FOR045F Experimental Methods and Design of Experiments 7.5 hp

COURSE SYLLABUS, third-cycle courses

Course name: Experimental Methods and Design of Experiments

ECTS/HP: 7.5 hp

Course code: FOR045F

Educational level: Third-cycle course

Entry requirements:
Admitted to third-cycle studies at LTU.
If there is room for more participants in the course, the course examiner can decide whether the course is open for application by doctoral students admitted to other universities than LTU.

Course content:
The course deals with experimental work, both theoretical and practical. We study when experiments can be effective and the requirements in terms of processes and resources. The course discusses how much time and money we spend, how we use experiments in research, and how we design experiments when a random run order is difficult to accomplish. You will work with experimental theory and practical experimentation that you, or on a group with others, design, conduct and analyse.

Learning outcomes:
After completing the course, the student should be able to:

• identify strengths and weaknesses of different experimental designs,
• propose the design of an experiment by applying established designs from the field of design of experiments,
• analyze experiments based on a given design and collected response variables,
• explain and justify the assumptions underlying the choice of analysis methods,
• discuss and, in some cases, adjust analyses when data deviate from the statistical assumptions of the methods,
• describe problems related to, and ways of mitigating, the effects of non-random experimental order, and
• design, carry out, and analyze their own experiments.

Experimental designs include standard experiments such as simple comparative experiments, factorial designs, and response surface designs. Analysis methods include standard tests such as t-test, ANOVA, and linear regression. The course's learning objectives support the following of the Higher Education Ordnance's learning objectives that a doctor should reach for doctors whose research can be experimental:

• Knowledge and understanding:
  • Demonstrate familiarity with research methodology in general and the methods of the specific field of research.
• Competence and skills:
  • Demonstrate the capacity for scholarly analysis and synthesis and to review and assess new and complex phenomena, issues, and situations autonomously and critically,
  • Plan and use appropriate methods to undertake research and other qualified tasks within predetermined time frames and to review and evaluate such work,
  • Demonstrate the capacity for scholarly analysis and synthesis and to review and assess new and complex phenomena, issues, and situations autonomously and critically,
  • Demonstrate the ability to identify and formulate issues with scholarly precision critically, autonomously, and creatively, and to
  • Plan and use appropriate methods to undertake research and other qualified tasks within predetermined time frames and to review and evaluate such work.

The course addresses the following qualitative targets for a Degree of Doctor according to the Higher Education Ordinance: 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, and 2.5.

Course methods:
The course consists of seminars, and students shall perform individually planned experiments. The seminars are based partly on the course book and on homework assignments, discussion of scientific articles, and the presentation and discussion of their experiments. The course is examined through active participation in seminars, presentation of the student's planned experiment and through submitted solutions to shared data at the end of the course.

Examination form:
The course's learning objectives regarding the ability to:

• analyze experiments based on a given design and collected response variables,
• explain and justify the assumptions underlying the choice of analysis methods,
• discuss and, in some cases, adjust analyses when data deviate from the statistical assumptions of the methods, and
• describe problems related to, and ways of mitigating, the effects of non-random experimental order, and

are examined through solutions to book assignments, literature overview presentations, through the students' experiments and the exam.

The course's learning objectives regarding the ability to:

• identify strengths and weaknesses of different experimental designs,
• propose the design of an experiment by applying established designs from the field of design of experiments, and
• design, carry out, and analyze their own experiments

are examined through the student's experiment and the presentation of the same.

The final exam format will be decided at the start of the course. The standard approach is an oral exam at the end of the course.

Grading scale: Pass/Fail

Course literature:
D.C. Montgomery, Design and Analysis of Experiments, latest ed., Wiley.

Education cycle:
Lp 1-2, 2027

Course is given periodically: Yes. Next time: HT29.

Send application to: The application is made via the form below

• Application to FOR045F Autumn 2027

In the application, the doctoral student states: name, social security number, email address, division and department affiliation

Deadline for application:
2027-05-15

Course open for application by doctoral students admitted to other universities than LTU: No

Limited number of students: No

Tuition:
The course is free of charge for doctoral students admitted at LTU.

Contact person:
Assoc. Prof. Erik Vanhatalo, 0920-491720, erik.vanhatalo@ltu.se

Examiner:
Assoc. Prof. Erik Vanhatalo

Course syllabus decided by:
Helena Ranängen

Date of decision:

2025-10-13