Technical University Berlin

This seminar explores how mycelium - a network of fungal roots - reacts to cotton textile fibers, as well as how these fibers influence the properties of the resulting composite material. The main objective of the course is to plan and conduct an applied research project in small groups. Within a given framework, groups design their own experiments to investigate variables such as growth, temperature, duration, nutrients, texture, and size. The seminar focuses on conducting small-scale experimental scientific research on fungal-based materials suitable for architectural applications.

This course examines different statistical distributions and how to apply them for hypothesis testing. Students learn to solve adjustment problems with a singular design matrix, e.g. free network adjustment. The course discusses quality assessment of adjustment results with respect to precision and reliability. Students learn to detect blunders in the observations and to evaluate the geometry of adjustment problems from partial redundancies. Students are able to solve arbitrary adjustment problems with conditions and constraints, e.g. from a rigorous solution of the nonlinear Gauss-Helmert model. They study the concept of robust parameter estimation and when to apply it. They also study how to apply the concepts of statistic and adjustment calculation for analysis of stochastic processes, e.g. time series analysis. Course topics include statistical distributions and confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, least‐squares adjustment with singular design matrix A, free net adjustment, adjustment with observed unknowns, quality assessment of adjustment results, data snooping, S‐transformation, Gauss‐Helmert model, variance component estimation, and robust parameter estimation.

KOTYDZ is a design-build workshop series that brings together students from Germany, Poland, and Hungary to collaborate on the production of housing units for feral cats in Poznań, Poland. The students spend one week working through all phases of architectural production, from client briefing and design proposals, over production planning and tendering, to fabrication and installation.

This architecture studio explores how plants and vegetation can become integral parameters of architectural design. It investigates their potentially mutually beneficial relationships with buildings across programmatic, systemic, and structural dimensions. The studio begins by establishing a collective knowledge base on plant species, their specific habitats - from soil conditions to vegetation systems - and their climatic, cultural, and aesthetic qualities. This research is accompanied by an investigation of architectural references. In parallel, students develop small-scale prototypes that test specific strategies for the interweaving of plants and vegetation with spatial structures. In the second phase, these strategies are applied to transform exemplary building types in Berlin into green housing infrastructures.

This course focuses on innovation policy. In a first step, various economic justifications for government involvement in innovation activities are presented with a focus on market and system failure aspects. In a second step, the development of innovation policy initiatives at national, European and international level is presented and analyzed. The course provides a general understanding of government´'s innovation policy as well as knowledge about specific innovation policy programs. Students learn to understand developments in innovation policy and to discuss them critically. Students are taught the general analytical abilities for public policy management (instrument design, implementation and evaluation). The contextual understanding of innovation policy also makes it possible to incorporate government regulation in business considerations. Topics include definitions, types of innovation policy measures, economic legitimation of research and technology policy, market failures, system failures, the market for knowledge, limits of economic analysis and alternative approaches, selected topics of innovation policy, supply-side innovation policy, R&D financing, diffusion and technology transfer, networks and clusters, entrepreneurship, education, demand-oriented innovation policy, public procurement, regulation and innovation.

This lecture covers advanced topics in machine learning, with a particular emphasis on practical applications. Several successful applications of machine learning are discussed, highlighting their specific characteristics. Topics covered include, among others, semi-supervised learning, boosting methods, optimization theory, kernel methods for structured data, and graphical models. Examples of successful applications include bioinformatics, computer security, and text mining.

In the scope of a project, students build radio astronomy components or perform radio astronomy measurements and data processing within interdisciplinary teams. They gain basic knowledge in high frequency technology and signal processing as well as electrical, mechanical, and software engineering. Students learn to understand the working principles of hardware and software related to radio astronomy. Using the knowledge and skills gained in other courses in electrical and computer engineering, participants are able to set up a a simple radio telescope. They document and present their work at the end of the project. After successful completion of this module, students are able to work in an interdisciplinary project team, understand general structure and components of radio telescopes, organize small interdisciplinary engineering projects, and use open source soft- and hardware tools for management and development. This course covers applied technical know-how regarding radio astronomy: e.g. characteristics of electromagnetic waves, components for transmitter and receiver circuits, antennas, transmission path, electronics, mechanics, programming, networking and other IT components etc.It discusses practical hardware, software and/or system design as well as manufacturing and implementation Students use electrical and RF measuring instruments and/or troubleshooting tools. They also study methods for planning and organizing projects and learn the technical and project documentation and presentation of the practical work.

Algebra II provides an introduction to commutative algebra, on which both algebraic geometry and algebraic number theory are built. In fact, commutative algebra provides the tools for local studies in algebraic geometry, much like multivariate calculus is the main tool for local studies in differential geometry. This course closely follows "Introduction to Commutative Algebra" by Atiyah and Macdonald but may be complemented with some additional material, e.g. concerning Gröbner bases.The prerequisite course Algebra I explained the basic notions of algebra: groups, rings, fields, and factor structures, culminating in Galois theory.

This seminar provides an in-depth exploration of urbanization trends and the complex challenges facing cities in the MENA/Arab region. A key focus of this seminar is on the role of urban sports in public spaces, examined through a range of case studies from different Arab cities. The seminar highlights both the challenges and innovative approaches related to the integration of urban sports into public spaces, addressing issues of design, accessibility, governance, and social inclusion. The second part of the semester shifts the focus to another critical urban topic: waterfronts in Arabic cities. This part analyzes the relationship between the city and the waterfront and examines how waterfronts influence urban planning and urban development. In addition, the seminar explores different approaches to waterfront design through the analysis of case studies from various Arab cities, considering the social, spatial, and environmental dimensions. The seminar is complemented by a hands-on workshop in Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest city and the largest on the Mediterranean coast. The workshop offers participants the opportunity to analyze and co-design public spaces and waterfronts using urban sports as a conceptual and practical framework. 

This course provides participants with a toolbox of skills and methods that cover the entire data lifecycle. This includes approaches ranging from data collection (e.g., web crawling, experimental design), to analysis (data handling, statistical tests, regression models), and finally to visualization. Fundamental and applied questions of statistics are addressed, along with practical skills in programming languages, such as Java and R. The course content is supplemented and practiced through case studies and real-world data examples. In addition, the lectures are enriched by guest contributions from industry partners. By the end of the course, participants are able to independently carry out data-driven projects-from conception to the interpretation and presentation of insights. The aim is to provide a fundamental understanding of data-driven projects and questions, as well as practical skills and methods. Among other things, the following aspects are covered: surveys and experiments: design, implementation, evaluation; web Crawling 101: making online data usable; data visualization, filtering and clustering data, data cleaning and preprocessing, Machine Learning 101, statistical tests and linear regression models.