Introduction to Natural Language Processing

This workshop offers a comprehensive introduction to the exciting field of Natural Language Processing (NLP), the area of artificial intelligence that enables computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language. Designed for beginners with some programming knowledge, this course will guide you from foundational concepts to building your own NLP models.

Participants will start by exploring the fundamentals of how machines process text. You will get hands-on experience with essential preprocessing techniques such as tokenization, stemming, and lemmatization. The curriculum then moves to methods for converting text into numerical representations, including classic models like Bag-of-Words and modern approaches like word embeddings.

Through practical coding sessions using popular Python libraries like NLTK and spaCy, you will learn to tackle core NLP tasks such as sentiment analysis, text classification, and named entity recognition. The workshop will also provide a high-level overview of the state-of-the-art transformer models that power today’s advanced language technologies, like chatbots and translation services.

By the end of this workshop, you will have a solid understanding of NLP principles and possess the practical skills to start applying these powerful techniques to your own projects.

Contributors:

Dr Jacob Macdonald is a Lecturer in GIS and Spatial Analysis with the School of Geography and Planning, University of Sheffield, and Deputy Director of Advanced Data Analytics (ADA) for the WRDTP. Previously, he worked as a research geographic data scientist developing and promoting accessible data products.

Important:

• This is an in-person event at the University of Sheffield (lunch will be provided).
• This event is open to members of WRDTP partner institutions only.
• Bookings will close at 9.00am on Thursday 19th March.
• When booking, we ask that you use your institutional (.ac.uk) email address and complete all fields of the booking form. Thank you for your understanding.

Please note: The WRDTP is committed to sustainability and to reducing the waste from excess catering at events. A key challenge here is non-attendance at events. From October 1st 2025, the WRDTP will be changing the way we manage the non-attendance of PGR students who have booked place/s at WRDTP Training events. Any PGR student who does not inform the WRDTP (via dHJhaW5pbmcgfCB3cmR0cCAhIGFjICEgdWs=) that they will not be able to attend a WRDTP event at least 3 working days before the event takes place will have the cost of their place deducted from their RTSG (if a WRDTP-funded student), or have this charged to their department (if not funded by the WRDTP). This will allow us to better plan for events and to avoid catering waste. Thank you in advance for your cooperation on this matter.

Also check out other Workshops in Sheffield, Contests in Sheffield.