LLM/First-Year Programme

September 2025

All new researchers are required to attend a few introductory meetings at the beginning of the year. For further information see the Induction Programme.

LLM/First-Year Personal Research Plan

By 1 October 2025 at 12:00 (noon), every LLM/first-year researcher has to complete, in consultation with their (provisional) supervisor, a Personal Research Plan (PRP), which:

1. identifies the working title and a general profile of the LLM/PhD research project;
2. specifies the seminars the researcher will follow as part of their programme in order to earn credits; and
3. specifies any classes in a foreign language or academic skills the researcher aims to take.

The PRP form is available by logging into my.eui portal.

Any future changes to the PRP must be updated. It is the researcher’s responsibility to have these changes registered.

All changes to the thesis working title should also be communicated for amendment at any time by sending an email to [email protected]

December 2025 - Research Question Workshop

On 2 December 2025, LLM/First-year PhD researchers will participate in a mandatory one-day workshop where they will be divided into groups and present their proposed research question to receive feedback from professors, Max Weber Fellows and other researchers. All LLM/first-year PhD researchers are required to submit the Research Question Statement by 12:00 (noon), on 21 November 2025.

February 2026 - February Paper and Workshop

All LLM /first-year PhD researchers are required to submit the February Paper by 12:00 (noon), on 13 February 2026.
The researchers will then discuss the February Paper and receive feedback from professors, Max Weber Fellows and other researchers at the Peer Feedback Workshop on 26 February 2026.

May Paper – First-year PhD researchers

All First-year PhD researchers are required to submit a May Paper by 12:00 (noon), on 24 April 2026. May Paper Defences before a panel of three readers will take place between 25 and 27 May 2026.

LLM thesis – LLM researchers

The deadline for submission of the final version of the LLM thesis is 12:00 (noon), on 1 October 2026.

For further details, see the Researchers' Guide 2025-2026