Doctor of Philosophy (Law)

Program Requirements

Students are required to complete a minimum of 9 units in coursework and a thesis

Coursework

LAW 696 - Graduate Seminar - Practice and Theory in Legal Scholarship

Two 3-unit graduate-level courses

Courses may include:

graduate courses in other faculties with the approval of their supervisor and the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies), Faculty of Law, after consideration of the candidate’s needs and experience and the availability of courses

LAW 695 - Research Paper
LAW 699 - Graduate Seminar on Specialized Legal Topics (may be taken more than once, provided new subject matter is being offered)

Thesis

Registration in 900-level THES. After passing the oral candidacy exam, the candidate will submit a dissertation approximately 250 to 350 pages (62,500) in length, inclusive of footnotes or endnotes, and make an oral defence of the dissertation.

PhD Dissertation Proposal

Students must write a detailed dissertation description and outline on a dissertation topic selected in consultation with their supervisory committee and with the approval of the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies.

Candidacy Exam

Students must pass an oral candidacy examination concerning the dissertation description and outline. Students are normally required to complete all course work before taking the oral candidacy examination.

Ethics Requirement

All students must meet the GPS Ethics and Academic Citizenship Training Requirement through the completion of INT D 710 (for both master’s and doctoral students) and INT D 720 (for doctoral students) by the end of the first term of registration in their degree program.

Professional Development Requirement

Students in the PhD program must satisfy the GPS Professional Development Requirement .

Residence Requirement

The residence period will ordinarily be one academic year (i.e., Fall and Winter terms), assuming an LLM upon entry from a university other than the University of Alberta. Candidates who hold a University of Alberta LLM may secure a waiver of residency, upon recommendation of the supervisory committee and approval of the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies), Faculty of Law.

Length of Program

The time required to complete the PhD will vary according to previous education and experience of the applicant and the nature of the research undertaken; however, a minimum of two calendar years of full-time study is normally required.

The maximum time to complete the PhD program as set by the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies is six years.