A self-paced tutorial to least-squares data fitting using SciDAVis

Please note that following closure of NTR to new submissions at the end of June 2025, updates to this resource will be released on Zenodo. The full collection of Charlotte Dodson's teaching materials has also moved to Zenodo.

SciDAVis is a data fitting software package used to fit physically meaningful equations to experimental (assay) data using non-linear regression. Fitting data in this way enables us to extract parameters such as IC50 values and thus to compare the efficacy of different compounds in an experimental assay in a quantitative manner. SciDAVis is free to use and will carry out the basic analyses we need here adequately. Commonly used pay-for software packages which carry out a similar function (and which are more powerful) include GraphPad Prism, SigmaPlot and Origin.

This record contains a self-paced tutorial to enable students to master the basic features of SciDAVis, of non-linear regression in general and to enable students to create a publication-quality figure. It is suitable for computer-literate students (undergraduate and above) and for research staff. The tutorial can be completed within 2 h and I teach it in a workshop setting with a tutor on hand to provide practical assistance. The workbook contains questions for students to complete to enable staff to gauge student understanding.

Version history

• v1: Original submission.
• v2: Minor updates for clarity and to correct spellings / typos etc.

Have you used this material in your teaching? If so, do get in touch and let me know how it went!