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The PhD programme in ‘Legal and Political Sciences’ offers a highly qualified education that, while respecting the autonomy of the various legal and political disciplines, the historical tradition, and the analysis and research tools of each disciplinary field, aims to train PhD students to achieve a solid methodological basis, multidisciplinary knowledge, and an openness to the international dimension. To foster international mobility of the PhD students, the course offers the possibility to take advantage of mobility training courses at other European and international universities and research organisations, as well as the possibility to conclude co-tutorship agreements to achieve the degree of Doctor Europeus.
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The main research areas focus on the basic concepts of the legal and political systems and aim to deepen scientific knowledge on legal, political, philosophical, historical, and sociological theories. This will enable the PhD students to develop a systematic knowledge of theoretical and empirical research methodologies, specific scientific skills, and the capability to foster a critical understanding of the historical evolution and current transformation of legal, political, and social phenomena. This will facilitate the PhD students in developing critical reflections and carrying out original lines of research.
The doctoral research areas are closely related to the three strategic axes shared at the European level:
- Digitalisation and innovation
- Ecological transition and sustainability
- Social inclusion
Under the first aspect, the course is particularly focused on the legal, political, sociological, and philosophical questions connected to new technologies, which represent one of the research and teaching priorities of the PhD course. The lectures held by the Board of the PhD programme address, in a transversal manner, the transformation determined by the use of new information technologies and digital means of communication of the following concepts: the state, law, democracy, systems of representation, forms of government, the relations between authority and freedom, the organisation of public powers, as well as the procedural techniques of criminal law and the procedural modules used in the administration of justice.
In the context of the ecological transition, the course integrates the general study of the transformations of legal systems, carried out in an interdisciplinary and comparative perspective, with research activities in the field of environmental law and sustainability.
The issue of social inclusion is addressed during the teaching activities, dealing with the implications arising for individuals as well as the community from current international scenarios. The study of critical issues related to migratory flows, security, citizenship, the protection of ethnic-linguistic minorities, groups and individuals in a fragile condition, preventing discrimination, individual rights, including those of a procedural nature, are among the aspects that will be investigated and discussed.
The doctoral course combines inter-, multi-, and transdisciplinary teaching with advanced specialisation courses in which the sectorial knowledge of the legal, political, and social disciplines studied in the doctorate is deepened. The teaching provided by the Board of the PhD programme is further supplemented by a preliminary course in scientific research methodology, the possibility of using sector-specific language courses, and regular meetings and discussions on the progress of the research conducted by the doctoral students.
To this end, classical and innovative teaching methods are used, as well as both traditional and technologically advanced tools. The PhD students should be able to use in-depth study of the individual disciplines within a multidisciplinary research perspective. This methodological approach aims to ensure an overall view of the evolution and transformation of the state and its institutions, of the legal orders, and the dynamics of political organisations in an international and comparative perspective (both synchronic and diachronic in nature).
Constant attention is also paid to ongoing developments at the supranational level, and at the European level in particular, to analyse the most marked perspectives and trends in the various fields of interest. To achieve its educational objectives, the doctoral course is also active in internationalisation, encouraging the inclusion of doctoral students from other European and international universities as well as the mobility for research activities of doctoral students abroad. The Board of the PhD programme is also developing scientific and teaching collaboration agreements with foreign universities and international research centres.
For this reason, an adequate and certified knowledge of at least one foreign language is mandatory among the requirements for admission to the doctoral programme.