Proponent: Jonathan Franceschi

Course learning outcomes/abstract: Ph.D. students routinely write articles, presentations and other scientific papers as an integral aspect of their research work. Not enough of them, however, have received during their careers specific training in the language (and related software) most used for this purpose in the fields of mathematics, physics and computer science (not to mention other areas where it is not preponderant, but still widespread). In general, the only expertise on the use of LaTeX as a tool for typesetting documents comes from self-teaching and word-of-mouth. The result is that Ph.D. students in STEM disciplines are certainly able to write a paper with LaTeX, but this is often an experience at least partly marked by an incomplete mastery of this tool. The problems in this case are twofold: obsolescence (frequent reliance on libraries or commands that are no longer supported except for backward compatibility reasons) and frustration (one encounters a problem, does not know how to solve it and gives up in favor of a simpler but less satisfactory workaround).

Goals: The course has two objectives:
– To standardize and update the knowledge base of the students on the TeX language and its derivatives (mainly LaTeX2e);
– To propose advanced techniques for solving typographical or productivity problems in the workflow of typesetting scientific documents.

PhD courses involved: Basic knowledge of (La)TeX is needed (how to compile a document, how to import a package…)

Period:  From May 7th to May 10th. See the depliant for details.

Registration: Please send an email to  jonathan.franceschi01@universitadipavia.it

Number of hours and planning: 12 hours. See the depliant for details.

Delivery mode: In presence, Dipartimento di Matematica, Via Ferrata, 5. For those who cannot attend in presence, a Zoom link will be provided.

Language: English

Evaluation criterial: 75% of attendance; a small project (in agreement with the teacher) as a final exam for an extra credit.

Credits (CFU): 3 (just attendance) or 4 with final exam

Depliant