Doctoral Program in Law 2022–2023

The RD 99/2011 highlights the high professional training of doctors in various fields, especially those that require creativity and innovation. Therefore, the doctors of the program will have acquired, at least, personal skills and abilities to:

1. Develop in contexts in which there is little specific information.
2. Find the key questions that must be answered to solve a complex problem.
3. Design, create, develop and undertake innovative and innovative projects in their field of knowledge.
4. Work both as a team and independently in an international or multidisciplinary context.
5. Integrate knowledge, face complexity and formulate judgements with limited information.
6. The criticism and intellectual defence of solutions.

1. SKILLS

Basic skills

CB11 - Systematic understanding of his or her field of study and mastery of research skills and methods related to that field.

CB12 - Ability to conceive, design or create, implement and adopt a substantial research or creation process.

CB13 - Ability to contribute to the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge through original research.

CB14 - Ability to carry out critical analysis and evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas.

CB15 - Ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community and with society in general about his or her fields of knowledge in the ways and languages commonly used in his or her international scientific community.

CB16 - Ability to foster, in academic and professional contexts, scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural advancement within a knowledge-based society.

Personal skills and abilities

CA01 - Perform in contexts where there is little specific information.

CA02 - Find the key questions to answer to solve a complex problem.

CA03 - Design, create, develop and undertake novel and innovative projects in their field of knowledge.

CA04 - Work both as a team and independently in an international or multidisciplinary context.

CA05 - Integrate knowledge, deal with complexity and make judgments with limited information.

CA06 - The criticism and intellectual defense of solutions.

Other skills

CO01 - Have acquired advanced knowledge at the frontier of knowledge and demonstrated, in the context of internationally recognized scientific research, a deep, detailed and well-grounded understanding of theoretical and practical aspects and scientific methodology in one or more research fields.

CO02 - Have made an original and significant contribution to scientific research in his or her field of knowledge and that this contribution has been recognized as such by the international scientific community.

CO03 - Have demonstrated that he or she is capable of designing a research project with which to carry out a critical analysis and evaluation of imprecise situations in which to apply his or her contributions and knowledge and work methodology to carry out a synthesis of new and complex ideas that produce knowledge deeper of the research context in which he or she works.

CO04 - Having developed sufficient autonomy to initiate, manage and lead innovative research teams and projects and scientific collaborations, national or international, within his or her thematic field, in multidisciplinary contexts and, where appropriate, with a high component of knowledge transfer.

CO05 - To have shown that he or she is able of carrying out his or her research activity with social responsibility and scientific integrity.

CO06 - To have justified that he or she is able to participate in the scientific discussions that take place at the international level in his or her field of knowledge and to disseminate the results of his or her research activity to all kinds of audiences.

CO07 – To have demonstrated within his or her specific scientific context that he or she is capable of making progress in cultural, social or technological aspects, as well as promoting innovation in all areas in a knowledge-based society.

The requirements for access to doctorate studies are set in RD 99/2011 and can be consulted in the corresponding Instruction of the Doctorate School (pdf). In general, an official Spanish Bachelor's and Master's degrees or equivalent are required, with a minimum global extension of 300 ECTS credits.

Candidates with university degrees issued by a country of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) may request admission directly (info). If the degree is issued by a country outside the EHEA, the application for access with a non-homologated foreign degree must be submitted (info).

Those interested can expand their information in the administrative section of the Doctoral School (web) or the administration of the program (see contact data in the program general information section).

Admission Requirements to the Law Doctoral Program

The student who requests the admission to the Doctoral Program in Law shall address a letter of motivation to the Program Academic Committee within the deadline as stated in the academic calendar in accordance with the procedure issued annually in the Aragonese Official Gazette (BOA).

This request will be assessed according to the following weighting criteria:

1) Accreditation of sufficient legal training (minimum 60% and maximum 80%).

· The law graduate or the graduate who has completed an Official Master's Degree in Law will obtain a minimum weight of 70% and a maximum of 80% according to their academic record.

· The law graduate who has completed an Official Master's Degree in the macro-area of ​​ social and legal sciences which is not in Law, but has similar content, will obtain a minimum weight of 60% and a maximum of 70% based on the aforementioned content affinity.

· The student who has completed a Bachelor's Degree or College Degree in the social and legal sciences macro-area which is not in Law and an Official University Master's Degree in Law, will obtain a minimum weight of 60% and a maximum of 70% depending on the affinity of contents between the degree studied in the first instance and the law degree.

· The student who has completed a Master's Degree in Law in countries outside the European Higher Education Area, which enables access to doctoral studies in Law in the country of issuance, will obtain a minimum weight of 60% and a maximum of 70% based on the affinity of contents between the degrees already studied and the Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Law earned from Saragossa University.

2) Curriculum Vitae Presentation (maximum weight 20%).

The curriculum should include the academic background of the person concerned and, where appropriate, their professional or work experience. It will be rated according to the following criteria:

1. Academic record of the candidate in Degree and Master: up to 60 points.

2. Candidate's research experience (scholarships, communications to congresses, publications, and research papers): up to 30 points.

2.1. Scholarships (up to 10 points).

-Competitive predoctoral research scholarship (FPU / FPI)): 10 points.

-Other scholarships: maximum 5 points.

2.2. Publications (up to 10 points).

2.3. Communications at congresses: 5 points.

-Communications at national congresses: 2 points.

-Communications at international congresses: 3 points.

2.4. Research papers (TFG and / or TFM), legal opinions or reports (up to 5 points)

3. Other merits (up to 10 points)

3.1. Language skills: up to 5 points (English, French and German: B1 = 2 points; B2 = 3 points; C1 = 4 points; C2 = 5 points)

3.2. Motivation to access the program: up to 5 points

It is demanded for candidates to complete a minimum score of 30 point in this section to overcome admission.

To be admitted to the Doctoral Program in Law a student must achieve a total weighted score of 80%.

The admission will expire in one month as from the time it was granted if the applicant fails to enroll in the doctoral program. In this case, the interested party, if she or he want to start their studies, must request admission to the program again. Possible vacancies left will be filled by the Academic Commission by going to the corresponding waiting list.

In the event of vacancies still available, applications for admission will be handled after the deadline until the number of places offered by the program during the ongoing academic year is covered.

Places offered: 30

Preferential Entry Profiles:

1) The recommended entry profile is that of a student with a Bachelor's Degree or Law Degree who has completed an Official Master's Degree in Law at any university institution integrated into the European Higher Education Area.

2) They may also be admitted without the need to take supplementary training: 

• The law graduate who has completed an Official Master's Degree in the macro-area of ​​social and legal sciences that is not in Law, but has similar content.

• The student who has completed a Bachelor's Degree or College Degree in social and legal sciences macro-area that is not in Law and an Official University Master's Degree in Law.

• The student who has completed a Master's Degree in Law in countries outside the European Higher Education Area, which enables access to Doctorate studies in Law in the country of issuance.

Teaching language:

A B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is required as a specific admission criterion for the students whose vehicular mother tongue is different from Spanish.

Doctoral students, as researchers in training and students of the University of Zaragoza, have to formalize every year the enrollment with the corresponding rights to the academic tutorship while continuing their doctoral training. The enrollment period will be set  in the academiccalendar approved each year by the Doctoral School. 

As a general rule, enrollment will be done online through the Secretaría Virtual ofthe University of Zaragoza. Previously a personal identification number (NIP) and password will have been obtained in the identity management service. Face-to-face registration will be allowed to those who cannot do it online, by going to the doctoral school during public service hours. PhD students must submit every year in which they enroll, documentation about their previous studies, depending on whether they have been taken in countries of the European Education Area or outside that space.

Full and up-to-date information on the enrollment procedure, including key points, is provided on the website of the Doctoral School, as well as prices, discounts and insurance, legalization and translation of documents and some others practical details.

The procedures for the supervision of doctoral students are set in article 11 of Royal Decree 99/2011, which regulates doctoral studies and the rules about Thesis (Reglamento sobre Tesis Doctorales de la Universidad de Zaragoza). The doctoral student admitted to the program has to enrol each academic year in academic tutelage at the University of Zaragoza. The Academic Committee of the program will assign a Thesis Director and a tutor, who may or may not be the same. The Thesis Director will be the person in charge of the overall management of the doctoral student's research tasks, of the coherence and adequacy of the training activities, of the impact and novelty in his/her field of the subject of the doctoral thesis and of the guide in other projects and activities where the doctoral student is involved. The tutor is responsible for the adaptation of the training and the research activity to the principles of the program and the Doctoral School and will ensure the interaction of the doctoral student with the Academic Committee of the program, the body responsible for supervising the progress of the research and training and the authorization of the thesis presentation of each doctoral student of the program.

The supervisory functions of the doctoral students will be documented in the Doctorate Letter which, once the registration is made, will be signed by the doctoral student, its tutor and its director, the program coordinator and the director of the Doctoral School. Those interested can expand the information on the thesis supervision in the administrative headquarters of the program (see contact information in the general information of the program) or by consulting the program coordinator.

The follow-up of the training process leading to the presentation of the doctoral thesis is carried out through the research plan and the doctoral student's document of activities. The research plan is presented before the end of the first year of enrolment and includes, at least, the methodology to be used and the objectives to be achieved, as well as the means and the temporal planning to achieve it. The plan may be improved and detailed later and must be endorsed by the Director and the tutor. The document of activities is the register of all the activities -research stays, courses, attendance to congresses, or others- that the doctorate carries out from his enrolment until the presentation of the doctoral thesis. Annually, the Academic Committee of the program will evaluate the follow-up of the research plan together with the document of activities. The positive evaluation will be an essential requirement to continue in the program. In the case of a negative evaluation, the doctoral student must be evaluated again within a maximum period of six months. Those interested can expand this information in the administrative headquarters of the program (see contact information in the general information of the program) or by consulting the program coordinator.

The Doctoral School offers an annual series of voluntary activities for all doctoral students. This formation has a transversal and interdisciplinary nature. The offer is dynamic and covers the following formative aspects: communication (oral and written), access and information management, and skills for a future social and professional performance.  Information about the activities, admission and enrolment can be found in the website of the Doctoral School  (info).

In accordance with the provisions of the verification report of the doctorate program in Law, 2 of the following 3 activities must be taken by students as specific training throughout their research period and until they defend the thesis: 

1. AE: Academic English. Transversal activity of the Doctoral School (30 h.). The activity's general objective is to provide doctoral students with basic tools and skills for academic communication in English in the research context.

2. ST: Transversal activity. To be chosen from among the activities of the offer of transversal activities of the Doctoral School of the University of Zaragoza; until completing 30 h.; the organization is approximate, it will ultimately depend on the choice of the doctoral student based on the specific offer of the course. This offer covers cross-cutting issues, which ranges from communication skills to scientific information management, through innovation, entrepreneurship, research and society. The offer includes both face-to-face and non-face-to-face activities. 

3. IE: Research stay at foreign Universities or research centers. The stay can be done in the second year / third year for full-time students and during the third year / fourth year for part-time students (160 hours). A minimum stay time of one month is recommended, starting from the third year of the research period. The stay has been carried out in a prestigious foreign academic and / or research institution, and is aimed at completing the research training in the legal field. Its purpose is the inclusion by the doctoral student of an international and comparative-law dimension to his / her research work.  
  

Doctoral students enrolled in doctoral programs benefit from mobility aids established in various national and international calls. The calls for the Erasmus + program stand out.

In the Erasmus + Studies mode, doctoral students can choose a wide range of destinations, since most of the agreements signed by the University of Zaragoza with other universities include places for PhD students of all branches.

In the Erasmus + Stays / Practices in companies modality, PhD students access two calls: the one from the University of Zaragoza and the one carried out by the Iberus International Campus of Excellence for the universities that comprise it, the one from Zaragoza among them.

Other mobility calls are specifically designed for Latin American students and for international stays of students with predoctoral contracts. The mobility of doctoral students of the University of Zaragoza is also encouraged with cotutela agreements signed with foreign universities.

The Doctoral School of the University of Zaragoza has rules and procedures to achieve its various goals, which have been written with the agreement of the different levels of the Doctoral School, and are published on its website.

The regulations section of the Doctoral School website contains other important regulations, both national and of the University of Zaragoza, such as RD 99/2011 por el que se regulan las enseñanzas oficiales de doctorado, el Reglamento de los Estudios de Doctorado (2012) y el Reglamento sobre tesis doctorales (2014).

Rules of duration and permanence in the doctorate are established in Instrucción de23 de mayo de 2018 de la Escuela de Doctorado relativa al acceso, admisión,dedicación y permanencia en los estudios de doctorado de la Universidad deZaragoza (R.D. 99/2011).

Full-time thesis should be complete in three years, from the date of admission to the doctoral program, although the Academic Committee of the program may authorize the extension of this period for one more year. Part-time doctoral students will have five years from their admission to the presentation of the thesis, and the Academic Committee may authorize an extension for two more years. Exceptionally, an additional year of extension can be added.

PhD candidates may request a change in dedication (full-time / part-time) as well as the temporary withdrawal for justified reasons of the Academic Committee. They can cause a definitive withdrawal and see their file closed in these cases: if the available time to deposit the thesis is exceeded or if they receive two consecutive negative evaluations of the research plan.

These processes are explained in detail on our website (info) and the doctoral students are told how to proceed in cases of temporary withdrawal (info).

The academic year is governed by the deadlines established in the specific Doctoral School´s academic calendar.

This calendar sets the periods of request for entry, admission to the programs, enrollment at the University of Zaragoza, as well as how the students must present every year the research plan and the activities document, deadlines for defending doctoral theses, etc.

The Doctoral School website publishes the calendar of the current course as well as the two previous courses (info).