Program Overview

PhD Program in Law at Aarhus University

The PhD degree programme at the Department of Law is a paid, three-year research programme. It is directed towards top lawyers, i.e. lawyers who hold a LLB as well as a LLM and were among the top of their class in both degrees. As a PhD student, you get the opportunity to study a self-chosen topic within the department’s academic fields in close dialogue with experienced researchers.

Facts about the PhD Degree Programme

• The PhD degree programme is a paid, three-year research programme.
• It is directed towards top lawyers who hold a LLB and a LLM and were among the top of their class in both degrees.
• As a PhD student, you will have the opportunity to study a self-chosen topic within the department’s academic fields in close dialogue with experienced researchers.
• You will possibly be teaching students (1-4 different subjects), participate in seminars and conferences in Denmark and abroad, and disseminate your research in journals.
• A study period abroad is also part of the programme, and during the course of your PhD, you will be building up valuable professional networks - both in and outside the department.

The Department of Law - in Brief

• The department employs approximately 70 academic and 15 administrative members of staff, approximately 25 PhD students and a number of part-time lecturers, who are typically lawyers from private and public organisations.
• Professor Tine Sommer is the head of department.
• The Department of Law is part of the faculty of Aarhus BSS, which is an accredited business school (AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS) at Aarhus University.
• The department offers two Bachelor’s degree programmes and two Master’s degree programmes - and a number of legal continuing and further education programmes.

3 Truths about the PhD Programme

1. You will be working in an inspiring research environment alongside some of Denmark’s leading legal experts.
2. It will boost your career significantly: A PhD will give you in-depth specialist knowledge and strong methodological, analytical and communicative competences that are in demand in the public and private sector.
3. You will get an average 37-hour working week, a chance to plan and structure your own work and to spend time on reflection and in-depth specialisation.

3 Debunkable Myths

1. You will be alone in an office for three years rarely interacting with other researchers.
2. You will become professionally narrow-minded and lose your connection to the real world.
3. You will have trouble finding a job afterwards, and your former colleagues/clients won’t want to know you.

Doing an Industrial PhD?

• There are two programmes – one fixed and one flexible:
  • One of the industrial PhD programmes is fixed and structured by Innovation Fund Denmark - a public authority that contributes financially.
  • The other programme is a lot more flexible. Normally, you are enrolled as a PhD student part-time or as agreed between the head of the graduate school, the chairman of the field committee and an external partner.
  • The university and the external partner agree on the working hours and the distribution of costs and salary during the PhD programme.
  • It may be possible to modify the requirements for teaching or studying abroad that have been established by the graduate school, but the requirements laid out in the PhD Order must always be met.
  • If you are currently working as a trainee lawyer, the time in which you are employed as a PhD student is not included in the training period pursuant to the current practice of the Danish Ministry of Justice. However, the time you spend working as a trainee lawyer is included.

Current Industrial PhD Students

• The department currently employs three industrial PhD students: Kristian Torp and Janus Winther Høy (both financed by the Innovation Fund Denmark), and Wilhelm Grøfte (financed by the Danish Customs and Tax Administration).