Search result: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2019

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 B: Reflection About Subject-Specific Methods and Contents
Subject-specific courses: Recommended for doctoral, master and bachelor students (after first-year examination only).

Students who already took a course within their main study program are NOT allowed to take the course again.

These course units are also listed under "Type A", which basically means all students can enroll
D-MATH
NumberTitleTypeECTSHoursLecturers
851-0742-00LContract Design Restricted registration - show details
Particularly suitable for students of D-ARCH, D-BAUG, D-CHAB, DMATH, D-MTEC, D-INFK, D-MAVT
W2 credits2GA. Stremitzer, N. Atkinson
AbstractThis course takes an engineering approach to contracting. It aims to bridge the gap between economic contract theory, contract law scholarship and the drafting of real world contracts. Students will apply insights from mechanism design and law to the design of incentive compatible contracts.
ObjectiveThis course takes and engineering approach to structuring transactions. It consists in discussing the economics underlying business transactions and applying those concepts to focused case studies that illustrate the economic concepts that we study.

Transactions are agreements between two or more parties to work together to create and allocate value. They can take a range of forms that include: the sale of an asset; the formation and running of a business; initial public offerings (IPOs); debt financings; buyouts; sales out of bankruptcy; leases; construction contracts; movie financing deals, etc.

Deals occur, and value is created, when deal professionals design structures that make value more ascertainable, constrain future misbehavior by participants and limit the potential costs of long-term commitment by preventing the parties from taking advantage of counterparty’s sunk investments. If problems like these are not adequately addressed, the deal may not happen. But if the terms of the deal can be designed to respond to such problems, the transaction is more likely to be viable and the potential gains from it achievable.

The Class consists of 3 Modules:

Module 1: Contract Theory & Contract Design: The first part of the class consists in theoretical lectures aimed at equipping students with heuristic tools on how to write contracts. To this end, students will be made familiar with the key concepts of economic and behavioral contract theory.

Module 2: Drafting Contracts: The second part of the class initiates students to contract drafting, by analyzing and marking up real world contracts.

Module 3: Structuring a Complex Contract for a (hypothetical) Client Organization: The third part of the class will subdivide the class into groups. Each group will be presented with a complex real world deal or case study. The students will then perform the following tasks:

1) Student teams will first reconstruct the environment in which the contract was written.
2) By understanding the goals of both parties, they will in the next step identify the main economic, technical and legal issues of the deal.
3) They will come up with a strategic term sheet aimed at addressing those issues.
4) They will analyze the incentive structure of the actual contract and critically assess whether the contract implements the key ideas of the term sheet. If not, they will make recommendations on how the contract should be improved.
851-0125-65LA Sampler of Histories and Philosophies of Mathematics
Particularly suitable for students D-CHAB, D-INFK, D-ITET, D-MATH, D-PHYS
W3 credits2VR. Wagner
AbstractThis course will review several case studies from the ancient, medieval and modern history of mathematics. The case studies will be analyzed from various philosophical perspectives, while situating them in their historical and cultural contexts.
ObjectiveThe course aims are:
1. To introduce students to the historicity of mathematics
2. To make sense of mathematical practices that appear unreasonable from a contemporary point of view
3. To develop critical reflection concerning the nature of mathematical objects
4. To introduce various theoretical approaches to the philosophy and history of mathematics
5. To open the students' horizons to the plurality of mathematical cultures and practices
851-0252-15LNetwork Analysis
Particularly suitable for students of D-INFK, D-MATH
W3 credits2VU. Brandes
AbstractNetwork science is a distinct domain of data science that is characterized by a specific kind of data being studied.
While areas of application range from archaeology to zoology, we concern ourselves with social networks for the most part.
Emphasis is placed on descriptive and analytic approaches rather than theorizing, modeling, or data collection.
ObjectiveStudents will be able to identify and categorize research problems
that call for network approaches while appreciating differences across application domains and contexts.
They will master a suite of mathematical and computational tools,
and know how to design or adapt suitable methods for analysis.
In particular, they will be able to evaluate such methods in terms of appropriateness and efficiency.
ContentThe following topics will be covered with an emphasis on structural and computational approaches and frequent reference to their suitability with respect to substantive theory:

* Empirical Research and Network Data
* Macro and Micro Structure
* Centrality
* Roles
* Cohesion
Lecture notesLecture notes are distributed via the associated course moodle.
Literature* Hennig, Brandes, Pfeffer & Mergel (2012). Studying Social Networks. Campus-Verlag.
* Borgatti, Everett & Johnson (2013). Analyzing Social Networks. Sage.
* Robins (2015). Doing Social Network Research. Sage.
* Brandes & Erlebach (2005). Network Analysis. Springer LNCS 3418.
* Wasserman & Faust (1994). Social Network Analysis. Cambridge University Press.
* Kadushin (2012). Understanding Social Networks. Oxford University Press.
853-0061-00LIntroduction to Cybersecurity PoiticsW3 credits2GA. Wenger, M. Dunn Cavelty
AbstractThe lecture is an introduction to global cybersecurity politics. The focus is on the strategic use of cyberspace by state and non-state actors (threats) and different answers to these new challenges (countermeasures).
ObjectiveParticipants learn to assess the advantages and disadvantages of cyberspace as a domain for strategic military operations. They understand the technical basics of cyber operations and know how technology and politics are interlinked in this area. They understand the security challenges for and the motivations of states to be active in cyberspace offensively and defensively and they are familiar with the consequences for international politics.
ContentWe start with an overview of cybersecurity issue from 1980 to today and look at events and actors responsible for turning cybersecurity matters into a security political issue with top priority. After familiarizing ourselves with the technical basics, we look at different forms of cyberviolence and trends in cyber conflicts (technique in social and political practice). Then, we turn to countermeasures: we compare national cybersecurity strategies, examine international norms building, and scrutinize concepts such as cyber-power and cyber-deterrence (technique in social and political regulartory contexts).
Lecture notesA script with background information and comments on the literature will be made available at the beginning of the semester.
LiteratureLiterature for each session will be available on Moodle.
Prerequisites / NoticeThe lecture is being supported by a website on Moodle. If you have any questions, please contact Jasper Frei; Link.
853-8002-00LThe Role of Technology in National and International Security PolicyW3 credits2GA. Wenger, A. Dossi, M. Haas, M. Leese, O. Thränert
AbstractThe lecture gives an introduction to the role of security and military technologies in the formulation and implementation of national and international security policies. The focus is on challenges from new and emerging technologies, the change in military capacities, and the question of regulation.
ObjectiveParticipants gain an in-depth overview of the diverse areas in which technology becomes part of security policy and practices, both in civil and military contexts.
ContentDer erste Teil befasst sich mit den vielgestaltigen und komplexen Beziehungen zwischen Konzepten nationaler und internationaler Sicherheit, der Förderung von Forschung und Entwicklung, ökonomischen Aspekten von Technologie, und Aussenpolitik und Diplomatie. Der zweite Teil behandelt die Auswirkungen von neuen Technologien auf militärische Kapazitäten, strategische Optionen, und Militärdoktrinen in Krieg und Frieden. Der dritte Teil konzentriert sich auf regulatorische Herausforderungen, die aus der Implementierung und der globalen Weiterverbreitung von Technologie resultieren. Der letzte Teil schliesslich beschäftigt sich mit den Herausforderungen für den Staat im Umgang mit neuen und noch in der Entwicklung befindlicher Technologien, vorrangig in den sensiblen Bereich der Rüstungsbeschaffung und des nachrichtendienstlichen Einsatzes.
LiteratureLiteratur für die einzelnen Sitzungen wird auf Moodle bereitgestellt.
Prerequisites / NoticeThe lecture is being supported by a website on Moodle. If you have any questions, please contact Julia Hofstetter, Link.
851-0101-86LAgent-Based Modeling and Social System Simulation Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 100.

Prerequisites: Basic programming skills, elementary probability and statistics.
W3 credits2SN. Antulov-Fantulin
AbstractThis course introduces mathematical and computational models to study techno-socio-economic systems and the process of scientific research. Students develop a significant project to tackle techno-socio-economic challenges in application domains of complex systems. They are expected to implement a model and communicating their results through a seminar thesis and a short oral presentation.
ObjectiveThe students are expected to know a programming language and environment (Python, Java or Matlab) as a tool to solve various scientific problems. The use of a high-level programming environment makes it possible to quickly find numerical solutions to a wide range of scientific problems. Students will learn to take advantage of a rich set of tools to present their results numerically and graphically.

The students should be able to implement simulation models and document their skills through a seminar thesis and finally give a short oral presentation.
ContentStudents are expected to implement themselves models of various social processes and systems, including agent-based models, complex networks models, decision making, group dynamics, human crowds, or game-theoretical models.

Part of this course will consist of supervised programming exercises. Credit points are finally earned for the implementation of a mathematical or empirical model from the complexity science literature and the documentation in a seminar thesis.
Lecture notesThe lecture slides will be presented on the course web page after each lecture.
LiteratureLiterature, in particular regarding computer models in the (computational) social sciences, will be provided in the course.
Prerequisites / NoticeThe number of participants is limited to the size of the available computer teaching room. The source code related to the seminar thesis should be well enough documented.

Good programming skills and a good understanding of probability & statistics and calculus are expected.
851-0144-07LThe Infinite in Philosophy and in the Exact Sciences: Logic, Mathematics, Physics Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 40.

Particularly suitable for students of D-MATH, D-PHYS
W3 credits2SG. Sommaruga
AbstractOn the one hand, the topic of the infinite will be dealt with historically by discussing philosophical texts, by e.g., Kant, Bolzano and Cantor. On the other hand, the topic will be treated from a (non-historical) scientific point of view: the point of view of logic, mathematics, and physics.
ObjectiveTo get acquainted with different types of the infinite; to study what is intriguing or problematic about the infinite; to inquire whether these different types of the infinite have (important) features in common.
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