HAV220X - Probabilities for life sciences

1st year B.Sc, Montpellier Faculty of Sciences, 2025

Documents

Link to all ressources on Moodle.

Contents

1) Basic set theory and logic

  • Sets and set operations
  • Simple formalization of logical statements
  • Applications to everyday reasoning

2) Introduction to probability

  • Vocabulary and basic rules of probability
  • Probability tables and trees
  • Conditional probability
  • Real-life examples: stratified populations, diagnostic tests (sensitivity/specificity)

3) Discrete probability models

  • Main discrete distributions: binomial, geometric, Poisson
  • Applications to real problems
  • Heuristic approach to independence
  • Tools to compute expectation and variance

4) Numerical simulations and approximations

  • Simulating random variables and observing fluctuations
  • Visualizing convergence of the binomial distribution
  • Approximations by the normal and Poisson distributions

Main responsibles: Benoite de Saporta & Elodie Brunel