Duration of the research period
4 academic years. Exceptionally, the doctoral thesis can be completed part-time, but this must be requested to the Academic Committee of the Doctorate and obtain its approval.
 
Calendar

From September to June

Timetable

Seminars during the first term

 
Languages

Catalan, Spanish and English   

Places

30

Organització i contacte

Department of Law

Presentation

Doctoral programme of the UPF Doctoral School, governed by Royal Decree 99/2011

The doctoral programme in Law at Pompeu Fabra University offers interdisciplinary training in the legal sciences, in order to prepare and defend a doctoral thesis. The programme has received a mention of excellence (2011), complies with Royal Decree 99/2011 within the Doctorate School of Pompeu Fabra University, and includes the experience obtained from over three decades of education, with more than 255 theses  supervised by scholars from various Research groups within the Department.

 

UPF Doctorate in Law scholarship programme

 

  • Administrative law
  • Civil law
  • Constitutional law
  • Spanish ecclesiastical law
  • Financial and tax law
  • History of law
  • Private international law
  • International law and international relations
  • Commercial law
  • Criminal law
  • Procedural law
  • Roman law
  • Employment and social security law
  • Legal philosophy

In order to be admitted to Law PhD Programme offered by UPF, candidates must provide accreditation that they have obtained an accredited undergraduate degree (Bachelor degree or recognised equivalent degree from an accredited Higher Education Institution).  

Moreover, they have to proof that they have obtained or are in position to obtain an accredited graduate/master's degree(equivalent to a Spanish Master Universitario/Oficial, Master's of Research.... ) which enables them to access a Phd programme in their home country. 

To access a PhD programme at UPF you must have an official university degree and a master's degree, and have passed at least 300 ECTS credits. 

You can also access the doctorate with: 

  • an official Spanish university degree or equivalent, as long as at least 300 ECTS credits have been passed and a level 3 of the MECES is accredited; 
  • a degree from the European Higher Education Area (non-Spanish) that accredits a level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework, as long as this degree entitles to access a PhD in the issuing country; 
  • a foreign title (non-EHEA) of a training level equivalent to a Spanish university master's degree and that entitles to access a PhD programme in the issuing country; 
  • a doctoral degree.

Mandatory documents to be submitted

  • A photocopy of the undergraduate degree/diploma or Certification/proof of degree completion  (Bachelor degree or recognised equivalent degree from an accredited Higher Education Institution).
  • A photocopy of the official final undergraduate transcript. 
If you have finished your Master's degree when you formalise your application, you will need to send us the following documents:
  • A photocopy of the graduate/master's degree/diploma or Certification/proof of degree completion.
  • A photocopy of your official final graduate/master's transcript .
However, if you have not yet completed your graduate/master's studies when formalising application, you will need to provide us with the following documents: 
  • A signed declaration of obtaining your graduate/master's degree before the commencement of the master's programme. 
  • A photocopy of the provisional graduate/master's transcript.
If the diploma or the academic transcript are not written in Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Portuguese or Italian, you will also have to include the respective sworn translations into Catalan or Spanish. 

Students holding a Spanish DEA (Diploma de Estudios Avanzados) according to  RD 778/1998 / Suficiencia Investigadora according to RD185/1985 or an undergraduate degree of 300 ECTS credits (such as Medicine...) will not need to have completed a master's degree. 

All candidates must also present the following mandatory documents (please provide a photocopy):

  • Research thesis project 

  • Two letters of recommendation*. 
    *Students who have completed the UPF Master in Legal Sciences or Master in Criminology, Master in European Global Law and Criminal Justice System do not need to send any recommendation letter.
In order to optimise the treatment and security of the recommendation letters, the candidate will have to request those via the online application system, where he/she will need to indicate the e-mail adress of the person/the persons he/she wishes to be recommended by. That person will receive an e-mail indicating that the candidate wishes a recommenation letter from him/her. The letter will be uploaded by the referee in the online application system. Non-institutional addresses such as *yahoo, *gmail, *hotmail, etc... will not be accepted.
  • Curriculum Vitae.
  • Letter of support in which a researcher from the Department of Law having the capacity to direct or codirect doctoral theses within the programme expresses their interest in the research proposal.  
  • Identity Card or Passport.

Should the admission application exceed the offer of places, the applications will be assessed according to the following criteria:

a)  professional and academic experience (50%);

b) quality of the research proposal (40%); and 

c) adaptation of such proposal to the Department's lines of research (10%). In this latter case it will also be taken into consideration the extent to which the research proposal fits any of the competitite research programmes of the Department of Law.

Optional documentation

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Doctoral programme website
Doctoral programme scholarships and grants