Have you started your coding journey, but want to move beyond Jupyter Notebooks? Do you enjoy coding, but want to improve your core skills so that you can access and use the massive repositories of open-source software for your research? In this summer school, you will learn how to create and integrate software into your research by developing the foundational programming skills needed to be fully comfortable in the digital research domain.

This summer school is aimed at researchers that have coded before, but want to develop their broader programming skills, such as version control using Git, operating the command-line terminal, and using open-source software repositories locally using Docker containers. These intermediate skills enable you to find and use a much broader range of open-source data and software.

In addition, participants will learn to engage critically with research software throughout the research process, from grant writing to operationalising your research questions into coding problems. At the end of the summer school, participants will not only be able to create their own software solutions to research problems, but will also be able to use preceding work by other scholars to develop improved solutions, and even contribute to the open-source software landscape themselves.

Bring your own research

Participants are asked to bring their own research projects, so that they may work on their own research questions while developing their programming skills. This does not need to be a fully developed research idea, it could be a pilot project or even just a research question and a dataset. Participants will work on this research throughout the week, and can receive follow-up support from a research software engineer.

Learning objectives

Programming skills, for example:

• Wielding the command-line terminal using Bash
• Version control and collaboration with Git
• Going beyond notebooks, into full-fledged Python applications (including virtual environments)
• Deploying research software locally using Docker
• Web scraping and accessing data via APIs

Software-critical skills, for example:

• Finding, understanding, using, and adapting open-source code
• Operationalisation of research questions into software problems
• Writing good documentation
• Writing the research software component in a funding application

Timeline

• Preparatory homework: ~2 days (self-paced)
• On-site course: 29 June – 3 July 2026
• Follow-up support: ~2 days (as needed)
• Optional return day: Autumn 2026

Level

Participants should have a basic understanding and practical experience in programming in Python:

• Write simple programs or notebooks
• Implement simple algorithms
• Be familiar with writing functions, data types, basic text processing in Python

These skills can be acquired in any entry-level Python course, such as the CDH workshop: Entry-level Python course in four days

Who can apply?

The summer school welcomes researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences – from PhD candidates to professors – affiliated with Dutch universities and research institutions. Small groups are encouraged to apply together to work on a shared project.

Capacity: 30 – 40 participants.

Selection

Applicants will be asked to submit a short motivation letter, a short description of their research project, and a short description of their prior experience in programming in a research environment.

Practical information

The summer school will be hosted on-site at Utrecht University. Lunch and drinks will be provided. The participation fee is €30 for juniors and €50 for mediors and seniors.

Registration

Registration opens in January 2026.

To receive a one-time notification when registration begins, send an email to cdh@uu.nl.

Partners

• CDH Research Software Lab – Utrecht University
• CDH Data School – Utrecht University
• ODISSEI
• KNAW Humanities Cluster
• CLARIAH
• Tilburg University
• eScience Center