Scientific Communication, Collaboration and Design in Quantitative Research Using R

This course aims to provide basic skills and understanding of scientific visualization, collaboration, and thinking.

The course is accredited as part of the PhD program Health and Welfare.

Campus: Lillehammer
Duration: Week 37 - 46
Structure: Online
Credits: 5
Teaching language: EN
Startup: September
Application deadline: Aug. 9, 2026

About the Programme

This course aims to provide basic skills and understanding of scientific visualization, collaboration, and thinking. The course is structured around thematic workshops, where the first workshop deals with data visualization, a fundamental skill for any scientist. Data visualization, like writing, serves multiple purposes in day-to-day scientific practice. Making graphs before data collection can help the researcher better formulate the scientific problem or explain core concepts for oneself, committees, or funding agencies. Visualizations will also be important for exploratory data analysis and discovering problematic data formatting or patterns related to the scientific problem. Lastly, visualizations will aid in communicating scientific results to other researchers and the public.

Two workshops are devoted to collaboration in data-intensive science. We will first deal with the basics of version control and, secondly, with how to structure collected data into data packages for analysis and sharing. Version control is a way to keep track of changes in a set of files. It also provides opportunities for effective collaboration in complex projects. Using the R package system for data management and sharing is a way to ensure that data are well documented and downstream analyses are reproducible.

The last workshop will explore how to express scientific problems in simulations, including power calculations. Additionally, we will use graphical models to draw out assumptions of our models and plan experiments.

Course material, including tips on how to prepare for the course.

Curricula and courses

The course is part of the Ph.D. program in Health and Welfare and can be taken independently of the Ph.D. program. In the curriculum, you will find more information on learning objectives and the assessment method.

Course description autumne 2026

Participation and attendance

Teaching plan 2026:

September: 10th and 24th
October: 15th and 29th
November: 12th

All workshops will be held online.

Mandatory Requirements.

In all courses, there are mandatory requirements that must be approved before you can take the exam. Therefore, it is important that you read the course description carefully before the course starts. Attendance of 80% is required on teaching days. The attendance requirement applies regardless of the reason for absence.

Application deadline and admission

Admission requirements:

Applicants must have a MA-degree (120 ECTS), or being registered as a PhD-student.

The course has limited intake capasity, and priority will be given to PhD candidates who follow an individual education plan where this particular course is included.

Application deadline: August 9, 2026

How much does it cost?

The course is free of charge for all PhD candidates registered in a PhD programme. A tuition fee of NOK 3000,- will be charged for other external participants.

Programme offered by: Faculty of Social and Health Sciences