Our intensive graduate-level courses provide a combination of lectures and hands-on computer sessions. In total, each course offers at least 25 contact hours. All elements will be online. View the timetable here.
Each (~2h) lecture introduces participants to the topic of the day. The focus is not on a single technique, but on state-of-the-art alternatives and understanding when their use is appropriate. The key aim is to understand the techniques, not just being able to run programs and generate output.
Each (3h) computer session allows participants to implement the techniques discussed in lectures. Carefully designed assignments are solved in small groups with the help of the lecturer and teaching assistants. This is a crucial part of the course as it forces participants to truly understand the inner workings of the computational methods.
The assignments are based on pre-prepared Matlab code which includes the structure necessary for solving the assignment. However, the code leaves out the key computing steps. This way students do not waste effort on setting up the computer code, while at the same time being forced to put together the key elements necessary for implementing the computational method.
At the end of the course, answers to all assignments are made available. Therefore, participants walk away with a portfolio of Matlab codes implementing all the discussed computational techniques.
Detailed course descriptions can be found here: The Essentials and Advanced Tools.
In 2024 we decided to roll out a range of completely new features. Read all about them here.
These courses are not for everyone. To get the most out of them, a certain level of knowledge is required. In particular, to be admitted to these courses, you must have taken graduate-level university courses in macroeconomics covering dynamic programming. In addition, you should have some coding experience, ideally with MATLAB. If you cannot document that you have the necessary background knowledge your application will be rejected.
Our courses run online. Therefore, if you are accepted and enroll into a course, you will need:
access to Zoom to participate in lectures and computer sessions.
access to Matlab for computer sessions (some exercises may require the optimization and symbolic toolboxes).
some elements will require Dynare. If you're new to Dynare, make sure to go through the tutorial and example code here (please make sure you are able to run Dynare code before the course starts).