PhD programme in Law
The Faculty of Law offers an ambitious doctoral education programme, leading to a PhD degree. On this page you can find information on admission, courses, rules and regulations.

Main content
For a periodÌýof three or four years,ÌýPhD candidates shall write a thesis and conduct an obligatory training component. The obligatory training component has a scope of 30 credits corresponding to one semester of full-time study.Ìý
Content and courses
The training componentÌýconsists of an obligatory part (20 credits) and an open part (10 credits).Ìý
The obligatory part consists of seven components:
- Introduction to legal science and thesis writing (3 credits)
- Sources of law and the methodological pluralism of legal scienceÌý(3 credits)
- Introduction to legal theory (3 credits)
- Empirical perspectives in legal science (3 credits)
- Text quality (3 credits)
- Dissemination of legal research (2 credits)
- Role understanding and project developmentÌý(3 credits)
In the open part the candidate shall choose external subjects and participation in seminars and/or conferences equivalent to 10 credits. Nordic elective courses can be found via the web portalÌý.
Admission
Funding
In order to become eligible for admission and enrolÌýas a PhD candidate,Ìýyou mustÌýhave secured funding that covers both living costs and the costs relating to the research project for the entire doctoral training period. This could be an university fellowship of three or four years, a three-year scholarship from the Research Council of Norway or another external funding source.
At the Faculty of LawÌýmost PhD candidates hold positions as PhD fellows ("stipendiat") during their doctoral training period. When a position is availableÌýit will be advertised on our websiteÌýwww.uib.no/jur. To submit an application to an advertised positionÌýyou must provide all the required information via the websiteÌýÌý(there will be a link in the advert).
Please note that admission is only possible after you have documented sufficient funding to cover the costs relating to the doctoral training period, or have been appointed to a PhD fellowship.
Admission
In order to be admitted and enrolled as a PhD candidate at the University of BergenÌýyou must meet the following requirements and have:
- a Master's degree or an equivalent university or college university degree. Applicants educated abroad must enclose certified translation into English or Scandinavian ifÌýthe original diploma and transcripts are notÌýin any of these languages. The applicant must also enclose an approval from NOKUT. Please seeÌýÌýfor information regarding general approval of education.Ìý
- sufficient funding for living costs and the research project
- a project descriptionÌý
- a plan for the training component: PhD courses and presentations at conferences etc.
- a research field for the PhD studies in which ÐÒÔË·Éͧ¼Æ»® professors have research interests and qualifications for supervision Ìý
Admission is dependent on youÌýbeing selected on the basis of your merits as a student, your work experience, publications and project description. Further information, including Handbook for doctoral education (PhD) at UIB and regulations, can be found onÌýthe University of Bergen's PhD portal. ÌýÌý
If you have funding/employment andÌýonly wish to apply for admission, send your application to: Det juridiske fakultet v/Forskningsutvalget, Postboks 7806, 5020 Bergen, Norway.
Application
Overview of formal requirements and application formÌýcan be found here.Ìý
Information for new PhD candidates
Just started - what now?Ìý
The first thing you need to do after starting your PhD education is to contact your supervisor. Together you will construct a plan for the project and your supervisor will help you initiate yourÌýwriting process.Ìý
Key people
- Ragna Aarli: Vice Dean of Research, leader of the University Research CommitteeÌýand HR-managerÌýfor PhD candidates employed at the Faculty of Law.Ìý
- Jørn Jacobsen: Leader of the Faculty's PhD programme.
- Karoline Aksnes: Adviser, PhD Coordinator for all candidates enrolled in the PhD programme.
- hrjur@uib.no: HR-adviser responsible for PhD candidates employed at the Faculty of Law.
Half-year registration og progress report
- Half-year registration: It is mandatory to log into Ìýand complete a half-year registration (deadline dates for registrationÌýare 1 SeptemberÌýand 1 February). This is similar to an ordinary semester registration, except for the semester fee.ÌýÌý
- Progress report: All PhD candidates must deliver an annual progress report. The main supervisor must do the same. The progress report are delivered through an electronic questionnaire sent to all PhD candidates by email. The reports will be read by the Dean of Research, the leader of the PhD programme and the PhD Coordinator, and will be treated with confidentiality. The progress reportÌýmay be used as background material in relation to an appraisal interview.Ìý
Academic supervision
All PhD candidates will be assigned at least one supervisor. The main supervisor shall be employed at the Faculty of Law and must have a doctoral degree. The academic supervisor(s) is appointed by the Research Committee (FU) or by the chair of the Research Committee by authorisation of FU as soon as possible after admission. The academic supervision will normally amount to a total of 80 hours per year. Questions relating to supervisor(s) may be directed at the Dean of Research.Ìý
PhD at University of Bergen
PhD on Track
is a resource for PhD students who are starting their research career and want to learn more about information and literature for research purposes, and how to publish research.