Program Overview

Introduction to Python for Geoscience Applications

Overview

The Summer School aims to provide students with the basic concepts of Python software and, through practical exercises on a computer running Python, to address some of the most common applications in the field of geosciences.

Course Content

• Overview of the Python environment: basic commands, syntactic rules, matrix and vector operations, scripts and functions
• Scientific computing and visualization, the modules: Numpy, Scipy, and Matplotlib
• Representation of simple mathematical functions and their contextualization in Earth Sciences
• Loops and flow control constructs: for and while loops, and ifelifelse conditional statements
• Input-Output: reading and writing data in specific file formats within the Python environment (txt, npy, and npz files)
• Interpolation
• 2D and 3D data visualization
• Examples of computing histograms and basic probability distributions
• Least squares regression and their applications on real data
• Examples of using moving average filters and applying the discrete Fourier transform for data filtering
• Time series: monthly, annual averages, etc

Aim

The purposes of this course are multiple, including:

• Teaching how to write scripts to perform even complex data analyses without the need to manually repeat the steps
• Providing a tool to organize, filter, and process large amounts of data quickly and efficiently
• Allowing the creation of customized visualizations using Python libraries such as Matplotlib to effectively represent data relevant to Earth Sciences
• Offering a flexible, accessible, and widely supported tool that enables PhD students and professionals to solve specific problems with the help of the community

Eligibility

PhD students, researchers, professionals, with reference to disciplinary and/or professional areas relevant to Earth Sciences.

Admission Requirements

• Basic knowledge of Mathematics, Physics, and Informatics

Required Documents

• Identity Document
• Enrolment Form
• Curriculum Vitae

Fees

• Tuition fees: 500

Refund Policy

There will be no refund of paid tuition fees.

Program Details

Duration and Intensity

• Period: 22 26 June 2026
• Application Deadline: 22 May 2026
• Program Intensity: Full-time
• ECTS: 3

Location

The Summer School will be held on campus, in Pisa, at Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, via Santa Maria, 53.

Maximum Number of Participants

The maximum number of participants is set to 15 students. The Summer School will be activated with at least 5 students.