Welcome to QuantLab
QuantLab is a network bringing together social scientists at the University of Melbourne and beyond to share insights in quantitative methods and research.
Co-founded by Seraphine F. Maerz (Political Science) and Irma Mooi-Reci (Sociology), QuantLab is an inclusive network that welcomes everyone — from students to established researchers — interested in learning about quantitative methods and computational techniques.
News: QuantLab is transitioning into a Tier 2 research group at the Faculty of Arts, with Michael Falk (Digital Studies) joining as stream leader and René Rejón (Faculty of Arts) as Outreach and Impact Lead. Our work is organised into three research streams:
- Political Communication and Discourse Analysis — led by Seraphine F. Maerz
- Computational Approaches to Workforce Mobility and Inequality — led by Irma Mooi-Reci
- Computational Literary Studies — led by Michael Falk
We offer hands-on seminars where you can learn cutting-edge methods, together with free online tutorials and session materials in our Sharezone — step-by-step guides on data management, reproducible research, and ready-to-use scripts in R, Stata, and Python. Most importantly, we provide a space to connect with fellow students and researchers, share ideas as well as knowledge, and collaborate.
Events in 2026
AI in Research – Brown Bag Workshop Series
A new collaboration between the Melbourne Data Analytics Platform (MDAP), QuantLab, and the Community of AI in Research (CAIR). These monthly lunchtime workshops offer a relaxed, hands-on space to build confidence with AI in research — each session runs from 12–1pm at Melbourne Connect, with an optional drop-in until 1.30pm. Bring your lunch, your laptop, and your curiosity. Open to researchers at all levels and across all disciplines.
Register and find full details via the MDAP announcement — see also the series flyer.
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| 10/08/26 | Getting started with AI assistance for research: A hands-on introduction to using AI confidently in your research workflow. Manhari Room, Melbourne Connect | Dr. Mel Mistica (MDAP), Dr. Seraphine F. Maerz (SSPS) |
| 14/09/26 | Equipping AI agents with tools: A practical walkthrough of giving AI agents the tools they need to get research work done. Manhari Room, Melbourne Connect | Dr. Daniel Russo-Batterham (MDAP) |
| 12/10/26 | Working with synthetic data: Generating and using synthetic data for research — when it helps, when it hurts, and how to do it well. Room M13, Melbourne Connect | Prof. Irma Mooi-Reci (SSPS) |
| 09/11/26 | How to build your own RAG: Build a retrieval-augmented generation pipeline from scratch and plug it into your own research materials. Room M01, Melbourne Connect | Taylor Ey (Melbourne Institute) |
| 14/12/26 | Analysing historical data with AI: Applying AI methods to historical sources — practical techniques and pitfalls. Manhari Room, Melbourne Connect | Dr. David Goodman (SHPS) |
Other 2026 events
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| 31/03/26 | Analysing Qualitative Data with Large Language Models (LLMs): From small, exploratory coding to large-scale yet in-depth qualitative analysis, with replicable workflows | Dr. Seraphine F. Maerz, SSPS |
More events will be added for 2027, stay tuned!
Schedule 2025
We meet in Linkway, 4th floor John Medley Building.
| Date | Time | Topic | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/02/25 | 14:00-15:00 | Intro to Causal Inference and Treatment Effects | Dr. Chuck Huber, StataCorp LLC |
| 11/02/25 | 03:00-09:00 | Using AI for Text Analysis: An Introduction (online) | Dr. Seraphine F. Maerz |
| 18/02/25 | 10:00-16:00 | Using AI for Text Analysis: Advanced Applications (online) | Dr. Seraphine F. Maerz |
| 03/03/25 | 12:00-13:00 | Introduction to Version Control with Git | Prof. Michael Zyphur, Dr. Mar Quiroga |
| 20/03/25 | 09:30-12:30 | Partner Event: Get Started with R | MDAP |
| 31/03/25 | 12:00-13:00 | Regression Discontinuity Design | Dr. Amrita Mitra |
| 14/04/25 | 12:00-13:00 | Shut Up and Git | Dr. Tomasz Woźniak |
| 12/05/25 | 12:00-13:00 | Quantitative Text Analysis for Social Sciences | Dr. Maxim Ananyev |
| 26/05/25 | 12:00-13:00 | Python for Social Science Research | Dr. Daniel Russo-Batterham |
| 28/07/25 | 12:00-13:00 | Structural Modelling Using R (bsvars & bsvarSIGNs) | Dr. Tomasz Woźniak |
| 11/08/25 | 12:00-13:00 | Building Your Own RAG Pipeline from Scratch! | Taylor Ey |
Schedule 2024
We met in Arts West Research Lounge. Lunch was kindly sponsored by the School of Social and Political Science.
| Date | Time | Topic | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05/08/24 | 11:30-13:00 | Launch of QuantLab Intro to R and Quarto | Seraphine F. Maerz, Irma Mooi-Reci |
| 26/08/24 | 12:00-13:00 | Using Stata for Panel Data | Irma Mooi-Reci |
| 09/09/24 | 12:00-13:00 | Spatial Econometrics: An Introduction | Ed Goldring |
| 10/09/24 | 10:00-11:30 | Introduction to Computational Social Science (online, Social Science Week) | Jason Thompson, MCDS |
| 07/10/24 | 10:00-16:00 | Quarto in RStudio (online) | Seraphine F. Maerz |
| 14/10/24 | 12:00-13:00 | Quantitative Text Analysis in R | Seraphine F. Maerz |
| 28/10/24 | 12:00-13:00 | Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in Stata | Harry Ganzeboom |
| 26/11/24 | 10:00-16:00 | Using AI for Text Analysis in R (online) | Seraphine F. Maerz |