Courses

This course is offered in the Master programs of D-​USYS (environmental and agricultural sciences). The course advances students subject-​ and method-​specific competencies to analyse complex environmental and societal problems in order to design effective research and policies to address them. Integration, in this course, is an integral part of inter-​ and transdisciplinary research. It implies the co-​production and synthesis of different knowledges, perspectives, insights, interests, expectations and collaborative approaches towards a problem and its potential solutions. It is a fundamental process in research when collaborating across scientific disciplines (e.g., natural and social sciences) and working at the interface between science, policy and practice. The course offers a hands-​on experiential setting together with empirical cases situated at that interface. More details here.

This course is part of the Science in Perspective offer across multiple ETH departments and is also part of the Master’s program Geschichte und Philosophie des Wissens. It introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Science, Technology and Society (STS), which examines how scientific knowledge and technologies are shaped by and shape social, political, historical, economic and cultural contexts. The course equips students with conceptual, theoretical and methodological tools to critically analyze the societal roles of science and technology and to reflect on their implications across research and practice. Through engagement with foundational texts, expert seminars and case-based applications, students explore how science and technology influence collective life, governance, identity and ethics. The course supports Master's students from science, engineering and related fields in developing reflexive perspectives on their disciplines and professions and provides a basis for engaging with contemporary societal challenges such as environmental change, biomedical innovation, artificial intelligence and public controversies around science. More details here.

This course is offered in the Master’s programs Agricultural Sciences, Environmental Sciences and open to students from other universities, including international institutions. Students who have obtained ECTS credits for 701-1571-00L Integration in Science, Policy and Practice are excluded from this course, as its content substantially overlaps with that of the summer school.

Meeting today’s complex environmental and societal challenges requires responses that integrate a wide range of perspectives. This includes perspectives from academic disciplines (interdisciplinary integration) as well as from policy and practice (transdisciplinary integration). This summer school explores the concepts, methods and tools of integration in a hands-on, experiential setting. Through real-world case studies, excursions and workshops, students engage with what it means to work across boundaries and learn how to approach sustainability challenges from multiple angles. Find more details here or read about the 2025 edition. 

This seminar is designed for PhD students and PostDoc researchers involved in inter- or transdisciplinary research. It addresses and discusses the challenges of this kind of research using scientific literature presenting case studies, concepts, theories, methods and through testing practical tools. It concludes with a 10-step approach to make participants' research projects more societally relevant. See more details here.

While the CSTS Group is no longer involved in the course, it is still part of the ETH course catalogue. The transdisciplinary case study (tdCS) is part of the minor "TDforSD" in both Master programs of D-USYS (environmental and agricultural sciences) but can be selected as elective course by all Master students from ETH, especially as well from Master students in D-BAUG (e.g. environmental engineering). Check more details here.