Programme Description
The LLM Programme in Comparative, European and International Laws of the European University Institute (EUI) is a one-year programme. It is predominantly research-based and focusses on the acquisition and practice of research skills and on the preparation of a dissertation. It addresses candidates who wish to advance their legal knowledge and their ability to develop and express scholarly analyses, in a stimulating international and interdisciplinary environment.
The programme is taught by eminent academics, including professors of the EUI, as well as world-renowned guest professors and experts. The programme is attended by an international body of researchers, selected with highly competitive admission criteria. The Law Department particularly welcomes applications from candidates from Widening Countries and whose admission would increase diversity in the department.
The Department of Law examines the challenges facing European law, public international law, and private law, looking within cultural, political and economic topics. The range of interests amongst our faculty allows researchers to transcend national boundaries and contexts. For further information please see: Faculty Areas of Supervision.
Curriculum
LLM researchers, under the supervision of a Professor in the Department of Law, must obtain a series of necessary credits through term seminars, intensive courses, workshops, and summer schools.
Half of these credits will be obtained by submitting a term paper and a dissertation, which will become the basis for the conferment of the LLM degree.
LLM researchers can attend the cultural and scientific events (lecturers, conferences, workshops) that take place at EUI. Each year the Law Department organizes many such initiatives, touching a vast range of subjects concerning European, Comparative and International laws.
Researchers are encouraged to take part in the activities organised by other Departments of the EUI.
Programme
Each researcher, with the advice of his/her supervisor, must prepare an individual study programme, choosing among the various term seminars, short seminars, intensive courses, workshops, and summer schools offered by the Department.
Researchers must take at least two regular term seminars in European, International and/or Comparative Laws, one in the first and one in the second term, and attend a seminar in legal research.
Researchers must submit a term paper in preparation for the dissertation (by the end of February), and a completed dissertation (by 1 October of the year following arrival), on the basis of which the LLM will be awarded.
Transfer to the PhD Programme
LLM researchers may apply to transfer to the four-year Doctoral Programme in Law by seeking admission directly to the second year. Interested researchers must file an online application following the standard PhD application procedure.
The application must be presented by January and will be considered by the Department on a case by case basis, taking into account the excellence of the candidate and the prospects of developing the LLM into a PhD thesis.
In order to be admitted to the PhD programme an LLM researcher must meet the eligibility criteria of the relevant Funding Authority and submit a PhD proposal, which will be defended in an interview and will be subject to competitive assessment together with other PhD applications submitted to the Department. The results of the selection should be known by mid-April.
LLM researchers who are admitted to the PhD programme receive a grant under the same conditions as doctoral researchers.
The EUI is committed to providing equitable and inclusive conditions for all candidates and is keen to attract, encourage and retain a diverse and highly qualified community of scholars.
Candidates with disabilities or specific educational needs are encouraged to register their needs with the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies (Email: [email protected]) for the coordination of reasonable adjustments at the stage of application, selection, and admission to the programme.