The Center offers a Law, Science, & Technology Certificate Program to students enrolled at the College of Law and who have science and technology interests. The program involves substantive course work, a minimum average grade for that course work, a substantive paper, extracurricular activities and regular advising. Its requirements are described below.

Online Certificate Program Application

You can apply online at this link: LST Online Certificate Application 

Program Requirements

1. Substantive course work in Law, Science, and Technology subjects, which shall involve a minimum of seven (7) courses (earning at least 16 credit hours) offered at the College of Law.

a. Two (2) courses shall be chosen from a list of Core Courses (except as provided for in subsection (d) for students pursuing a specialization). The Core Courses are: 1) Law, Science, and Technology; 2) Scientific Evidence; 3) Law, Litigation, and Science; and 4) Advanced Research: LSI (Research Clusters).

b. Five (5) courses shall be chosen from a list of possible elective courses. (Core courses may be taken as elective courses.) The list of elective courses is subject to revision by the Director or Executive Director with the advice of the Center Fellows. The elective courses are: 

c. Graduate seminars (500 level or higher) in other departments and/or independent study with Center Fellows on the College of Law faculty, as approved by the Director or Executive Director and the Academic Dean, may serve as elective courses. Participation in the Innovation Advancement Legal Clinic also counts for elective course credit (or as a qualifying course for the Intellectual Property specialization; see the Innovation Advancement Program website for a detailed description of the clinic.)  Note: When taken for six credits, the Innovation Advancement Legal Clinic will count as two courses.

d. Students have the option of pursuing a specialization within the Graduate Certificate Program. The five specializations are Intellectual Property; Health Law; Environmental and Sustainability Law; Genomics and Biotechnology Law; and Law and Psychology. Four courses within the area of specialization are required to satisfy the specialization option. In addition, the core course requirement is reduced from two courses to one course for students pursuing a specialization option. (An additional two courses, from the list of elective courses or courses described in subsection (c), are required to satisfy the seven (7) course minimum requirement.)

i. For the Intellectual Property specialization, the student shall complete three of the following four courses (plus a fourth qualifying course):

(Introduction to) Intellectual Property, Copyright Law, Patent Law, and Trademark and Unfair Competition. The qualifying courses are Copyright Law; Contingency Fee Patent Lititigation; Entertainment Business Contracts; High Tech Licensing; (Introduction to) Intellectual Property; IP Portfolio Management; International Intellectual Property; Nanotechnology Law; Patent Law Clinic; Patent Law; Patent Licensing and Enforcement; Patent Litigation; Patent Prosecution; Technology Ventures Services Group Clinic; Techology Standards; Trademark and Unfair Competition; Trade Secrets; and Intellectual Property Commercialization and Technology Transfer.

ii. For the Health Law specialization, the student shall complete Health Law, Ethics and Policy (or Health Law) and at least three other qualifying courses:

Administrative Law; American Indian Health Policy; Bioethics; Biotechnology; Controversies in Global Health and Agricultural Biotechnology; Disabilities Law; Elder Law; Family Law; FDA Regulation; Gender and Family Policy; Gender, Sexuality and the Law; Genetics and the Law; Health Care Fraud Investigation; Medical Malpractice; Mental Health Law; Neuroscience and the Law; Public Health Law & Ethics (or Public Health Law); and Research Ethics and Law.

iii. For the Environmental and Sustainability Law specialization, the student shall complete Environmental Law and either Natural Resources Law or Public Land Law or Water Law and at least two other qualifying courses:

Administrative Law; Environmental Justice; Environmental Litigation; International Environmental Law; International Trade and Sustainable Development: Land Use Planning and Regulation; Law of Sustainable Development; Legal Issues in Sustainability; Nanotechnology; Natural Resources Policy Clinic; Natural Resources Law; Natural Resources Field Seminar; Public Land Law; Sustainability: International Law & Governance; Timber and Range; Toxic Tort Litigation; Utilities, Sustainability and the Law; Water Law; and Wildlife Law.

iv. For the Genomics and Biotechnology Law specialization, the student shall complete Genetics and the Law and Biotechnology: Law, Science & Policy and at least two other qualifying courses:

Bioethics; Bioethics and Ethics in Intercultural Context; Biotechnology; Biotechnology Licensing and Litigation;  FDA Regulation; Genes, Stem Cells, and Justice; Nanotechnology Law; Patent Law; Privacy; Public Health Law in Developing Countries; and Research Ethics and Law. 

v. For the Law and Psychology specialization, the student shall complete four qualifying courses. One must be selected from the following five: Empricial Methods and the Law; Empirical Research in Legal Policy Issues; Law and Psychology; Law and Psychology of the Trial Process; and Law, Science, and Litigation. The other qualifying courses are Collaborative Practice of Law and Social Psychology Principles; Cults and Alternative Religions; Elder Law; Empirical Research and Legal Process; Gender and Family Policy; Juvenile Law; Law and Psychology; Law and Psychology of Marketing: Law and Psychology of the Trial Process; Mental Health Law; Negotiation; Neuroscience and Law; and Probability and Science in Court.  With prior approval relevant courses in the Psychology Department at Arizona State University may be used as qualifying courses. 

e. Service as an Editor for Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science, and Technology shall count as substantive course work. Two semesters of service count as one course (and thus four semesters count as two courses).

2. Grade requirement

Each student shall earn a cumulative average grade of at least eighty-three (83) for those courses that are offered to satisfy the substantive course work requirements of the Graduate Certificate Program. A student must earn a minimum grade of "B" for courses taken outside of the College of Law, pursuant to 1.c. above, where letter grades are assigned. Letter grades earned outside of the College of Law will not be used to compute the student's cumulative average grade. A student may take one elective course on a Pass/Fail basis. Courses used to satisfy the core or specialization requirements may not be taken Pass/Fail. (Note:  Any course in which the teacher opts to grade all enrolled students on a Pass/Fail basis is an exception to this limitation and may be used to satisfy a core or specialization or elective requirement as though it were a graded course.)

3. Law, science, and technology activity

Each student is encouraged to actively participate in the events, e.g., speakers, conferences, symposia, etc., sponsored by the Center and to participate in at least one approved activity for two semesters. Editorial positions with Jurimetrics participation in any of the research clusters sponspored by the Center, approved externships, and active participation in the Law and Science Student Association (LASSA), the Intellectual Property Student Association (IPSA), the Environmental Law Society (ELS), and the Health Law Society (HLS) are approved activities.

4. Writing requirement

Each student must satisfy their graduation writing requirement on a topic related to Law, Science, and Technology. The paper must be at least 25 pages in length and written under the guidance of a Center Fellow on the College of Law faculty. A paper written to satisfy the College of Law's substantial paper requirement can fulfill this writing requirement, including a paper written as part of a seminar course included in the list of courses above. The Certificate Program writing requirement shall be monitored in the same manner as the College of Law's substantial paper writing requirement, with written evidence of completion provided by the Center Fellow who supervises the writing to the Assistant Registrar of the College of Law. A paper that satisfies a law journal writing requirement may also be used to satisfy this writing requirement.

5. Advisors

Each student shall be assigned an advisor from the Center Fellows by the Director or Executive Director shortly after the student applies to the Certificate Program. The Director or Executive Director can revise this assignment at a later time at the request of the student or the advisor. Revisions will occur after consultations with the student, the original advisor and the proposed successor advisor.

6. Unforeseen/exigent circumstances

The Executive Director and Director shall have joint authority to modify, waive or reconfigure the program requirements where necessary to promote equity and fairness in the event of unforeseen complications or exigent circumstances.