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In the upcoming semester, we’re excited to make two of our university courses in data analysis (in English) at the University of Gdansk open for Ukrainian Citizens. If you are a Ukrainian citizen willing to learn this material (see eligibility conditions below), you’re more than welcome to join!
Each program will consist of 10 hours of lectures, with the remaining time dedicated to hands-on practice and skill development in our computer lab. We look forward to seeing you there!
Criminological Research Methods (40h including 30h supervised work) will introduce you to Bayesian statistical programming and causal inference in R for criminological applications. You will be joining a class of our Criminology students at the University of Gdansk.
Data Analysis and Visualization for Journalism Studies (30h including 20h supervised work) will teach you basic methods and principles of data visualization and introduce the fundamentals of Bayesian analysis with R and ggplot2. You will be joining our Journalism Studies students at the University of Gdansk.
You can attend either of the courses or only one of them, please specify your preference in the registration form (linked below).
If you want to participate, please register using the following form by the end of the year 2022 - we have a limited number of slots, acceptance in the program is first come first served.
Both courses will be conducted at the University of Gdansk by dr hab. Rafal Urbaniak, prof. UG (here’s some of his work), with the assistance of Nikodem Lewandowski, who is about to complete his master’s degree and has a postgraduate degree in data science.
Rafal is a philosophy professor obsessed with probability and data and in love with the programming language R. He enjoys probabilistic (especially Bayesian) thinking about issues that he is convinced matter a lot. These include criminal evidence evaluation, the study of online aggression and its mitigation measures, measures of bias in natural language processing tools, the use of Monte Carlo methods to argue that standard backtesting methods in algorithmic trading are flawed, or imprecise probabilities in expert testimony. Rafal obtained his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Calgary. He’s been a British Academy Visiting Fellow, a Trinity College Long Room Hub Visiting Fellow, a Postdoctoral Fellow of Research Foundation Flanders, a Kosciuszko Fellow at the Northeastern University in Boston, and a Bendarowski Fellow at the University of Edinburg, and generally has some experience in trying to feel at home at various places. Now he is an associate professor at the University of Gdansk, running a National Science Centre project on legal probabilism. He is a co-author of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on legal probabilism.
No programming background is required. You do not need to own a computer. If you do, you can bring your laptop and use it in the lab if you prefer. Having said this, there will be some homework (mostly ungraded, but required in preparation for the classes), so being able to easily access a computer might be useful. If you really can’t access a computer, don’t worry, talk to us after the first class, and we’ll figure out how to assist you.
The courses are open for Ukrainian citizens who entered Poland after February 23, 2022. A Ukrainian passport with an entry stamp after February 23, 2022 will be needed to start the course. This will be verified on the first day of classes.
Knowledge of the English language is a prerequisite, the courses will be taught fully in English. We don’t care about certificates. We care whether you can understand.
There is no age restriction. You can be any age, as long as you want to learn and can follow the classes, we don’t care whether you’re 10 or 80 years old. However, if you’re underage, we can’t take responsibility for your safety - teaching Bayesian stats is easy, caring for humans is not - so sort it out with your guardian.
You do not have to be registered as a student at any institution, in Poland or elsewhere. As long as you want to learn and can follow the classes, we don’t care.
You need to be able to come to classes regularly, as classes will be taught live.
Yes, we will issue completion certificates, including our assessment of your performance. To be honest, though, they are unlikely to result in you getting an awesome job right away, and expecting to be able to perform a high-level job after 30 or 40 hrs of training is unrealistic. Rather, the courses give you a kick start on your journey to employing such methods in your work.
Please fill in our registration form by December 31, 2022, we’ll be in touch by January 16, 2023.
Nah, they’ll improve it. For one thing, Nikodem wouldn’t be with us if we weren’t doing it, so we’ll have an extra pair of qualified hands to help us out both in the lab and outside of it. Second, we started preparations for the classes way ahead of the time to make sure we’re ready. Also, you get to meet cool and ambitious people you wouldn’t have otherwise met, and this is perhaps worth more than the class itself.
Nah, not a problem at all, that’s the least we could do. We’ll be there for all of you, you’ll belong to the group, and if anything makes you feel different, come talk to us and we’ll do our best to sort it out!
We’ll be happy to address your further questions or concerns, if you drop us a line at rfl.urbaniak+teaching@gmail.com.