The Dresden University of Technology announces their 11th annual summer course in individual/agent-based modeling. The 2017 course will be a non-beginners course, intended primarily for graduate students and researchers who have been developing their own models and seek guidance on finishing, analyzing, and doing science with the models. The instructors–Uta Berger, Volker Grimm, and Steve Railsback–have many years of experience using and teaching agent-based modeling.

The overall goal of the course is to guide researchers through the process of completing and publishing research based on individual-based models. We expect participants to have at least a working draft model before the course starts. Instruction will be via lectures, exercises, and independent work under close supervision of the instructors. Topics will include software testing, parameterization, analyzing model sensitivity and robustness, designing simulation experiments, and publishing model-based research.

While the instructors are ecologists, participants in any field are welcome. Instruction will use NetLogo software and the textbook of Railsback and Grimm (2012; “Agent-based and individual-based modeling: a practical introduction”, Princeton University Press), but modelers using other software platforms will be able to participate fully.

The course will be 20-28 July 2017, in a small village outside Dresden (Germany). To provide a high level of instructor interaction, course size is limited to 25 participants.

The application period is now open, and closes 28 February. For information see: https://tu-dresden.de/bu/umwelt/forst/ww/bsa/courses-workshops/summerschool
The application is at:
https://tu-dresden.de/bu/umwelt/forst/ww/bsa/courses-workshops/summerschool/application-1