The Practice of Biostatistical Consulting
Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at University of Copenhagen
This is a generic course. This means that the course is reserved for PhD students at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at UCPH.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at the Graduate School, you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. After the enrolment deadline, available seats will be allocated to the waiting list.
The course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School), and for PhD students at NorDoc member faculties. All other participants must pay the course fee.
Learning objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
1. Develop practical skills for the management of a consulting framework
2. Develop skills for managing a client session including communication, note-taking, dealing with common problems
3. Be aware of specific statistical topics most relevant for consulting in a medical faculty
4. Translate medical/scientific terminology into mutual understanding of the research question, Identifying the statistical question: description, comparison, prediction, causal inference, and translating the results back into the scientific terminology.
5. Consider ethics and the role of the consultant in ethical issues
Content
The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the practice of statistical consulting, including general principles and the specifics of how things work here at the SUND. The course will be geared towards PhD students in biostatistics, but everyone is welcome to attend. We plan to cover the following topics:
• Survival skills for organizing and managing a consulting session
• Managing a framework for providing consulting services -- details of how it works at the section
• Ethical issues and the role of the statistical consultant
• Basic statistical topics relevant for consulting at a medical faculty, and resources for expanding your breadth of knowledge
• Hands-on practice of handling consulting cases and reflection/discussion in-class
Participants
Ph.D.-students and health researchers with advanced knowledge of statistics corresponding to a masters degree in statistics, biostatistics, or a related field, or equivalent and documented experience. Max. 20 participants.
Relevance to graduate programmes
The course is relevant to PhD students from the following graduate programmes at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences, UCPH:
Biostatistics and Bioinformatics
Language
English
Form
Lectures in 2 half days and required exercises/discussion corresponding to 5 hours of work.
Course director
Michael Sachs, Associate Professor, Section of Biostatistics, michael.sachs@sund.ku.dk
Teachers
Erin Gabriel, Professor, Section of Biostatistics
Claus Ekstroem, Professor, Section of Biostatistics
Julie Forman, Associate Professor, Section of Biostatistics
Dates
21 and 29 April 2026
Course location
CSS
Registration
Please register before March 18
Expected frequency
Yearly
Seats to PhD students from other Danish universities will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules. Applications from other participants will be considered after the last day of enrolment.
Note: All applicants are asked to submit invoice details in case of no-show, late cancellation or obligation to pay the course fee (typically non-PhD students). If you are a PhD student, your participation in the course must be in agreement with your principal supervisor.