Find out more

Course objectives

The Course aims to deepen the interdisciplinary character of legal reasearch and to study law in an internationalist perspective in order to enhance the ability of young scholars to use categories and sources specific to the various disciplines: an increasingly pressing need in the current evolution of domestic, international and European legal Systems. Students will follow a training path characterised by an approach aimed at conceptualising a world populated not only by States, but by a wide range of normative communities.

Indeed, without a broader conception of law that recognises the non-sovereign (and even non-governmental) articulations of norms, we are inclined to ignore such articulations altogether or deny them the status of law and thus the true force these norms have and the way they interact with legal doctrine. Instead of focusing exclusively on the nation-state, therefore, the study of law in the age of globalisation must train young scholars who are aware of a world of permeable borders, a multiplicity of affiliations and overlapping interests, which make law and the construction of legal communities constantly evolving. The aim of the course is therefore to train jurists who are fully aware of the interdisciplinary character of their studies and of their common European and international dimension.

Educational activities

The PhD program includes various types of activities.

Seminars: During the PhD cycle, seminars are held on emerging topics in private law, labour law, and international law, as well as interdisciplinary seminars on themes that cut across the three disciplines. Seminars by guest lecturers from Italian and foreign universities are encouraged, so that they may engage with the faculty members of the board on specific topics.

Language enhancement: Academic writing/abstract. The lessons aim at improving English language skills, particularly regarding academic terminology in the legal field. The course is intended to introduce third-year PhD candidates to the knowledge and use of academic terminology in the legal domain.

Laboratory activities: The resources of the Libraries for Legal Sciences. The purpose of the course is to introduce first-year PhD candidates to the knowledge and use of all the possibilities offered by the University’s library system, from the system for locating bibliographic resources in print form to the wide range of Italian and foreign databases and electronic resources.

Valorisation and dissemination of results, intellectual property, and open access to research data and outputs: Summer School in Bressanone – PhD candidates’ conference (joint activity with the PhD in Private, International and Labour Law and with the PhD-Doktoratsstudium Italienisches Recht of Innsbruck). Some second- and third-year PhD candidates present the partial results of their research together with PhD candidates from the PhD in Law of the University of Padua and from the PhD-Doktoratsstudium Italienisches Recht of Innsbruck. A lectio magistralis is also offered on this occasion.

Research areas

The PhD Programme aims to offer an interdisciplinary education designed to integrate the perspectives of international law (public and private), private law (comparative and European), and labour law (and trade union law), providing the foundation for the attainment of specific expertise in one of the following research areas:
a) public and private international law and European Union law, also from the perspective of their historical evolution;
b) private law, no longer considered solely from the standpoint of the Italian legal system, but rather from the perspective of comparison with other European legal systems and the dynamics of their harmonisation;
c) labour law and trade union law from the perspectives of the domestic legal system, of comparison among the legal systems of EU Member States, of EU law, and of international law.

The educational project of the curriculum aims to offer doctoral candidates the experience of genuine interdisciplinarity among the fields of international law, private law, and labour law, as an instrument and basis for research training characterised by an interest in the areas and issues in which the connection among the different fields manifests itself most vividly, and by the ability to use categories and sources proper to the various disciplines. To this end, teaching activities will be organised especially in the first year so as to combine specific activities from the various areas into which the Programme is structured with an interdisciplinary programme of shared teaching.

Professional profile

The possibilities of professional and academic integration of PhDs can be summarized as follows:

- access to the liberal legal professions and legal professions in general (lawyers, judges, notaries)

- access to the managerial roles of local, national and supranational public administrations

- possibility of integration, as consultants, in the industrial and commercial sectors;

- access to the academic roles of lecturer in the scientific-disciplinary sectors involved in the training activities of the Course.

  Other information

• Calls and Admissions
• Administrative information
• The International PhD guide