The staple of data in evolutionary ecology consist of counts, proportions and durations. Fitness, a crucial quantity in evolutionary biology, is either estimated by counting offspring or involves population dynamical modelling depending on estimates obtained with generalized linear models (GLM) and mixed models (LMM and GLMM).

We invite you to participate in our course on GLM's for evolutionary ecology. Previous incarnations of this course were taught at Leiden University, the Groningen Research School Ecology and Evolution, TGAC Norwich and at CEREEP.

Goal: To become familiar with statistical modelling and hypothesis testing using GLM and mixed models (GLMM). To be able to represent and analyse your own life history data or other types of data occurring in evolutionary ecology, using R.

Audience: The course is intended for PhD students, but we allow the participation of Msc students and post-docs. The number of participants is limited to 20 and places are filled on a first come basis [check the news section for open places].

[A group picture from our course in November 2011, at the same location.]

Program: Please consult the day-by-day program for details. Participants are expected bring their own data they want to analyse. The number of lectures during the course is limited to allow ample time for this analysis and discussion. The number of instructors is about one per four participants. Next to GLM(M), additional topics treated are:

-        Representing life history data in graphics

-        Best coding practices for reproducibility

-        State-space models (advanced topic)

Team: The course is organized by team VPA (Phenotypic Variability and Adaptation) from iEES Paris, the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, and hosted by CEREEP in Nemours.  

Instructors will be Tom Van Dooren, Thomas Tully, Andrés López-Sepulcre, David Rozen-Rechels and Mathieu Bruneaux (JyU Finland) and could be extended further. Participants can indicate the expertise they require at registration.

Location and other practicalities:

Please register for the course on this website. Note that places will be filled on a first-come basis.

The course will be held at the CEREEP ecological station in Nemours, France, situated about 100 km from Paris. The station can be reached by public transport. The cost of the course is 250 euro and can be payed online at registration (VISA, Mastercard, French bank cards CB) or in your personal space on this site.

On-site accommodation and meals are included in the fee.  Lodging is in two-person rooms and a dorm. The site allows break-out sessions where smaller groups can discuss specific issues separately.

Please find at this link a pdf course description, that you can share with your administration: https://glm2017vpa.sciencesconf.org/data/Course_description_GLMVPA_25_Sept_2017.pdf

Monday 20 November is the arrival day, with a short welcome lecture in the evening. The course ends on Friday 24 after lunch. For those interested, Monday afternoon can be used to get acquainted on-site with the basics of R and the basic concepts of statistical inference. Please indicate at registration if you intend to use Monday afternoon for that.

Contact: Tom Van Dooren tvdooren@gmail.com