PhD courses

Planned courses
Please find all courses offered by the PhD School in the PhD calendar. Furthermore please see all planned pedagogical courses in the section below regarding Pedagogical course (mandatory for all PhDs).

Introductory course including the course Good Scientific Practice and Quality of Legal Research (mandatory for all PhDs)
The PhD school organizes a two-day introductory course to all newly enrolled PhD students once in the beginning of every semester. Please read more here.

Introduction to methodology and research methods in law (mandatory for PhDs enrolled 2014 and later)
The main objective of this course is to equip PhD students with the necessary set of skills required to carry out independent research of the highest academic standards. Participants will be advised on designing the theoretical framework of a research project, and a variety of methodological approaches to law and their practical application in individual research projects.

Participants will gain an understanding of how to frame the theoretical foundation of their research project at the early stages of their PhD studies, how to distinguish between ‘methodology’ and ‘method’, and how to identify and choose research methods relevant to their main subject(s) of research inquiry.

The course is offered once a year (in December)


Introductory course on academic writing (mandatory for PhDs enrolled 2013 and later)

The aim of the course is to assist PhD students who have recently embarked upon their PhD studies, to develop and hone their academic writing skills. The course will address general issues on how to write a PhD thesis - be it a monograph or research article based PhD thesis (focusing on structure, reasoning, clarity of the language, vocabulary, importance of re-writing, editing and proofreading, referencing, etc.).  The course will also provide guidance as to the formal evaluation criteria and rules for the final thesis, and for preparing an academic piece for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

The course is offered once a year (in April)


Pedagogical course (mandatory for all PhDs)

A career as a researcher is also a career as an educator. Therefore a pedagogical programme is a mandatory part of your doctoral programme.

Schedule for pedagogical programme 

PhD courses
The Faculty of Law, together with the PhD School and individual research centres, offer high quality PhD courses with the aim of establishing an active research environment that meets international standards and contributes to an attractive educational environment for PhD students.

The amount of course activity in which the PhD student shall participate has been rated as approx. 30 ECTS points.

The PhD Committee approves PhD courses and ensures their quality and continuous evaluation.

The Danish Legal Research Education Programme (JurForsk cooperation)
The PhD School participates in the Danish Legal Research Education Programme which offers a wide variety of courses relevant for PhD students within the field of law. It also offers a database of all current PhD students enrolled at the Danish JurForsk institutions as well as a newsletter function. For further information, please visit www.jurforsk.dk.

JurforskNordic.org:
This website (hosted by the Danish Legal Research Education Programme, JurForsk) offers a platform for announcing PhD courses, conferences and seminars to Nordic PhD students in law. It is supported by a large number of Nordic institutions and offers a newsletter function. For further information, please visit www.jurforsknordic.org.

Generic courses
The PhD student may sign up for generic courses offered by the PhD school at the Faculty of Law or by any other PhD School at the University of Copenhagen. Further information about generic courses can be found at the web pages of each PhD School.

ECTS points for other courses and conferences
PhD students can apply for ECTS points for attending other courses and conferences according to the guidelines adopted by the PhD Committee. Enrolled PhD students can find these guidelines on the intranet.

To apply for ECTS points please use this application form.

PhD roundtables
Obligatory PhD roundtable seminars are conducted within the framework of the individual research centres at the Faculty. They aim to better integrate PhD students in the activities of the Faculty’s research centres. Additionally, the PhD roundtables provide PhD students with an opportunity to present their research projects to colleagues who possess professional expertise in the specific area of law as well as to other academic scholars who wish to participate in the roundtable seminars.

The roundtables are mandatory for PhD students who are enrolled on or after 1 September 2013. The PhD roundtables should run for at least one hour. The presentation of the PhD project takes place within the first six months of PhD studies and satisfies the obligation under §4.4.3 of the PhD Regulations.

Following their participation in a PhD roundtable seminars, the PhD student should include information regarding such participation in their first status report after the seminar. Additionally, subsequent to their presentation at a PhD roundtable, the PhD student must submit a one page report to the head of the PhD School elaborating to what extent s/he considers the feedback they received from other participants as being valuable for the purposes of his/her continued research activities.

The schedule of PhD roundtables that will take place in individual research centres is available on the webpages of the PhD School and the relevant research centres.

The roundtable seminars are planned by the PhD student and are announced at https://jura.ku.dk/phd/

Presenting your research project at the roundtable seminar grants 1 ECTS point.

Language courses
The University provides students with the opportunity to undertake language courses, mainly in Danish and English

The courses are offered by Studieskolen and the Centre for Internationalisation and Parallel Language Use (CIP).