Prospective international PhD students

You are a postgraduate, have earned a university degree from an international higher education institution, and plan to do your doctoral studies at the Faculty of Law at Universität Hamburg.

To obtain a doctorate, students at the Faculty of Law conduct independent research and present their work in a doctoral dissertation. At the end of their studies, doctoral students must defend their doctoral dissertation in an oral examination. Generally, doctoral students can either create an individual plan or pursue studies within a structured program. General information on doctoral opportunities offered at Universität Hamburg can be found here.

Individual doctoral studies continue to be the most common form of obtaining a doctorate in Germany and at the Faculty of Law at Universität Hamburg. In this model, doctoral students work largely independently on their dissertation topic under the supervision of a professor. This allows for a great deal of freedom and flexibility, but also requires a significant degree of personal initiative and responsibility. Before beginning their studies, doctoral students first look for a supervising professor for their dissertation topic. Supervision is based on an individual agreement between the doctoral student and professor.

At the Faculty of Law at Universität Hamburg, students may also obtain a doctorate in a structured doctoral program. In these programs, the doctoral students and their research are integrated into a wider academic framework. These doctoral degree programs at the Faculty of Law at Universität Hamburg have an interdisciplinary and in some cases an international focus. They offer a framework for doctoral students to discuss their research and a broad range of opportunities for students to acquire additional qualifications in the field. Doctoral students in structured programs are often supervised by teams made up of several professors involved in the program.

The Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy Graduate School (AMBSL) developed its curriculum based on the Faculty's two key research areas (research area 1: National and international market economy and governance—legal regulation under the conditions of economization and globalization; research area 2: The limits of law—the legal challenges of social and technological change). Research projects within structured doctoral training are not limited to the Faculty's key research areas, but may focus on any areas within law and its subdisciplines. The AMBSL helps applicants find suitable supervisors for their research project.

For more information about the Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy Graduate School of Law and funding opportunities, please visit their website.

The European Doctorate in Law and Economics (EDLE) is an international doctoral program offered jointly by Universität Hamburg, the University of Bologna, and Erasmus University Rotterdam. The objective of the program is to train doctoral students at the highest academic level in the field of law and economics. Prospective doctors of law will be in the position to competently participate in academic discourse in this research field. More information about the European Doctorate in Law and Economics can be found here. (http://www.edle-phd.eu/)

The research training group The Economics of the Internationalisation of the Law focuses on the application of methods and concepts of economic analysis to international law and the way this interacts with national legal norms. More information on The Economics of the Internationalisation of the Law research training group can be found here (in German only).