Studying online
There are now 2 possible online modes for units:
Units with modes Online timetabled and Online flexible are available for any student to self-enrol and study online.
Click on an offering mode for more details.
Unit Overview
- Description
This unit provides key tools for the statistical and numerical analysis of complex problems in physics and astrophysics. It includes a solid introduction to the R statistical programming language and contains many practical examples, mainly from cosmology and astrophysics, but extending to general physics and medicine.
- Credit
- 6 points
- Offering
(see Timetable) Availability Location Mode Semester 2 UWA (Perth) Face to face - Outcomes
Students are able to (1) use R, interface with other scientific languages and I/O scientific data; (2) demonstrate mastery essential numerical analysis techniques in R and benefit from various packages to quickly solve numerical problems.; (3) explain basic statistical concepts (probability trees, joint probabilities, ensembles, resampling, frequentist statistics, tests, correlations, distributions, expectations, moments); (4) apply Bayesian inference to a wide range of scientific problems and master related concepts (maximum likelihood, Fisher information, Laplace approximation, Jeffreys prior); (5) demonstrate understanding of advanced inference problems and packages available to solve them; including by MCMC algorithms.; and (6) demonstrate mastery temporal and spatial statistical estimators and their Fourier space representations.
- Assessment
Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) programming assignments and (2) written assignments. Further information is available in the unit outline.
Student may be offered supplementary assessment in this unit if they meet the eligibility criteria.
- Unit Coordinator(s)
- Danail Obreschkow and Aaron Robotham
- Unit rules
- Prerequisites
- Enrolment in in theand completion of the core units in the Physics major or equivalent
- The availability of units in Semester 1, 2, etc. was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change.
- All students are responsible for identifying when they need assistance to improve their academic learning, research, English language and numeracy skills; seeking out the services and resources available to help them; and applying what they learn. Students are encouraged to register for free online support through GETSmart; to help themselves to the extensive range of resources on UWA's STUDYSmarter website; and to participate in WRITESmart and (ma+hs)Smart drop-ins and workshops.
- Visit the Essential Textbooks website to see if any textbooks are required for this Unit. The website is updated regularly so content may change. Students are recommended to purchase Essential Textbooks, but a limited number of copies of all Essential Textbooks are held in the Library in print, and as an ebook where possible. Recommended readings for the unit can be accessed in Unit Readings directly through the Learning Management System (LMS).
- Contact hours provide an indication of the type and extent of in-class activities this unit may contain. The total amount of student work (including contact hours, assessment time, and self-study) will approximate 150 hours per 6 credit points.
Face to face
Predominantly face-to-face. On campus attendance required to complete this unit. May have accompanying resources online.
Online flexible
100% Online Unit. NO campus face-to-face attendance is required to complete this unit. All study requirements are online only. Unit is asynchronous delivery, with NO requirement for students to participate online at specific times.
Online timetabled
100% Online Unit. NO campus face-to-face attendance is required to complete this unit. All study requirements are online only. Unit includes some synchronous components, with a requirement for students to participate online at specific times.
Online Restricted
Not available for self-enrolment. Students access this mode by contacting their student office through AskUWA. 100% Online Unit.
NO campus face-to-face attendance. All study and assessment requirements are online only. Unit includes some timetabled activities, with a requirement for students to participate online at specific times. In exceptional cases (noted in the Handbook) students may be required to participate in face-to-face laboratory classes when a return to UWA’s Crawley campus becomes possible in order to be awarded a final grade.
External
No attendance or regular contact is required, and all study requirements are completed either via correspondence and/or online submission.
Off-campus
Regular attendance is not required, but student attends the institution face to face on an agreed schedule for purposes of supervision and/or instruction.
Multi-mode
Multiple modes of delivery. Unit includes a mix of online and on-campus study requirements. On campus attendance for some activities is required to complete this unit.