Teaching will be delivered online over 2 full days (between 9 and 5pm). Sessions will include a mixture of live and pre-recorded lectures, live group work sessions and allocated time for guided individual tasks.

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

1. understand what infectious disease models are and when they can be used;
2. be able to actively collaborate with modellers;
3. run a simple infectious disease model using pre-written code and adapt the model;
4. interpret basic reproduction numbers;
5. understand the principles of vaccination and herd protection;
6. critically appraise published infectious disease models; and
7. understand how to incorporate economic evaluation into infectious disease models.

The course is intended for epidemiologists, public health specialists, policy makers and healthcare professionals who work in the area of infectious diseases (human and animal health).

Although the computer practicals will be in the programming language R, no knowledge of R is assumed.

This course will cover:

1. what models can be used for;
2. mechanistic versus statis models and examples of models;
3. components of a simple Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model;
4. the basic reproduction number;
5. model parameters;
6. designing a model;
7. converting a model sketch into equations;
8. simulating a model using the programming language R;
9. criteria for disease control;
10. principles of disease control through vaccination; and
11. using models for economic evaluation.

This course is taught by academics from a variety of backgrounds working within Bristol Medical School who are experts in infectious disease mathematical modelling and health economics.

To make sure the course is suitable for you and you will benefit from attending, please ensure you meet the following prerequisites before booking:

Before booking this course, please make sure you read the information provided above about the target audience and prerequisites. It is important that you have access to the relevant IT resources needed for the course and meet the knowledge prerequisites to ensure you can get the most from the course.

Bookings are taken via our online booking system, for which you must register an account. To check if you are eligible for free or discounted courses please see our fees and voucher packs page. All bookings are subject to our terms & conditions, which can be read in full here.

For help and support with booking a course refer to our booking information page, FAQs or feel free to contact us directly. For available payment options please see: How to pay your short course fees.

Participants are granted access to our virtual learning platform (Blackboard) 1 to 2 weeks in advance of the course. This allows time for any pre-course work to be completed and to familiarise with the platform.

To gain the most from the course, we recommend that you attend in full and participate in all interactive components. We endeavour to record all live lecture sessions and upload these to the online learning environment within 24 hours. This allows course participants to review these sessions at leisure and revisit them multiple times. Please note that we do not record breakout sessions.

All course participants retain access to the online learning materials and recordings for 3 months after the course. 

University of Bristol staff and postgraduate students who do not wish to attend the full course may instead register for access to the 'Materials & Recordings' version of this course: Further information and bookings.

93% of attendees recommend this course*.
*Attendee feedback from 2024.

Here is a sample of feedback from the last run of the course:

"I thought that the way in which the instructors interacted with the course participants was great. They utilised the chat so that participants did not have to turn on their screen for the recorded portions, and on the first day we also used the writing feature on the slides. This interaction helped the lectures have a similar feel to what an in-person lecture with interaction can have. I also thought that the use of multiple moderators, and breakout rooms with helpful moderators in each room was very effective." - Course feedback, June 2024

"Interesting course. Concepts simplified and well explained in lectures." - Course feedback, June 2024

"Good level of detail and good to have a mix of lectures and activities." - Course feedback, June 2024

"Course ran perfectly to time which was appreciated.  Lecturers and faciliators were great, good presentations and approachable.  Content was about right for a beginner.  Good to have breaks from screen time." - Course feedback, June 2024

"Well run and presenters all knowledgable and engaging. Really impressed by variety of activities and how presenters engaged audience." - Course feedback, June 2024

"Beforehand, I knew broadly what infectious disease modelling involved and what it was used for, but had no idea how it was done in practice. I now understand better the basics of how infectious disease modelling is done, what factors contribute to the quality of an infectious disease model (e.g. literature-informed parameters), and how to critically appraise a published model. I think I will be better able to communicate and collaborate with infectious disease modellers in my future work. Thanks to all moderators + contributors!" - Course feedback, June 2024

"I have improved my modelling literacy, which should help me communicate with colleagues who do modelling (I support in parameterising)" - Course feedback, June 2024

"Really engaging step by step guidance on how infectious disease models are created and analysed. I will be looking to make contacts to see how I can be further involved with similar models as a clinician." - Course feedback, June 2024