The PhD in Law and Politics
The doctoral program "PhD Law and Politics" requires the completion of 180 ECTS credits. These consist of
- the presentation and defense of the planned dissertation project before a doctoral committee (10 ECTS),
- Completion of three seminars on theories and methods (15 ECTS):
- Theories and Methods of Law
- Theories and methods of political science
- Interdisciplinary specialization in the methods of law and political science
- Completion of three doctoral colloquia (15 ECTS)
- In addition, a course of two contact hours must be held, the content of which is based on the topic of the dissertation (10 ECTS).
- Writing the dissertation (120 ECTS)
- Defensio of the dissertation (10 ECTS)
After admission to the program, you must register your dissertation topic in writing with the academic director of the doctoral program "PhD Law and Politics" by the end of the first semester at the latest. Upon receipt of the registration, the academic director must agree with you on a date on which you will defend the dissertation project before the doctoral committee. To register for the first defense, you must submit the following documents:
- Form PhD01: Dissertation and first defense,
- Supervision agreement (please have our template signed),
- Master data (please have the supervisor submit our template if one of the supervisors is not currently employed at the University of Graz),
- Proof of habilitation of a supervisor (only required for supervisors who are not employees of the University of Graz) and
- An exposé (30,000 - 40,000 characters) containing a description (including methodology) of the intended research project, the expected scientific results and the significance of the project, a preliminary overview of the relevant literature and a timetable for the completion of the work.
The defense of the dissertation project takes place in an oral examination, in which the first and second supervisor, the academic program director and the dean of studies participate. The presentation and defense of the dissertation project consists of an approx. 20-minute presentation of the dissertation project and a subsequent discussion with the doctoral committee. The student must explain his/her research project and the expected new scientific findings. The doctoral committee decides whether the planned dissertation project meets the objectives of the doctoral program. If the dissertation project is assessed positively, it is graded as "successfully completed".
The title of the dissertation and the topic are recorded as "in progress" in UNIGRAZonline.
Writing the dissertation
Once you have successfully defended your dissertation project, the real work begins. At the same time, you will present your progress at the doctoral colloquia. This must be recorded in the supervision agreement.
The topic of the dissertation must be taken from legal or political science research. This includes topics from the following subjects:
- Law: in particular constitutional law, administrative law and new public management, general theory of the state and administration, legal theory, sociology of law, philosophy of law, international law, European law, commercial law, history of law;
- Political science: in particular political theory, political system, comparative government, international relations, public administration Economics: in particular national economics, regional economics, international management;
- Sociology: in particular macrosociology, microsociology, sociological theory, empirical social research;
- History: in particular contemporary history; as well as philosophy, human rights studies, gender studies, European studies, cultural and religious studies and anthropology.
In line with the focus and interdisciplinary orientation of the degree program, the topic must be sufficiently related to law or political science.
