Doctoral Program

Degree requirements:

Applicants for the Doctoral Program must hold a qualifying law degree, i.e. a law degree that, from an academic perspective, allows its holder to seek admission to the bar in the jurisdiction concerned. Non-university practice or traineeship periods for such bar admission shall not be necessary. Applicants who do not hold a qualifying law degree are eligible if they have earned an LLM degree from an accredited university. In the event that this LLM degree is a CEU one, applicants must have obtained a GPA equal or superior to 3.33 (B+). If the applicant is still finalizing their LLM at CEU the same GPA applies at the moment of application.

Applicants enrolled in a doctoral program at CEU cannot be simultaneously enrolled in other institutions of higher education.

Application requirements

The Doctoral Program of the Department of Legal Studies asks applicants to submit the following documents:

  • Completed CEU Application Form 
  • Letters of Recommendation
  • Two academic referees / One academic and one professional referee if the applicant has more than three years of work experience
  • Academic Records
  • Curriculum Vitae or Resume
  • An English-language academic writing sample (master’s thesis, essay, journal article, etc.) For applicants holding an English-language master’s degree in law, this writing sample should be the applicant’s master’s thesis.
  • Detailed research proposal (maximum 3,000 words detailing the tentative topic, the research question, a gap in the literature desired to be filled)
  • Proof of English Proficiency

Please follow the Application Checklist to make sure all your submitted documents are in order.

Completed applications must be submitted through online application system by the deadline. Late submission of required documents is not possible, and incomplete applications may lead to early stage rejection.

The admission procedure is composed of the following:

  • Review of application packages
  • Online interview offered to selected applicants on the basis of their application package 

The Department of Legal Studies reserves the right to check the originality of all submissions.