Unit Overview
- Description
This unit provides a practical, computational, and statistically grounded introduction to modern infectious disease modelling, with a strong emphasis on solving real?world problems in research and policy.
The unit centres on building, fitting, and evaluating models that can handle the complexities of real data and noisy observation processes. Through extensive hands?on sessions, students will design and implement a range of model classes. These may include deterministic and stochastic compartmental models, individual?based models, and geostatistical models.
Students will learn and apply state?of?the?art computational statistical techniques for inference and prediction with mechanistic models in this domain. This may include application of MCMC, particle filtering, approximate Bayesian computation (ABC), amortized inference and approximate Gaussian Process methods.
By the end of the course, participants will be equipped to develop and critically assess modelling approaches suitable for contemporary infectious disease research, public?health decision?making, and policy evaluation.
- Credit
- 6 points
- Offering
Availability Location Mode First year of offer Not available in 2026 UWA (Perth) On-campus - Outcomes
Students are able to (1) demostrate an understanding of infectious disease modelling; (2) apply computational statistical techniques for inference and prediction with mechanistic models in infectious disease modelling; (3) develop statistical modelling, and adapt known solutions to different situations; and (4) present results in a logical and coherent fashion and communicate effectively with others.
- Assessment
Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) assignments and (2) final exam. Further information is available in the unit outline.
Student may be offered supplementary assessment in this unit if they meet the eligibility criteria.
- Unit Coordinator(s)
- Professor Nick Golding
- Unit rules
- Prerequisites
- Enrolment in60610 Master of Statisticsor Successful completion of )
- Contact hours
- 3-hours per week
- The availability of units in Semester 1, 2, etc. was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change.
- All students are responsible for identifying when they need assistance to improve their academic learning, research, English language and numeracy skills; seeking out the services and resources available to help them; and applying what they learn. Students are encouraged to register for free online support through GETSmart; to help themselves to the extensive range of resources on UWA's STUDYSmarter website; and to participate in WRITESmart and (ma+hs)Smart drop-ins and workshops.
- Visit the Essential Textbooks website to see if any textbooks are required for this Unit. The website is updated regularly so content may change. Students are recommended to purchase Essential Textbooks, but a limited number of copies of all Essential Textbooks are held in the Library in print, and as an ebook where possible. Recommended readings for the unit can be accessed in Unit Readings directly through the Learning Management System (LMS).
- Contact hours provide an indication of the type and extent of in-class activities this unit may contain. The total amount of student work (including contact hours, assessment time, and self-study) will approximate 150 hours per 6 credit points.
Face to face
Predominantly face-to-face. On campus attendance required to complete this unit. May have accompanying resources online.
Online flexible
100% Online Unit. NO campus face-to-face attendance is required to complete this unit. All study requirements are online only. Unit is asynchronous delivery, with NO requirement for students to participate online at specific times.
Online timetabled
100% Online Unit. NO campus face-to-face attendance is required to complete this unit. All study requirements are online only. Unit includes some synchronous components, with a requirement for students to participate online at specific times.
Online Restricted
Not available for self-enrolment. Students access this mode by contacting their student office through AskUWA. 100% Online Unit.
NO campus face-to-face attendance. All study and assessment requirements are online only. Unit includes some timetabled activities, with a requirement for students to participate online at specific times. In exceptional cases (noted in the Handbook) students may be required to participate in face-to-face laboratory classes when a return to UWA’s Crawley campus becomes possible in order to be awarded a final grade.
External
No attendance or regular contact is required, and all study requirements are completed either via correspondence and/or online submission.
Off-campus
Regular attendance is not required, but student attends the institution face to face on an agreed schedule for purposes of supervision and/or instruction.
Multi-mode
Multiple modes of delivery. Unit includes a mix of online and on-campus study requirements. On campus attendance for some activities is required to complete this unit.