PhD in Law

Why do this PhD?

This is a joint programme of the Faculty of Law aimed at providing more in-depth research in social and legal areas, and therefore has research lines in all legal specialisations and also in philosophical and sociological perspectives. 

The Programme has relations with foreign universities that promote contact with international specialists and also offers different methodological training activities and specialised and interdisciplinary content that can complete your chosen line of research. All of this allows you to obtain a solid university education and an advanced and internationalised academic profile.

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.

Coordinator

Joan Baucells Lladós

Administration

doctorat.dret@uab.cat

Thesis supervisor/s and academic tutor/s

Additional information about the programme faculty can be found at the bottom of this page.

Thesis supervision and thesis tutoring

Directores/Colaboradores

Listado directores de tesis

Admission application

This PhD programme has the following pre-registration period:

• From April, 5 to May, 30
  • RESOLUTION maximum by the School of Doctorate: June, 25

Documentation necessary for admission

In addition to the documentation that each programme indicates, two documents (Other documents1 and Other documents2) that serve as a wildcard are attached for each programme so that the interested person can attach other documents that he or she considers appropriate or that the PhD programme indicates.

Admissions before the established period and pre-admissions

The Doctoral School, following the indications of the coordination of the PhD programme, can issue before the start of the term of admission of an academic course, or before the end of the term of resolution, letters of admission so that you can request a scholarship or to do the visa procedures in your country. It is only necessary that you enter your application in the computer application and that you indicate it in the Observations field, where you must indicate that you need a letter of admission and the scholarship to which you are opting. If the computer application is closed, you can contact the coordination of the programme.

If you need a preadmission, the coordination of the programme can issue it if it considers it appropriate. You must contact the coordination of the programme to inform you of the procedure.

On the International Support Service website you can see more information about future foreign students related to residencies in Catalonia, legal procedures and the UAB campus.

Monitoring your application

You can monitor your application using the same page as you made it. Below are the explanations of the different stages:

• Application made by student: your pre-registration has been saved.
• Incomplete application: there are documents missing from the application.
• Validated by the administrative office: the application and attached documents have been checked.
• Admitted: the coordinator has considered the pre-registration and proposed an offer or admission.
• Offer of admission: the Doctoral School has considered the proposals for admission made by the coordinator and has made a definitive offer. The PhD student will also receive an e-mail informing them of this decision. The PhD student must wait to register.
• Waiting list: the coordinator has considered the pre-registration and has agreed on admission but there are no places on the PhD course.
• Application rejected: the coordinator or the Doctoral School have considered the application but do not agree to admission as not all the requirements have been fulfilled.

If you need it, here you will find a complementary information document on PhD studies.

Requirements and selection criteria

General access requirements

Specific access requirements

This PhD programme in Law is open to holders of bachelor's and master's degrees in the field of law, preferably in one of the following subjects.

• Business Law
• Social and Labour Rights
• European Integration
• Criminology and Penal Enforcement
• Women, Gender and Citizenship Studies
• Constitutional Law and Multilevel Constitutionalism

Applicants with no previous training in law may also be granted access if their profile is suited to the research they intend to conduct and if they pass any bridging courses deemed necessary to prepare for joining this programme. Applicants must be capable of joining one of the lines of research of the PhD in Law.

Acceptance of thesis supervision

You must provide a document where the thesis supervisor accepts this supervision (see document model in the section 'mandatory documents'). The applicant can contact one or more of the people listed in the research line that interest them by email (see the "Research and supervision" tab). If the thesis supervisor is not on the list of the PhD programme in Law, it will be stated in the acceptance document and must be approved by the Academic Committee, taking into account the research experience of the proposed person.

Selection criteria

In this PhD programme in Law the selection criteria are the following.

1. Assessment of the adequacy of the motivation letter (maximum 5 pages) specifying which is the previous training and which line of research of the doctoral program wants to be admitted, taking into account the topic that the applicant intends to investigate: 50%
2. Curriculum Vitae 25%
3. Academic record: 25%

The academic committee of the programme, in view of applicants' previous studies, will determine any bridging courses that need to be taken.

Registration and fees

Calendar and Registration documents

After the registration

Training activities

Transversal training activities

Mandatory and optional specific activities

The programmed activities for this PhD are as follows:

Obligatory

• Participation in the research methodology seminar or activity organized by the PhD programme, or, with the agreement of the thesis supervisor, in another similar one organized by a department, research study center (CER) or legal institute of the UAB or another university. Or organized by some other center or research group recognized by the Department in the field in which the line of research of the thesis is framed.

• Participation en seminars organised by the thesis supervisor, by research groups, by the Department or by the Faculty, or in seminars organized by other Faculties or Universities, endorsed or recommended by the thesis supervisor.

Optional:

• Collaboration in teaching tasks (grant holders)
  This activity tends to be organised for PhD students who have been awarded grants. Teaching preferably takes place in seminars, workshops of practical sessions in their area of specialisation. PhD students can therefore acquire teaching skills and the capacity for presenting specific knowledge about a subject linked to their research in a clear and organised manner.  This activity is optional and up to 60 hours can be recognised.

• Teaching innovation course or workshop
  Collaboration with teaching tasks demands the management of adequate techniques by the PhD Student. The acquisition of these techniques may be facilitated by participation in teaching innovation courses or workshops which should be taken prior to the collaboration in teaching tasks activity. This activity is optional and up to 30 hours can be recognised.

• Attendance at doctoral working groups
  Participation in doctoral working groups will help PhD students to develop their ability for presenting the project they are working on and to discuss legal questions in a less demanding environment than a scientific congress. The development of collaboration and synergies with other PhD students are other positive elements of this activity. This activity is optional and up to 10 hours can be recognised.

• Write a research article sent to a high impact scientific journal
  Writing a doctrinal article is a training task which enables PhD students to put into practice the scientific skills they need for writing the doctoral thesis. Writing about a limited subject, preferably connected to that of the thesis helps PhD students to refine the tools they will need for a more ambitious project. It also introduces the PhD student into the scientific community as a legitimate participant in economic and scientific debate. Obviously not all PhD students will write an article that is accepted by journals with the highest prestige and so this task is optional and according to the characteristics of the PhD student and the topic of their doctoral thesis should allow the carrying out of a study, a practical note or a comment on jurisprudence.

• Research periods in public or private national or international research centres
  These periods allow students to consult materials which are not available at their own university and to be in contact with other researchers working on the same area as their own and debate and discuss legal and social questions which connect with their present and future research. They are therefore key opportunities in the training of researchers. The centres chosen will depend on the direction the researchers are working in and the topics they are engaged in. This activity is optional and up to 500 hours can be recognised.

• Participation in collaboration meetings among research groups
  One of the objectives of this PhD programme is to enable the student to acquire sufficient competencies to be able to participate in competitive research applications and the production of monitoring reports and other document s that may be required. To achieve this objective participation in meetings with other research groups is recommended since it permits shared experiences in relation to the activity and promotes contact between researchers in a real than theoretical context. This activity is optional and up to 10 hours can be recognised.

• Participation in the preparation of a research project
  One of the essential tasks for researchers is applying for funding to be able to carry out their projects. PhD students can participate in the preparation of a project application to familiarise themselves with the techniques required for this kind of task in order to be able to make individual application once their training is completed.

• Presentation of a paper in a national or international congress
  The presentation of an oral or written paper or a poster at a scientific congress, preferably international, is the logical culmination of many of the previous activities such as participation in doctoral working groups and internal department or faculty seminars. The skills and competencies put into practice have to be used in the more complex environment of a scientific congress. This activity is optional and up to 100 hours can be recognised.

• Language learning courses or for improvement of teaching in English
  Research in the area of law requires knowledge of languages beyond just English. Depending on the area French, Italian or German may be required. Obviously these courses are necessary only for those PhD students who do not already have the previous skills they need for the doctoral thesis. It may also be necessary in certain cases to improve knowledge of English for oral and written communication in meetings, congresses and in the international scientific community in general. This activity is optional and up to 200 hours can be recognised.

Typologies and Research Ethics

Internationalization

Foreign residencies

PhD thesis under joint international supervision

International Doctoral Research Component

Evaluation and annual review

UAB gives the chance to complete the process by distance. However it is a presential programme that requires engagement by the students who must commit themselves to assist to the annual evaluation and review of the thesis. Exceptionally and by justified reason it can be authorized a maximum of two videoconference evaluation in full time thesis and a maximum of three videoconference evaluation in full time thesis.
 

Incidences in review tests

1. If the student submits the report after the deadline or on the same day of the test and a favorable evaluation corresponds to it, the academic pannel will record as observations the failure to comply with the deadline and the warning for the next follow-up..
2. If the student arrives at the review test without presenting the report, the evaluation will be unfavorable, without prejudice to requesting a re-evaluation after six months, as allowed by the regulations.

To the annual review test, the students will provide a self-report or report on the work carried out and its adaptation to the previously established research programme. The thesis supervisor will also provide a written report to the same effect. The deadlines for previously sending these documents will be indicated in the annual review call..

Thesis deposit

If you want to deposit the doctoral thesis in this PhD programme, remember that you must confirm the complete application (status DI) 2 months before the maximum thesis completion date that appears in your file considering the month of August as non-working

Look out! If you want to deposit before the end of this academic year and thus not have to pay the fees for the next course, you must confirm your deposit request before 30 June.

At the time of making your online deposit, you must attach these documents to your application, in the section "Attach documentation":

All PhD students

• External expert 1: Accredited Research Experience Document
• External expert 2: Accredited Research Experience Document
• 01 - Examining board proposal (the signature is not necessary)
• 44 - Turnitin Report
• 45 - Sworn Declaration (inside the Turnitin report)

International Doctoral Research Component: Mandatory documentation if requested

• 09 - International Doctoral Research Component: 1 report of the external member
• 10 - International Doctoral Research Component: 2 report of the external member
• 12 - International Doctoral Research Component: curriculum vitae of the last 5 years with publications, projects and theses directed by the two external experts

Compendium of publications: Mandatory documentation if requested

• 08 - Resolution of acceptance of the compendium by the CAPD
• 19 - Compendium: Articles already published or text to publish with acceptance certificate

Writing a thesis in a language other than Catalan, Spanish and English: Mandatory documentation if requested

• 11 - Resolution if the thesis is written in other language than Catalan, Spanish or English

Exemption of the previous two months of deposit before the maximum date of completion of the thesis

• Authorization from the Doctoral School regarding the exemption of the two months before the maximum date of completion of the thesis.

Information related to the thesis

Internal Quality Assurance System of the centers

Verification

Evaluation process previous to the implementation of the degree: presentation of a proposal for a new PhD programme for AQU-Catalunya (Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia) to issue the binding evaluation for the Council of Universities (Ministry of Universities), which is the responsible agent for verification.

• Report on the PhD programme
• Resolution on verification by the Spanish Universities Council
• Registry of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT)

Monitoring

Periodic monitoring process of the development and results of the PhD programme: self-evaluation carried out, every 3 years, by themselves.

• Monitoring report on the programme

Accreditation

Renewal process for the implementation of the degree: presentation, every 6 years since the implementation of the program, of a self-report for AQU-Catalunya to issue the binding assessment for the University Council, which is the responsible agent of accreditation.

• Self-evaluation report
• Accreditation report
• Resolution on accreditation by the Universities Council
• Registry of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT)

AQU VSMA Framework

Internal Quality Assurance System of the faculty

Set of processes to manage and monitor the different aspects of degrees, with the strategic objective of ensuring continuous improvement

• Internal Quality Assurance System
• Tutoring Action Plan (PAT)
• Standing Committee

Opina UAB

A channel for suggestions, complaints and praise regarding the functioning of the UAB

PhD data

• Satisfaction surveys of doctors
• Satisfaction surveys of thesis supervisors
• Check here the results of the doctor's job placement survey
• The PhD figures

Recognition and awards

Criteria for awarding extraordinary prizes

In this programme, it is a requirement that the thesis have cum laude mention. The merits to be valued are, among others, the originality of the work, both in the subject and in the approach, transfer effects (effective or potential) and international research component.