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About the PhD

The PhD in Law hosts graduate students interested in achieving the highest level of academic education, and pursuing advanced studies in law, with a strong interdisciplinary perspective, in a lively international setting in the leading Italian University.

The course aims at training scholars capable of critical thinking and innovative research in their respective fields of interest, at the forefront of the international debate.

The PhD program encompasses an extremely broad set of areas of law, ranging from private and private comparative law, public comparative and European law, constitutional and administrative law, general theory of law, criminal – national and international – law, law and technology.

Over the three-year program, PhD students attend a number of courses, with a wide and diversified angle, both in their field of interest and in the others covered by the faculty to ensure the truly interdisciplinary perspective and the sound methodological preparation that are deemed essential for the education of modern scholars, competitive in the academic and professional market internationally.

Seminars, workshops, the direct involvement in the projects pursued at the Dirpolis Institute, ensure students are exposed to topics of current relevance in the legal, political, and economic debate, offering a multifaceted experience and unique exposure to the diverse activities that characterize contemporary academic work.

Formation is further enriched through a 3 to 6 months research period to be carried out as a visiting scholar at one prominent foreign University or center deemed relevant for the PhD project.

The final dissertation, completed under the supervision of a tutor, and of national and international experts of the field – who might be called in to integrate the faculty if deemed beneficial for the project –, is intended to be a sophisticated piece of advanced legal scholarship, matching standards for national and international publication.

Admission is based on a competitive selection where the candidate’s curriculum vitae and a research project proposal are assessed based on criteria of excellence, originality, and of outstanding academic and professional track-record. After a preliminary evaluation, shortlisted candidates undergo an interview, covering the research project proposal and the relevant field/s of law. Learn more about the application process.

Admitted students receive a three-year scholarship, covering tuition fees, one meal a day at the school’s canteen (Monday to Saturday), and a stipend for the whole duration of the program.