This course starts with a broad conceptual and historical perspective on technological and scientific innovation, and then focuses on concepts, theories, and methods for policy analysis as well as their application to policy questions in a variety of issue areas.

This course focuses on how to leverage finance in tackling climate change. We cover international climate finance negotiations as well as the role of governments in designing public policy for different financial actors in industrialized and developing countries.

PhD students in public policy (or related fields) get an introduction to epistemology and an overview of different methodological approaches. The course will help them design their own (interdisciplinary) research and create meaningful and policy-relevant insights.

In this colloquium, doctoral students present their research plan within the first year of their doctorate, which is reviewed by three professors affiliated with the ISTP and commented on by the peer students registered in the colloquium. We recommend attending the colloquium for two semesters and presenting the research plan in the second semester.

This course will introduce important concepts and methods for ex-ante policy analysis. It will mostly focus on the policy content (vis-à-vis the policy process). We will primarily discuss quantitative methods. The course will contain several practical assignments in which students have to apply the concepts and methods studied.

This course addresses the role of policy and its underlying politics in the transformation of the energy sector. It covers historical, socio-economic, and political perspectives and applies various theoretical concepts to understand specific aspects of the governance of the energy transition.

In this seminar, students engage in a critical assessment of and debate on contemporary policy issues, drawing upon scientific literature presented in other courses of the MSc STP programme.

Technologies substantially affect the way we live and how our societies function. Technological change, i.e. the innovation and diffusion of new technologies, is a fundamental driver of economic growth but can also have detrimental side effects. This module introduces methods to assess technology-related policy alternatives and to analyse how policies affect technological changes and society.

Technologies substantially affect the way we live and how our societies function. Technological change, i.e. the innovation and diffusion of new technologies, is a fundamental driver of economic growth but can also have detrimental side effects. This module introduces methods to assess technology-related policy alternatives and to analyse how policies affect technological changes and society.