The key focus of Professor Bernhard Rütsche’s chair is on general administrative law and public procedural law, medical and health law, and public business law. His teaching and research focuses on the following specific topics:

General administrative law

• Public procedural law
• Fundamental principles of the rule of law
• Methodology of public law
• Issues of state regulation
• Enforcement of administrative law
• State liability law

Medical and health law

• Drug law (medication and medical products)
• Hospital planning and hospital funding
• Research on human subjects
• Reproductive medicine and genetic engineering
• Bio and medical ethics

Public business law

• Economic freedom and neutrality in competition
• Parameters of competition
• Issues related to basic public services

At Bachelor's level, Professor Rütsche is a reader in general administrative law and manages the association event (intra-disciplinary case studies from the perspective of public law, civil law and criminal law). He also arranges annual seminars in relation to medical and health law, and other public service issues. At Masters level, Professor Rütsche teaches courses in health law and public business law (competition law).

As part of the PhD program in Biomedical Law and Ethics (BmEL), Professor Rütsche organises annual events related to medical and health law for doctoral students at the University of Zurich. Doctoral students from the University of Lucerne can also enrol in the PhD program.

The Center for Law & Health (ZRG) strives to forge links between research and teaching in the field of medical and health law, and to promote its development. In particular it focuses on academic collaboration between subjects and faculties, and aims to encourage young academics. The centre is run by five faculty members from the fields of public law, private law, criminal law and the fundaments of law. Several research projects funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) are currently underway at the Centre.