Calculus and Optimisation for Machine Learning
Free Intermediate course · 10 lessons · 3 weeks · Certificate on completion
Understand gradients, loss surfaces and optimisers well enough to debug training. Across 10 lessons you'll move from fundamentals to a portfolio-ready outcome — at your own pace, with quizzes after each lesson and a final exam to certify your mastery.
What you'll learn
- Derivatives as sensitivity
- Partial derivatives and gradients
- The chain rule and backprop
- Loss functions
- Gradient descent
- Momentum and Adam
Skills you'll pick up
- Derivatives as sensitivity
- Partial derivatives and gradie
- The chain rule and backprop
- Loss functions
- Gradient descent
- Momentum and Adam
Tools covered
- Optimisation for ML
- Real-world projects
- Quizzes
- Final exam
Course modules
Module 1: Derivatives as sensitivity
Module 1 of Calculus and Optimisation for Machine Learning. 3 lessons · 3h
Module 2: Loss functions
Module 2 of Calculus and Optimisation for Machine Learning. 3 lessons · 3h
Module 3: Learning rate schedules
Module 3 of Calculus and Optimisation for Machine Learning. 2 lessons · 2h
Module 4: Regularisation
Module 4 of Calculus and Optimisation for Machine Learning. 2 lessons · 2h
Lessons in this course
- Derivatives as sensitivity
- Partial derivatives and gradients
- The chain rule and backprop
- Loss functions
- Gradient descent
- Momentum and Adam
- Learning rate schedules
- Convex vs non-convex problems
- Regularisation
- Diagnosing training curves
Instructor
Tomás Herrera — Staff Data Scientist
Tomás Herrera is a Staff Data Scientist with years of hands-on experience teaching Optimisation for ML to thousands of learners worldwide.
Certificate
Finish every lesson and pass the final exam to earn a free, verifiable Learnera certificate for Calculus and Optimisation for Machine Learning. It can be downloaded as a PDF and shared on LinkedIn.
Career outcomes
Median global salary $110,000 per year · median India salary ₹15,40,000 per year · 26,986 open roles worldwide
- Optimisation for ML Specialist
- Senior Optimisation for ML Lead
- Optimisation for ML Consultant
Frequently asked questions
Is the Calculus and Optimisation for Machine Learning course free?
Yes. Every Learnera course, including Calculus and Optimisation for Machine Learning, is completely free — lessons, quizzes, the final exam, and the certificate.
How long does Calculus and Optimisation for Machine Learning take?
10 lessons, typically completed in 3 weeks at a comfortable pace.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes — pass the final exam and you receive a free, verifiable certificate you can share on LinkedIn.