Introduction to Programming in Python

Programming in Python - Beginner Level

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An introduction to the Python programming language, with many opportunities to write programs yourself.

Python is currently in high demand; it’s a programming language that has enjoyed a meteoric surge in popularity among professionals.

With supervised practicals and assignments that will be evaluated, students will learn how to program through active coding. As such, this course encourages an environment of independence where students can feel secure in their own understanding and application of Python.

Lectures will be light yet highly interactive, with many small exercises to engage student’s abilities under professional guidance. Course topics include, but are not limited to:

Computer programming concepts
Programming as a problem-solving tool
The Python language
The use of Jupyter notebook
Best coding practices
Debugging code
Visualisation

See the additional course information below.

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Deadline: 10 December (09:00 CET)

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Winter courses

View the full programme

Nick Schutgens is an atmospheric scientist with broad experience in programming computers for simulation and data analysis.

''I have a PhD in astrophysics and have since worked in Earth science, on atmospheric composition. My main interests are the climate, biosphere and health impacts of aerosol. I work on the interface between observations and models, using one to make sense of the other. I am a Dutch national and have worked before in the Netherlands (KNMI), Japan (NICT and University of Tokyo) and England (University of Oxford).''

Find out more!

Learning objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- use Google Colab as a Python programming environment
- analyse problems and devise algorithmic solutions
- read, write and debug Python code
- make graphics
- know how to self-study to progress further with Python
Forms of tuition and assessment
The course will be taught through interactive lectures, numerous practice sessions, both in teams and independently, and self-study which will involve some homework.
Participants are expected to follow an online introductory course in Python programming before attending the winter school. This online course will take between 2 to 3 days (up to 16 hours) but can be done at the student’s leisure. It is important that participating students complete the online course because the winter school course builds on it. Details about this course will be sent out in December.
The course itself will take 40 hours, spread over two weeks: 30 contact hours and 10 hours self-study. In addition, students will probably spend another 16 hours after the course working on their final assignment.
The assessment of the course will be based on programming assignments and quizzes.
The hour division of the course is the following:
- Interactive lectures (9h)
- interactive recap (6h)
- exercises and assignments (15h)
Course schedule

The course itself will take 40 hours, spread over two weeks (weekdays between 9:00 tot 12:15 CET): 30 contact hours and 10 hours self-study. In addition, students will probably spend another 16 hours after the course working on their final assignment.
Course syllabus

Here you can find the syllabus for 2025.