Collection of travel/movement data is nowadays made easy through the use of GPS-loggers and Smartphones. This course focusses to how to collect, clean and enrich these datasets with GIS by combining locational data with existing…
Coaching Skills for Young Leaders
Coaching skills are about helping others to live their full potential. It is a great skill in and of itself, but it is also a key ingredient for effective leadership. So, are you a student or a young professional and do you want to acquire or deepen coaching skills? Then this summer school is for you. This course will teach you the coaching skills you need as a coach or a leader. In every session you will learn and practice with powerful…
Introduction to Structural Equation Modeling using Mplus
We offer a five-day course on how to perform basic SEM analyses using Mplus. The main objective of this course is to learn how to analyse several models with Mplus (e.g., path models, multiple group models, mediation and moderation, confirmatory factor analysis, and longitudinal models). No previous knowledge of Mplus is assumed, but prior knowledge of SEM, although not mandatory, will make this course more useful.
Introduction to Multilevel Analysis
This course will teach you the theoretical basics of multilevel modelling and some important methodological and statistical issues. You will also learn how to analyse multilevel data sets with the R and R Studio programmes, to interpret the output and to report the results. The benefits of multilevel analysis are discussed both in theory as with empirical examples. This course restricts to a quantitative (i.e. continuous) outcome variable.…
Data Science: Network Science
How can networks help us understand and predict social systems? How to find important individuals and communities? How to predict unobserved connections between genes? How to learn the dependencies between interrelated entities? How can we stop disease or information spreading in networks? In this course, we provide participants with the conceptual and practical skills necessary to use network science tools to answer social, economic and…
Data Science: Introduction to Text Mining with R
Applications of text mining are everywhere: social media, web search, advertising, emails, customer service, healthcare, marketing, etc. In this course, students will learn how to apply text mining methods on text data and analyse them in a pipeline with statistical learning algorithms. The course has a strongly practical hands-on focus, and students will gain experience in using and interpreting text mining on data examples from humanities,…
An introduction to Qualitative Research Methods
NOTE: this course is fully booked! New applicants will be placed on a waiting list.
In this summer course, you will receive an introduction to qualitative research methods. We will discuss the philosophical grounds of qualitative research and indicate how to check the quality of qualitative research. You will receive an interview training and you will be working on a vignette – a form of writing/reporting common to ethnography. We will give an…
Data Science: Data Analysis
This course offers a range of techniques and algorithms from statistics, machine learning and data mining to make predictions about future events and to uncover hidden structures in data. The course has a strong practical focus: participants actively learn how to apply these techniques to real data and how to interpret their results. The course covers both classical and modern topics in data analysis.
Advanced longitudinal modeling in Mplus
This is a five-day course on structural equation modeling (SEM) using Mplus. In this course, SEM experts will teach you about the fundamentals of SEM and various types of longitudinal data analysis techniques, such as growth curves analysis, cross-lagged panel models, and dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM). The course consists of in-depth lectures and computer lab meeting on the fundamentals of Mplus and on advanced longitudinal models.
Global Health Ethics & Equity
This summer course focuses on urgent topics in global health ethics and equity. With an enthusiastic team of experts from all over the world, the current major challenges to health equity in the world as well as potential solutions are discussed. This programme is a collaboration between the University Medical Center Utrecht and the Royal Tropical Institute.
Data Science: Applied Text Mining
This course introduces the basic and advanced concepts and ideas in text mining and natural language processing. In this course, students will learn how to apply text mining methods on text data and analyse them in a pipeline with machine learning and deep learning algorithms. The course has a strongly practical hands-on focus, and students will gain experience in using text mining on real data from social sciences, humanities, and healthcare…
Meaningful Leadership for a Better World
Do you have a passion for making a positive impact in the world? Do you want to learn how to lead with purpose, values, and ethics? Do you want to develop your skills in sustainability and social innovation? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are ready to join the Meaningful Leadership for a Better World course at Utrecht Summer School. This course will help you discover what meaningful leadership means and how to apply it…
A gentle introduction to Bayesian Estimation
This course introduces all the essential ingredients needed to start Bayesian estimation and inference. We discuss specifying priors, obtaining the posterior, prior/posterior predictive checking, sensitivity analyses, and the usefulness of a specific class of priors called shrinkage priors. We propose strategies for reproducibility and reporting standards, outlining the WAMBS-checklist (when to Worry and how to Avoid the Misuse of Bayesian…
Psychodiagnostics: Theory and Skills Training ONLINE
Online course
This summer, Utrecht University offers you a 'bridging' course in psychodiagnostics, in order to overcome deficiencies in psychodiagnostics and assessment for entering the master course Clinical Psychology. This summer course focusses on familiarizing oneself with theoretical backgrounds of psychodiagnostics, practicing skills necessary to master all stages of the diagnostic process (intake, formulating a diagnostic question, formulating…
Survey Research: Design, Implementation and Data Processing
Changes in technology and society strongly influence modern survey research. This course covers the essentials of modern survey methodology, organized by the Department of Methodology and Statistics. Central to the course is survey quality and the reduction of Total Survey Error (coverage, sampling, nonresponse, including questionnaire and mode effects), while balancing logistics and survey costs. Best practice guidelines for surveys from design…
Bilingualism - ILS
Ask someone their opinion on bilingualism and you are likely to hear statements such as: 'learning two languages from birth confuses children and impairs their cognitive development', 'Bilingual children can't speak either of their two languages properly' or 'You can only become bilingual if you start acquiring your second language as a young child.' Though common currency among the general public, each of these statements is in fact a myth. In…
Applied Multivariate Analysis
The summer school course 'Applied Multivariate Analysis' offers hands-on experience using SPSS for the most frequently encountered multivariate statistical techniques in the social and behavioural sciences. The emphasis is on applying multivariate techniques using the computer programme SPSS, and on how to interpret the SPSS output in substantive terms. During the course, we do not discuss the mathematical details of these techniques.
Advanced Communication Skills: Between Persuasion and Empathy
Effective communication is key for high performing professionals. If you want to bring your communication skills to the next level and work on your personal development, then this course is here for you! Two experienced professionals teach you the most valuable skills they have learned themselves over the past 15 years. This course takes you beyond the ‘basics’. You will, amongst other things, learn the highlights from principle-based…
Developmental Psychopathology and Psychological Assessment in Childhood and Adolescence
This course focuses on how scientific knowledge on developmental psychopathology is applied in clinical practice for children and adolescents. Students will acquire theoretical and applied knowledge on psychological assessment and the diagnostic decision-making process. Students will get acquainted with some assessment instruments that can be used to test some ‘typical’ hypotheses in the Child and Youth clinical practice.
The course will be…
Introduction to Generative Syntax - ILS
In this course, students will be introduced to the basics of generative linguistics, the theoretical framework evolved from and based on Noam Chomsky’s work. The formal tools of generative linguistics enable linguists to explore the complex and fascinating system underlying sentence structure and sentence meaning. The theory accounts for the creativity of human language and other characteristics that make it unlike the communication system of…
Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology - ILS
In this course we will investigate sound in language from five different perspectives: alphabet (units), acoustics, articulation, prosody and learning. These complementary perspectives together show how language uses a relatively narrow range of sounds (although this range is broader than you might think!) but does so in a very intricate way. In addition, languages’ sound systems are intimately linked to other aspects of the linguistic system:…
Survey Research: Statistical Analysis and Estimation
The course is based on a total survey error perspective and discusses the major sources of survey error. Participants will be presented with tools for detection and adjustment of such errors. Analysis methods are introduced using R statistical software. Knowledge of R is beneficial but not required if you have worked with SPSS, Stata, SAS or other statistical software already. Topics include coverage errors, complex sampling, nonresponse…
Open Science Hypothesis Testing
This three-day course discusses the evaluation of theory-based hypotheses using p-values, the Bayes factor, and information criteria. Contemporary phenomena will be covered, like publication bias; questionable research practices; the replication crisis; the statistical evaluation of replication studies; and studies in which multiple data sets are used to evaluate the same research question. The course will be non-technical in nature, that is, it…
Research design for Experimental Linguists - ILS
This course is essential for experimental linguists. In this course you will learn about important aspects of a quantitative study design (research methodology), the basics of statistical (hypothesis) testing, and how methodology and statistics relate to each other. This discussion-based course will teach you to make funded decisions throughout the research process, and consequently conduct better research with valid and reliable outcomes.
Reviewing Internationalisation: Open to Global Change?
Online course
The course takes a higher education, international relations, legal, and public policy perspective and combines theory with workshops, case studies and active team work. It is indispensable for researchers who wish to enhance the focus and scope of their research and for practitioners and policy makers involved in university (re-)strategizing. The dialogue between these different actors, coming from a broad range of countries, has proven highly…
Ecogames. Games and Play for Sustainability Awareness, Communication and Action
*** UPDATE 16-04: Tentative schedule published (see below). Day-to-day program will follow in May. ***
With the impending climate crisis and its short-term repercussions becoming more ‘tangible’ every year, popular media and especially games are increasingly moving into the center of attention. Whether these so-called ‘ecogames’ can provide new spaces to experiment with alternative forms of sustainable practices and communal organization, or…
Psycholinguistics - ILS
This elementary to intermediate level course will provide the student with a basic knowledge of psycholinguistics, a research domain on the intersection of linguistics, psychology and neuroscience. Three major research topics in psycholinguistics will be presented: language comprehension, language production and (first) language acquisition. In addition, we will discuss language disorders, both acquired (aphasia) and innate (developmental…
The Transition to a Circular Economy: a Business Model Perspective
Governmental agencies have a social responsibility to reduce environmental impact to a minimum. In order to reach the European goal of 57% reduction in CO2- equivalents in 2030 and move towards a more circular economy, the European Union is implementing new laws and regulations to hold large organizations accountable for their emissions and broader impact. In this course you will learn how to interpret the new EU Corporate Sustainability…
Applied Social Robotics
Are you interested in how social robots can be implemented in daily life, for example in education, in healthcare, and in hospitality? Do you want to come up with innovative solutions for long time societal problems? And do you think robots can be part of these solutions? Then this summer school is designed for you! During the course, you will work in a multidisciplinary research team and learn how people interact with robots, how to design …
Introduction to L1 and L2 Acquisition - ILS
This course introduces the basics of (formal) semantics and first and second language (L1/L2) acquisition as well as the interface between them.
Modeling the Dynamics of Intensive Longitudinal Data
This is a five-day course on how to study dynamics in intensive longitudinal data, such as ambulatory assessments (AA), experience sampling method (ESM) data, ecological momentary assessments (EMA), real time data capture, observational data or electronic daily diaries. We provide a tour of diverse modeling approaches for such data and the philosophies behind them, as well as practical experience with these modeling techniques using different…
Advanced Survey Design
This course in ‘advanced survey design’ takes students beyond the introductory courses and discusses the state of the art in both the design and the analysis of modern survey data, with a focus on new types of data. We present new ways to analyse modern surveys, including non-probability survey designs, smartphone data collection, digital trace data and data collected via apps. Course participants must be proficient working with the statistical…
The Politics of Disablement
The Politics of Disablement Summer School brings together scholars from various fields in the humanities and social sciences interested in thinking about the intersection of disability studies and politics. The event aims to explore the diverse ways in which disability is understood and experienced within different social, cultural and political contexts. The summer school will provide a platform for scholars, researchers and practitioners to…
AI-Aided Systematic Reviewing
Online course
More and more researchers rely upon Systematic Reviews: attempts to synthesize the state of the art in a particular scientific field. However, the scientific output of the world doubles every nine years. In this tsunami of new knowledge, there is not enough time to read everything – resulting in costly, abandoned, or error-prone work. Using the latest methods from the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), you can reduce the number of papers to…
Eye Tracking Research Toolbox
Eye tracking is a powerful method to study the human mind and behavior. This course will allow you to explore key concepts in eye tracking research and help you integrate it in your study. The course is divided into two components: (1) a conceptual framework to help you make better decisions when planning and executing a study, allowing you to turn eye tracking data into valuable insights; (2) a practical introduction to the challenges and trade…
Introduction to R
This workshop introduces participants to the R statistical programming language. R is a completely free and open-source programming language and environment for statistical analysis. In this workshop, participants will learn what R is and how it differs from other statistical software packages and programming languages. They will learn the basics of data I/O, manipulation, and visualization in R. We will also cover basic statistical analyses…
Structural Equation Modelling in Mplus
If you expect to work with the software Mplus, this course can help you to get started! This course is a compact one-day workshop introducing Mplus. We will focus on preparing data for Mplus, introducing common model syntax, avoiding common mistakes, interpreting output, and dealing with common error messages. Practice exercises demonstrate multiple regression and factor analysis models, which are the basis of structural equation models in…
Regression in R
Linear regression is one of the most ubiquitous statistical methods. Most statistical techniques can be viewed as either special cases of linear regression (e.g., t-tests, ANOVA) or generalizations of linear regression (e.g., multilevel modeling, SEM, neural networks, GLM, survival analysis). In this workshop, participants will learn how to apply linear regression techniques in R. We will cover (multiple) linear regression, categorical predictor…
Bayesian Hypothesis Evaluation using JASP or R
In this one-day course participants will be introduced to informative hypotheses that are alternatives for the traditional null and alternative hypotheses, and, to the Bayes factor and GORIC which are alternatives for the p-value. This course is applied, hands-on, and built around concepts and not formulas.
Missing Data in R
Missing data are ubiquitous in nearly every data analytic enterprise. Simple ad-hoc techniques for dealing with missing values such as deleting incomplete cases or replacing missing values with the item mean can cause a host of (hidden) problems. In this workshop, we will discuss principled methods for treating missing data and how to apply these methods in R. We will cover some basic missing data theory, methods for exploring/quantifying the…
Introduction to Python (online course)
If you are looking for a powerful programming language, you should learn Python, a language with a simple syntax and a powerful set of libraries. It is easy for beginners to learn Python and it is widely used in many scientific fields for data exploration. This workshop is an introduction to the Python programming language and, in particular, is geared toward people who are new to the language and who have relatively little experience with other…
Introduction to Graphical Models (for Network Inference) in R: Markov random Fields and Bayesian Networks
Probabilistic graphical models (PGMs) represent the world in a simple way that humans can understand better.
They are graphical representations to understand the complex relationships between a set of random variables of interest (nodes). The edges that connect these nodes show the statistical dependencies between them.
PGMs have numerous applications in social and behavioral sciences, life sciences, economics, computer science, and many more…
Text Analysis with Python
This course introduces the basic concepts of text analysis in Python. Participants will learn how to apply text mining methods on text data and analyse them in a pipeline with machine learning and natural language processing algorithms. The course has a strong practical hands-on focus, and participants will gain experience in using text mining on real data.
Recalling Earth: Decoloniality and Demodernity
Recalling Earth and learning worlds and worlds-making will be the topic of chapter 14th of the María Lugones Summer School that will take place at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven.
Grounded on the basic concept of decolonial thinking: that there is no modernity without coloniality, the summer school will be an exploration on a demodern and decolonial Recalling Earth and learning and making worlds. Decoloniality complemented with demodernity are…
Inner Development for Sustainable Futures
Developing your inner capacity to contribute to a sustainable future
In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals developed a comprehensive plan for a sustainable world by 2030. The 17 goals cover a wide range of issues that involve people with different needs, values, and convictions. These goals are not easy to achieve, despite the rapid progress of technical and scientific developments. A culture change is necessary, aiming to develop the inner…