Search result: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2021

GESS Science in Perspective Information
Only the topics listed in this paragraph can be chosen as GESS Science in Perspective.
Further below you will find the "type B courses Reflections about subject specific methods and content" as well as the language courses.

6 ECTS need to be acquired during the BA and 2 ECTS during the MA

Students who already took a course within their main study program are NOT allowed to take the course again.
Type A: Enhancement of Reflection Competence
Suitable for all students.

Students who already took a course within their main study program are NOT allowed to take the course again.
Law
NumberTitleTypeECTSHoursLecturers
851-0735-09LWorkshop & Lecture Series on the Law & Economics of Innovation Information W2 credits2SS. Bechtold, H. Gersbach
AbstractThis series is a joint project by ETH Zurich and the Universities of St. Gallen and Zurich. It provides an overview of interdisciplinary research on intellectual property, innovation, antitrust, privacy & technology policy. Scholars from law, economics, management and related fields present their current research. All speakers are internationally well-known experts from Europe, the U.S. & beyond.
Learning objectiveAfter the workshop and lecture series, participants should be acquainted with interdisciplinary approaches towards intellectual property, innovation, antitrust, privacy and technology policy research. They should also have an overview of current topics of international research in these areas.
ContentThe workshop and lecture series will present a mix of speakers who represent the wide range of current social science research methods applied to intellectual property, innovation, antitrust, privacy and technology policy issues. In particular, theoretical models, empirical and experimental research as well as legal research methods will be represented.
Lecture notesPapers discussed in the workshop and lecture series are posted in advance on the course web page.
LiteratureWilliam Landes / Richard Posner, The Economic Structure of Intellectual Property Law, 2003
Suzanne Scotchmer, Innovation and Incentives, 2004
Peter Menell / Suzanne Scotchmer: Intellectual Property Law, in: Polinsky / Shavell (eds.), Handbook of Law and Economics, Volume 2, Amsterdam 2007, pp. 1471-1570
Bronwyn Hall / Nathan Rosenberg (eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, 2 volumes, Amsterdam 2010
Bronwyn Hall / Dietmar Harhoff, Recent Research on the Economics of Patents, 2011
Paul Belleflamme / Martin Peitz, Industrial Organization: Markets and Strategies, Cambridge, 2nd edition 2015
Robert Merges, Economics of Intellectual Property Law, in Parisi (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Law & Economics, Volume 2, 2017
CompetenciesCompetencies
Subject-specific CompetenciesConcepts and Theoriesassessed
Method-specific CompetenciesAnalytical Competenciesassessed
Problem-solvingassessed
Social CompetenciesCommunicationassessed
Personal CompetenciesCreative Thinkingassessed
Critical Thinkingassessed
851-0703-00LIntroduction to Law
Students who have attended or will attend the lecture "Introduction to Law for Civil Engineering and Architecture " (851-0703-03L) or " Introduction to Law" (851-0708-00L), cannot register for this course unit.

Particularly suitable for students of D-ARCH, D-MAVT, D-MATL
W2 credits2VO.  Streiff Gnöpff
AbstractThis class introduces students into basic features of the legal system. Fundamental issues of constitutional law, administrative law, private law and the law of the EU are covered.
Learning objectiveStudents are able to identify basic structures of the legal system. They unterstand selected topics of public and private law and are able to apply the fundamentals in more advanced law classes.
ContentBasic concepts of law, sources of law.
Private law: Contract law (particularly contract for work and services), tort law, property law.
Public law: Human rights, administrative law, procurement law, procedural law.
Insights into the law of the EU and into criminal law.
Lecture notesJaap Hage, Bram Akkermans (Eds.), Introduction to Law, Cham 2017 (Online Resource ETH Library)
LiteratureFurther documents will be available online (see https://moodle-app2.let.ethz.ch/course/view.php?id=15142).
851-0742-00LContract Design I Restricted registration - show details
This course is taught by Professor Alexander Stremitzer (https://laweconbusiness.ethz.ch/group/professor/stremitzer.html). Note that this is NOT a legal drafting class that focuses on contractual language. Instead, in Contact Design I, you will learn what the content of a contract should be so that parties can reach their goals.

You can find all course materials and the most recent announcements on Moodle. Please log in to Moodle using your ETH or UZH credentials. Then search for "Contract Design I (851-0742-00L; Fall 2021)" and enroll. The password is "ContractDesign01".

Number of participants limited to 160.
Max 80 ETHZ and 80 UZH Students
W3 credits2VA. Stremitzer
AbstractContract Design I aims to bridge the gap between economic contract theory, contract law, and the writing of real-world contracts. In this course, we take a systematic approach to contract design. This means we first analyze the economic environment in which a transaction takes place, and then engineer contracts that achieve the desired outcome.
Learning objectiveContracts are agreements between parties to engage in transactions. A good contract creates value by giving parties the right incentives to meet their objectives. A good contract designer scrutinizes the economic situation in which parties find themselves and tailors the contract to the challenges at hand. To help you become sophisticated contract designers, we draw from insights, for which more than half a dozen Nobel Prizes were awarded in the past two decades, and transfer them to the art of writing real-world contracts. In other words, Contract Design I will provide you with analytical tools related to contracting that are invaluable to successful lawyers, business leaders, and startup founders.

In Contract Design I, you will be asked to watch a series of videos (10-15 minutes each) that we produced for this course. These video episodes introduce you to key concepts of economic, behavioral, and experimental contract theory. We will cover topics such as moral hazard, adverse selection, elicitation mechanisms, relationship-specific investments, and relational contracting. You can find the welcome video at this link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvIdfG70zq0). However, this course prioritizes applications of contract design. Therefore, we will use class time to discuss a selection of exciting real-world case studies, ranging from purchases & sales of assets, oil & gas exploration, movie production & distribution, construction & development, M&A deals, to executive compensation and many other types of transactions.

ETH students: Your final grade will consist of two components: 1) You are required to take weekly computer-based quizzes during class time. Thus, it is imperative that you attend the lectures to be able to finish the quizzes and pass this course. Moreover, we regularly post questions regarding the case studies that we examine in class. 2) You have to compose short responses to these questions and upload them. Note that UZH students enrolling in this course earn more ECTS on completing this course than ETH students. This is because UZH students must hand in an extensive group project in addition to the weekly quizzes and short responses.
Lecture notesHandouts, prerecorded videos, slides, and other materials
Prerequisites / NoticeContract Design I is available to ETH students through the Science in Perspective (SiP) Program of D-GESS. This course is particularly suitable for students of D-ARCH, D-BAUG, D-CHAB, DMATH, D-MTEC, D-INFK, and D-MAVT. If you have any questions on Contract Design I, please send an e-mail to Professor Stremitzer’s Teaching Assistant Diego Caldera (diegoalberto.calderaherrera@uzh.ch).
851-0703-04LLaw and Urban Space Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 45

Particularly suitable for students of D-ARCH
W2 credits1VO.  Streiff Gnöpff
AbstractLegal rules are tied to urban space. Illustrative is the relation between land ownership and urban morphology or between zoning and the functional dimension of urban space. Legal concepts (from property law, fundamental rights and administrative law) with spatial impacts are introduced and related to the theory of urban design. Moreover, it is discussed how these concepts shape specific places.
Learning objectiveStudents recognize the interplay between legal structures and urban space. They can describe legal concepts with spatial impact. Moreover, they are able to compare legally binding targets with theoretical approaches in urban design. By analysing specific places, students learn to find relevant norms, to analyse and to judge them with regard to urban design theories. Thereby, they are able to distinguish design and policy questions.
ContentUsing the the term «lawscape» (Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos), we initially discuss general aspects of the interplay between legal rules and urban space.

The first part of the course is about the morphological dimension of urban space. We compare positions of urban planners like Trancik (Finding Lost Space) or Rowe/Koetter (Collage City) with property law. Freedom of property in turn contrasts to the theoretical approaches of Bernoulli (Die Stadt und ihr Boden) or Rossi (L'architettura della città). Using court decisions concerning nail houses, we study the tensions between urban development and the system of property ownership.

The second part of the course is about the functional dimension of urban space. Key concept is the zone (cf. CIAM 4). This concept is criticized (Wolfrum, Zoning Bien Défini). We compare the concept as well as the critique with the main concerns in spatial planning law. Environmental law and neighbouring rights are also relevant.

In the third part of the course, we work on the social, visual and temporal dimensions of urban space. The positions of Jacobs (The Death and Life of Great American Cities), Cullen (Townscape) or Lynch (The Presence of the Past) are compared with the dichotomy public space/private space, safety regulations, regulations on design reviews or heritage protection laws.

Working tools are theoretical texts, legal rules, court decisions as well as site analyses. Students undertake a case study in small groups. Selected case studies are presented and discussed in a final meeting.
Lecture notesSee Literature.
LiteratureDocuments will be available online (see https://moodle-app2.let.ethz.ch/course/view.php?id=15143).
Prerequisites / NoticeNumber of participants limited to: 45
851-0707-00LSpace Planning Law and Environment
Particularly suitable for students of D-ARCH, D-BAUG, D-USYS
W2 credits2GO. Bucher
AbstractSystem of swiss planning law,
Constitutional and statutory provisions,
Space planning and fundamental rights,
Instruments,
Application, legal protection, enforcement,
Practical training.
Learning objectiveBasic unterstanding of nature and function of space planning from a legal point of view. Basic knowledge of space planning instruments, relationship between space planning and constitutional law (especially property rights), solving of practical cases.
ContentDie Vorlesung basiert wesentlich auf der Mitwirkung der Studenten. Es finden 3 Sitzungen im Hörsaal statt, in welchen sich in der Praxis stellende Probleme erörtert werden. Die Vorbereitung auf die jeweiligen Sitzungen erfolgt an Hand von Fallbearbeitungen und einem Selbststudium an Hand des Lehrbuchs zum Raumplanungs- und Baurecht. Lösen von drei Aufgaben (praktischen Fällen) mit je genügender Leistung für die Erlangung der KP. Als Lernhilfe werden Anleitungen und insbesondere ein Musterfall mit Musterlösung zur Verfügung gestellt.
Lecture notesHaller, Walter/Karlen, Peter, Raumplanung-, Bau- und Umweltrecht, 3.A., Zürich 1999

Hänni, Peter, Planungs-, Bau- und besonderes Umweltschutzrecht, 6.A., Bern 2016
851-0709-00LIntroduction to Civil LawW2 credits2VH. Peter
AbstractThe course Private Law focuses on the Swiss Code of Obligations (contracts, torts) and on Property Law (ownership, mortgage and easements). In addition, the course will provide a short overview of Civil Procedure and Enforcement.
Learning objectiveTeaching of the principles of law, particularly private law. Introduction to law.
ContentLe cours de droit civil porte notamment sur le droit des obligations (droit des contrats et responsabilité civile) et sur les droits réels (propriété, gages et servitudes). De plus, il est donné un bref aperçu du droit de la procédure et de l'exécution forcée.
LiteratureEditions officielles récentes des lois fédérales, en langue française (Code civil et Code des obligations) ou italienne (Codice civile e Codice delle obbligazioni), disponibles auprès de la plupart des librairies.

Sont indispensables:
- le Code civil et le Code des obligations;
Sont conseillés:
- Nef, Urs Ch.: Le droit des obligations à l'usage des ingénieurs et des architectes, trad. Bovay, J., éd. Payot, Lausanne
- Scyboz, G. et. Gilliéron, P.-R, éd.: Edition annotée du Code civil et du Code des obligations, Payot, Lausanne, et Helbing & Lichtenhahn,
- Boillod, J.-P.: Manuel de droit, éd Slatkine, Genève
- Biasio, G./Foglia, A.: Introduzione ai codici di diritto privato svizzero, ed. Giappichelli, Torino
Prerequisites / NoticeRemarques
- Le cours de droit civil et le cours de droit public (2e sem.) sont l'équivalent des cours "Recht I" et "Recht II" en langue allemande et des exercices y relatifs.
- Les examens peuvent se faire en français ou en italien.
- Examen au 1er propédeutique; convient pour travail de semestre.
- Con riassunti in italiano. E possibile sostenere l'esame in italiano.
851-0727-02LE-Business-Law
Particularly suitable for students of D-INFK, D-ITET
W2 credits2VD. Rosenthal
AbstractThe course deals with the basic legal framework for doing e-business as well as using information technology. It discusses a variety of legal concepts and rules to be taken into account in practice, be it when designing and planning new media business models, be it when implementing online projects and undertaking information technology activities.
Learning objectiveThe objective is knowing and understanding key legal concepts relevant for doing e-business, in particularly understanding how e-business is regulated by law nationally and internationally, how contracts are concluded and performed electronically, which rules have to be obeyed in particular in the Internet with regard to third party and own content and client data, the concept of liability applied in e-business and the role of the law in the practical implementation and operation of e-business applications.
ContentVorgesehene Strukturierung der Vorlesung:

1) Welches Recht gilt im E-Business?
- Internationalität des Internets
- Regulierte Branchen

2) Gestaltung und Vermarktung von E-Business-Angeboten
- Verwendung fremder und Schutz der eigenen Inhalte
- Haftung im E-Business (und wie sie beschränkt werden kann)
- Domain-Namen

3) Beziehung zu E-Business-Kunden
- Verträge im E-Business, Konsumentenschutz
- Elektronische Signaturen
- Datenschutz
- Spam

4) Verträge mit E-Business-Providern

Änderungen, Umstellungen und Kürzungen bleiben vorbehalten. Der aktuelle Termin- und Themenplan ist zu gegebener Zeit über die elektronische Dokumentenablage abrufbar.
Lecture notesEs wird mit Folien gearbeitet, die als PDF über die elektronische Dokumentenablage (ILIAS) auf dem System der ETHZ vorgängig abrufbar sind. Auf dem Termin- und Themenplan (ebenfalls online abrufbar) sind Links zu Gesetzestexten und weiteren Unterlagen abrufbar. Schliesslich wird jede Vorlesung auch als Podcast aufgezeichnet, der jedoch nur für die Studierenden mit einem Passwort (erhältlich beim Dozenten) zugänglich sind.

Der Termin- und Themenplan ist zu gegebener Zeit über die elektronische Dokumentenablage abrufbar.
LiteratureWeiterführende Materialien, Links und Literatur sind auf dem Termin- und Themenplan aufgeführt (zu gegebener Zeit abrufbar via elektronische Dokumentenablage).
Prerequisites / NoticeDie Semesterendprüfung war vor Corona in Form eines schriftlichen Kurztests (normalerweise ein MC, im letzten Jahr Coronabedingt aber eine Falllösung) in der letzten Doppelstunde ausgestaltet. Es wird angegeben, welche Unterlagen beim jeweiligen Thema den Prüfungsstoff definieren. Der Test wird möglicherweise elektronisch durchgeführt.
851-0735-10LBusiness Law Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 100

Particularly suitable for students of D-ITET, D-MAVT
W2 credits2VP. Peyrot
AbstractThe students shall obtain a basic knowledge about business law. They shall be able to recognize and evaluate issues in the area of business law and suggest possible solutions.
Learning objectiveThe students shall obtain the following competence:
- They shall obtain a working knowledge on the legal aspects involved in setting up and managing an enterprize.
- They shall be acquainted with corporate functions as contracting, negotiation, claims management and dispute resolution
- They shall be familiar with the issues of corporate compliance, i.e. the system to ascertain that all legal and ethical rules are observed.
- They shall be able to contribute to the legal management of the company and to discuss legal issues.
- They shall have an understanding of the law as a part of the corporate strategy and as a valuable ressource of the company.
Lecture notesA comprehensive script will be made available online on the moodle platform.
851-0738-00LIntellectual Property: Introduction
Particularly suitable for students of D-CHAB, D-INFK, D-ITET, D-MAVT, D- MATL, D-MTEC
W2 credits2VM. Schweizer
AbstractThe course provides an introduction to Swiss and European intellectual property law (trademarks, copyright, patent and design rights). Aspects of competition law are treated insofar as they are relevant for the protection of intellectual creations and source designations. The legal principles are developed based on current cases.
Learning objectiveThe aim of this course is to enable students at ETH Zurich to recognize which rights may protect their creations, and which rights may be infringed as a result of their activities. Students should learn to assess the risks and opportunities of intellectual property rights in the development and marketing of new products. To put them in this position, they need to know the prerequisites and scope of protection afforded by the various intellectual property rights as well as the practical difficulties involved in the enforcement of intellectual property rights. This knowledge is imparted based on current rulings and cases.

Another goal is to enable the students to participate in the current debate over the goals and desirability of protecting intellectual creations, particularly in the areas of copyright (keywords: fair use, Creative Commons, Copyleft) and patent law (software patents, patent trolls, patent thickets).
851-0738-01LThe Role of Intellectual Property in the Engineering and Technical Sector
Particularly suitable for students of D-BAUG, D-BIOL, D-BSSE, D-CHAB, D-ITET, D-MAVT
W2 credits2VK. Houshang Pour Islam
AbstractThe lecture gives an overview of the fundamental aspects of intellectual property, which plays an important role in the daily routine of engineers and scientists. The lecture aims to make participants aware of the various methods of protection and to put them in a position to use this knowledge in the workplace.
Learning objectiveIn recent years, knowledge about intellectual property has become increasingly important for engineers and scientists. Both in production and distribution and in research and development, they are increasingly being confronted with questions concerning the patenting of technical inventions and the use of patent information.

The lecture will acquaint participants with practical aspects of intellectual property and enable them to use the acquired knowledge in their future professional life.

Topics covered during the lecture will include:
- The importance of innovation in industrialised countries
- An overview of the different forms of intellectual property
- The protection of technical inventions and how to safeguard their commercialisation
- Patents as a source of technical and business information
- Practical aspects of intellectual property in day-to-day research, at the workplace and for the formation of start-ups.

Case studies will illustrate and deepen the topics addressed during the lecture.

The seminar will include practical exercises on how to use and search patent information. Basic knowledge of how to read and evaluate patent documents as well as how to use publicly available patent databases to obtain the required patent information will also be provided.
Prerequisites / NoticeThe lecture addresses students in the fields of engineering, science and other related technical fields.
851-0760-00LBuilding a Robot Judge: Data Science for Decision-Making
Particularly suitable for students of D-INFK, D-ITET, D-MTEC
W3 credits2VE. Ash
AbstractThis course explores the automation of decisions in the legal system. We delve into the machine learning tools needed to predict judge decision-making and ask whether techniques in model explanation and algorithmic fairness are sufficient to address the potential risks.
Learning objectiveThis course introduces students to the data science tools that may provide the first building blocks for a robot judge. While building a working robot judge might be far off in the future, some of the building blocks are already here, and we will put them to work.
ContentData science technologies have the potential to improve legal decisions by making them more efficient and consistent. On the other hand, there are serious risks that automated systems could replicate or amplify existing legal biases and rigidities. Given the stakes, these technologies force us to think carefully about notions of fairness and justice and how they should be applied.

The focus is on legal prediction problems. Given the evidence and briefs in this case, how will a judge probably decide? How likely is a criminal defendant to commit another crime? How much additional revenue will this new tax law collect? Students will investigate and implement the relevant machine learning tools for making these types of predictions, including regression, classification, and deep neural networks models.

We then use these predictions to better understand the operation of the legal system. Under what conditions do judges tend to make errors? Against which types of defendants do parole boards exhibit bias? Which jurisdictions have the most tax loopholes? Students will be introduced to emerging applied research in this vein. In a semester paper, students (individually or in groups) will conceive and implement an applied data-science research project.
851-0761-00LBuilding a Robot Judge: Data Science for Decision-Making (Course Project)
This is the optional course project for "Building a Robot Judge: Data Science for the Law."

Please register only if attending the lecture course or with consent of the instructor.

Some programming experience in Python is required, and some experience with text mining is highly recommended.
W2 credits2VE. Ash
AbstractStudents investigate and implement the relevant machine learning tools for making legal predictions, including regression, classification, and deep neural networks models. This is the extra credit for a larger course project for the course.
Learning objectiveIn a semester paper, students (individually or in groups) will conceive and implement their own research project applying natural language tools to legal texts. Some programming experience in Python is required, and some experience with NLP is highly recommended.
ContentStudents will investigate and implement the relevant machine learning tools for making legal predictions, including regression, classification, and deep neural networks models.
We will use these predictions to better understand the operation of the legal system. In a semester project, student groups will conceive and implement a research design for examining this type of empirical research question.
851-0746-00LAlgorithms and Fairness Restricted registration - show details
Any students enrolling in the course must complete a short writing assignment within two weeks of registering. Please contact the instructors via email (aileen.nielsen@gess.ethz.ch) for information about the assignment and for access to the course Slack workspace.
W2 credits1SA. Stremitzer, A. Nielsen
AbstractFrom a legal, social science, and applied mathematics perspective, we address the increasingly important question of what AI fairness means and how AI fairness can be addressed by legal, social science, and applied mathematical research to inform policy making.
Learning objectiveUnderstand the history of fairness as defined in law, social science, and applied mathematics research
Identify logical and mathematical conflicts between different definitions of fairness
Explain why fairness and AI is a highly contested and unresolved problem in law.
ContentThis block course will be broken into three components.

Fair outcomes: the equality/equity debate
-The proliferation of fairness definitions
-Impossibility theorems
-AI & fundamental rights

Fair process
-Appropriate use of AI in administrative or judicial roles
-AI counterparties
-Fair markets


Fair distribution
-Distributing scarce resources
-Data markets and data labor
-The future of work
851-0742-01LContract Design II Restricted registration - show details
This course is taught by Professor Alexander Stremitzer (https://lawecon.ethz.ch/group/professors/stremitzer.html). To be considered for Contract Design II, you must have completed Contract Design I in the same semester. Students can only register for Contract Design II after having obtained approval by Prof. Stremitzer.
W1 credit1UA. Stremitzer
AbstractContract Design II is a masterclass in the form of an interactive clinic that allows you to deepen your understanding of contracting by applying insights from Contract Design I to a comprehensive case study. Together with your classmates, you are going to advise a (hypothetical) client organization planning to enter a complex transaction on how to structure the underlying contract.
Learning objectiveThere is a possibility that representatives from companies that were previously engaged in similar deals will visit us in class and tell you about their experience firsthand. In Contract Design I, you will receive more detailed information on the content and learning objectives of Contract Design II. If you have urgent questions, please do not hesitate to send an e-mail to Professor Stremitzer’s Teaching Assistant Diego Caldera (diegoalberto.calderaherrera@uzh.ch).
Prerequisites / NoticeTo enable you to work under the close supervision of your professor and his team, only a small group of students with backgrounds in law, business, or engineering is admitted to this course. This simulation is time-consuming and challenging. Hence, we can only admit the most successful and motivated students to this class. Further information on the application process will follow.
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