Objective
The aim of the course is to give an introduction to computational programming in Python for students without any previous programming knowledge. There is a strong orientation towards computational mathematics. Python is a modern scripting language with ties to Scientific Computing due to powerful scientific libraries like SciPy, NumPy and Matplotlib. The course covers elementary programming concepts (arithmetic expressions, for-loops, logical expressions, if-statements, functions) that are closely connected to mathematical/technical problems and examples.
Pre-requisites/requirements
- Standard desktop computer/laptop with internet connection
- Python installation 3.8 or better
- It is typically not possible to admit MSc students to COMPUTE courses.
Teaching
The teaching consists of lectures and computer exercises. All teaching activities are planned to be given online. The course start on 29th June 2026 on distance via Zoom. The lectures for this short course will be given from 29th of June until 3rd of July, daily from 8:15 to 10:00. Recorded videos of the lectures are available at all times. Given a decent internet connection, it should be possible to follow the lectures from almost anywhere.
Students have to do a short programming project and the quiz about Python. Assessment will be finished by the end of August 2026.
For more information will be available on the course's CANVAS page. For information purposes we provide a link to last years page:
Canvas page for the 2025 version "Computational programming with Python - First Steps"
Course literature
Führer, Solem, Verdier: Scientific Computing with Python (2nd Ed.), Packt Publishing, 2021, ISBN 9781838822323
Dates
June - August 2026
Registration
Registration deadline is the 12th of June (hard deadline).