Python Course for ZEW Researchers

In the age of digitalisation and big data, researchers need more than a working knowledge of Excel to be able to analyse vast amounts of data efficiently. The programming language Python has made scientific programming considerably easier and is growing increasingly popular among researchers. Python makes it possible to analyse data quickly and brings significant advantages with relatively little effort on the part of the user. The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) has organised its first ever Python course tailored for economic researchers.

“During the Python course at ZEW, participants can learn in a short space of time the kind of things that would otherwise take at least an entire semester of a programming language lecture to teach. The course offers new-comers in particular a practical introduction to Python,” says ZEW’s specialist on scientific software Peter Buchmann. The main focus of the course was on web crawling, data processing and statistical analysis. During the seminar the participants had the opportunity to test out their new-found programming skills with some practical exercises. In the future, economists will be able to use Python to deal with challenging amounts of data in their daily research activities.

The course „Python for Researchers“ is currently only open to internal participants at ZEW. We are currently looking into ways to make the course accessible to external participants as well.