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, and classes) that are closely connected to mathematical/technical problems and examples, as well as mathematical manipulations and problem-solving (e.g. setting up matrices, solving linear problems, solving differential equations, finding roots).
Students with prior programming experience in other programming languages could also consider the COMPUTE course "Scientific Computing with Python and Fortran".
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"
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 starts on Monday June 29, 2026 on distance via Zoom. The fourteen lectures will be given from June 29 to July 16, 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. The final project presentation will be in late August.
Course literature
Führer, Solem, Verdier: Scientific Computing with Python (2nd Ed.), Packt Publishing, 2021, ISBN 9781838822323
Dates
June - September 2026
Registration
Registration deadline is the 12th of June (hard deadline).
Registration is now closed.