Introductory Course on MATLAB Programming (v2026)

• Course Title: Introductory Course on MATLAB Programming (v2026)

• Instructor(s): David López García, Francisco Gutiérrez 

• Format: In-person

• Number of Places: 30

• Duration: 18 hours, divided into 6 sessions.

• Location: The course will be held in Seminar Room 4 at the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center.

• Prerequisites: No prior programming knowledge is required.

Description and Contents

This course is designed to provide a theoretical and practical introduction to programming in general and to the MATLAB environment in particular. Throughout the course, you will learn everything from the fundamentals of the language to techniques for data manipulation, visualization, and process automation.

The course is divided into six sessions, combining theory and practice to ensure a progressive learning experience:

Session 1 — Variables and Functions

• What is programming? Why is it useful for psychological research?
• Programming languages.
• Variables and data types.
• Indexing.
• Functions.

Session 2 — Conditional Structures and Loops

• Conditional structures: logical operators.
• IF-ELSE statements.
• IF-ELSEIF statements.
• SWITCH-CASE statements.
• FOR loops.
• WHILE loops.

Session 3 — The MATLAB Programming Environment

• What is MATLAB?
• Current Folder and Path.
• Command Window.
• Workspace.
• Script Editor.

Session 4 — Practical Session: Write Your First Script!

• Practical session in which students will solve a range of simple problems by writing their own scripts from scratch.
• Debugging and error handling.
• The importance of code documentation.

Session 5 — Practical Session: Data Processing in MATLAB

• Loading and storing different types of data in MATLAB.
• Basic statistics.
• Data and results visualization techniques.

Session 6 — Practical Session and Q&A: Bring Your Own Data!

• In this session, students will apply the concepts learned throughout the course to their own dataset.
• Group discussion of different datasets.
• Questions and troubleshooting.

Resources and Materials

Install MATLAB on Your Computer

To follow the course effectively, participants must have access to a personal computer with an active MATLAB installation. The University of Granada has signed an agreement with MathWorks that provides the entire university community with access to MATLAB, Simulink, and other products both on and off campus, on any device.

• MATLAB installation tutorial through the University of Granada

Course Materials

Theoretical Sessions:

• Session 1
• Session 2

Practical Sessions:

• Session 3

• Session 4

• Session 5

• Session 6

Worked Exercises:

• Repository of worked exercises
• Session 4

Best-Practice Guides:

• MATLAB Programming Style Guidelines (.pdf)
• Ten principles for reliable, efficient, and adaptable coding in psychology and cognitive neuroscience (Nature)

Registration

Registration will open on March 13, 2026, and must be completed through the registration form below. Please ensure that the registration form is completed accurately, as, in the event that the number of applications exceeds the number of available places, the information provided by applicants will be taken into account when allocating places.

Certificate Request

Once the course has been completed and attendance has been verified, participants may request a certificate of participation through the following form.

Nota: Los datos personales introducidos deben ser correctos ya que serán los usados para la generación de los certificados.

Esta actividad es parte de la ayuda CEX2023-001312-M, financiada por MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 y ayuda UCE-PP2023-11 financiada por Universidad de Granada.

This activity is part of grant CEX2023-001312-M, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and grant UCE-PP2023-11 funded by University of Granada.