PhD in Law

Introduction

The PhD programme in Law offered by the Faculty of Law of the UAB as from 2014-2015 stems from a tradition that goes back over 40 years, and from a need to meet the new requirements of Spanish Royal Decree 99/2011. Until 1999 the UAB Faculty of Law offered a single PhD programme in Law. Subsequent changes of model led to various different doctoral programmes being offered by the departments: the Department of Private Law, the Department of Political Science and Public Law, and the Department of Public Law and History of Law.

Excellent results were obtained under both systems. Now, however, recent changes in the law mean that the faculty needs to renew its commitment to continuous improvement and better resource management. It therefore seeks to offer a powerful, high-quality doctoral programme that belongs to the whole faculty, meets the requirements of integration, size, internationalisation and efficient management and is solidly grounded in a general approach from which any particular research topic can be addressed.

Candidate profile

Applicants should have a bachelor's degree or equivalent and also an official master's degree in Law or in a related subject area.

Professional opportunities

Students who obtain their PhD on this programme are fully qualified to pursue an academic career in the field of law and also to undertake a wide range of other activities that require top-level legal training, such as that of lawyer to the Parliament of Catalonia or to the Spanish Cortes Generales, advisor to national or international bodies, researcher at legal research centres or institutes, etc.

Objectives and justification

The objective of the PhD programme in Law is to conduct in-depth research into ongoing processes of social and legal change that the law cannot afford to ignore. To this end, students benefit from being taught by nationally and internationally renowned specialists and from the use of research and learning tools that provide a solid university education and an opportunity to attain an advanced international profile as academics and researchers.

The programme's numerous and varied academic activities, whether organised by the university, the departments or the units, enable its students to maximise their learning and write a doctoral thesis on a topic within the programme's lines of research.

Coordinator

Mercedes Garcia Aran

Administration