All PhD researchers at EGSL follow an educational programme.
Full-time PhD researchers:
During the first year of the PhD programme, the full-time PhD researchers follow an educational programme of 28 EC credits. This programme consists of courses on research methodology and research integrity as well as courses focusing on transferable skills. All first-year PhD researchers participate in these courses at the same time; this enables them to get to know each other in an early stage and to form strong bonds that are of value throughout the programme.
See: on-campus educational programme.
Next to that, optional courses can be followed, see: other courses
External and part-time PhD researchers:
EGSL has developed a digital educational programme for external and part-time PhD researchers of 10 EC credits. This programme, to be followed in the first year of the PhD trajectory, will help them structure the start of the PhD research and provide them with a theoretical background and practical tools.
See: EGSL digital educational programme.
Next to that, optional courses can be followed, see: other courses
For a schematic overview of the EGSL policy, including the educational programme, download the EGSL policy flowchart.
For PhD researchers at EGSL the current course schedule and course guide can be found on MyEUR
Our education
Below you will find a short description of the EGSL educational programme. More detailed information, the course schedule and the course guide can be found on MyEUR.
In the Research Lab, participants will develop their research ideas by working on the research design of their dissertation or their research proposal. The course proceeds by way of bottom-up and learning by making approaches in which peer review and master review processes play a central role.
The aim of the Writing Clinic is to help you develop as writers of academic (legal)texts by reflecting upon the conventions of academic (legal) discourse and by writing an academic (legal) article or the first chapter of your dissertation.
The end goal of this course is, firstly, to push you to think critically about writing an article within the context of your PhD research, even at this early stage. Secondly, the low threshold discussions give an opportunity to practice giving and receiving critical feedback. And finally, seeing each other’s writing process gives a sense of the various approaches to and styles of writing and their pitfalls and possible solutions.
In this course, you will learn the basic principles of various research methods that are used in (socio-)legal sciences.
There are seven Research Methods Seminars:
- Doctrinal Legal Research
- Comparative Legal Research
- Legal theory and legal philosophy
- History of Law
- Law and Economics
- Social sciences: empirical research
- Social sciences: doing ethnographic fieldwork.
The research methods seminars will be given by several teachers. In these seminars, you will get more information about specific research methods and how to apply them. The different seminars are one integrated unit for the student. It is important that you not only learn about the research methods that are already preselected for your project but also get a basic understanding of methods used within Erasmus School of Law.
This course is also online available.
This course will focus on managing your PhD, with a specific emphasis on the collaboration between you, your supervisor, and your daily supervisor. The course will help you to both take the guidance of your own PhD trajectory and make the most out of the time your supervisors have available for your guidance. We will focus on skillfully managing your meetings and communicating clearly under pressure.
This course aims to familiarise the PhD researchers with the rules and guidelines that apply to writing English academic texts and thus to improve the quality of their dissertations.
Native speakers can get an exemption.
EGSL has a responsibility to train the PhD researchers with regard to the Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and the GDPR. The course consists of:
- Online training Privacy in Research (end product is a completed template. Following the outcomes, one has to follow workshop two or not).
- Workshop Responsible Data Management (end product is a Research Data Management Plan, so only mandatory for PhD researchers who need an RDM)
- Online training on Academic Integrity & Ethics
As we believe in the importance of providing all our PhD researchers, either on or off-campus, with a theoretical background and practical tools for writing a good research proposal, for choosing the right research methodology and for structuring your writing process in the best way possible, EGSL has developed a digital educational programme for external PhD researchers. This programme, to be followed in the first year of the PhD trajectory, also helps external PhD researchers structure the start of the PhD research, making it possible to have an elaborated research proposal and a first article or chapter after this year.
Participation is free of charge for all EGSL PhD researchers and Erasmus School of Law scholars. As of August 2021, this programme is also available for PhD researchers from the Dutch Law Schools and the ATLAS (Association of Transnational Law Schools) partners. They can subscribe to the separate courses in the digital programme. The fee is 40 euros per EC.
Registration (from 20 August 2023): Click here to register and tick the box with the university to which you are affiliated. Please note: your affiliation will be checked. Access will be refused if you are not affiliated with one of the partner universities; a payment refund is not guaranteed. In case your university is not on the list, please contact EGSL (egsl@law.eur.nl) to check the possibilities for participation. The deadline for registration is one month before the start date (see courses).
The programme consists of a combination of videos made by lecturers from Erasmus School of Law, and additional materials, such as literature suggestions, instructions, examples and links to websites. The digital programme is composed of four courses. The first two courses have been developed for external/off-campus PhD researchers and form the basic courses for all PhD researchers.
For more information about the courses, check the brochure.
Attention is paid to the research question, the theoretical framework, the PhD research's aim and relevance, and different research methods.
Start 1 October 2023.
Start 1 January 2024.
The deadline for registration is one month before the start date.
How to progress through the different writing process steps for your PhD? Drafting, reviewing, rewriting and receiving and incorporating feedback.
Start 1 September 2023.
Start 1 March 2024.
The deadline for registration is one month before the start date.
This course is about the different aspects and the tools to use for the communication of your research (summarize, presentation, publication strategy, your audience (societal background/societal actors), personal branding/social media). This course is mandatory for fulltime second year PhD researchers, optional for the others. We advise you to take this course in your PhD's second or third year.
Start 1 March 2024 (finishing in June).
The deadline for registration is one month before the start date.
The university has the responsibility to educate the new generation of researchers in academic integrity and responsible research (Netherlands Code of Conduct for Scientific Practice), including Research Data Management.
Start 1 September 2023.
Start 1 January 2024.
The deadline for registration is one month before the start date.
EGSL PhD researchers can also follow optional EGSL courses for PhD researchers:
Empirical legal research (ELR) entails the systematic observation of social reality with the aim of understanding law in society. In this course, you will be taught the basics of how to execute different parts of the so-called empirical research cycle. It will help you understand some of the challenges of empirical work that a researcher in the field will face and address these challenges. The course consists of five classes of three hours each and assignments before, during or after each class. After the end of the course, you are offered the opportunity to schedule an individual meeting with me to discuss your own empirical research design. The target audience for the advanced introduction to ELR comprises researchers (PhD researchers or ESL staff) who want to conduct empirical research or get a more in-depth introduction to this method. The course will only take place if at least five researchers participate.