The Doctoral Program in Law at the Universidad Autónoma de Chile has been accredited for four years by the Chilean National Accreditation Commission (CNA Chile), for the period from November 2024 to November 2028.
Applications for the 2027 cohort of the PhD in Law close on 31 October 2026
Program objectives and features
General:
To develop researchers in law who are experts in the program’s research areas, capable of producing original research and of contributing ethically and effectively within the university sector and the wider scholarly community.
Specific:
- To enable the acquisition of advanced competencies in rigorous legal research.
- To contribute, through research, to the development of Private and Public Law in Chile, particularly in areas that remain under-explored within legal scholarship.
- To promote research training with a sound methodological basis, tailored to the professional needs of contemporary universities in Chile and abroad.
- To cultivate leadership in the design and management of competitive research projects.
Key Features of the Program
The Doctoral Program in Law provides advanced training for researchers capable of generating original, relevant and socially meaningful legal knowledge. To this end, it offers:
- A structured yet flexible curriculum (240 ECTS / four years) combining:
1.1. Advanced specialist seminars in doctrinal legal analysis, legal theory and philosophy, legal research methods, and elective modules offering disciplinary specialisation.
1.2. Research placements at partner institutions abroad under joint-supervision agreements.
1.3. Individual supervision and semesterly progress reviews by thesis committees, ensuring rigorous support and timely completion of the thesis.
1.4. Research-output requirements (at least one publication in a peer-reviewed journal) in line with good practice across European and North American doctoral programmes.
- Consolidated research areas
- Highly qualified academic staff: Comprised of academics holding PhD-degrees, with strong research outputs (indexed in WoS/Scopus) and experience in competitively funded projects at national level (ANID — Chile’s National Agency for Research and Development) and international level (e.g., the EU’s Jean Monnet actions).
- Institutional partnerships: With law faculties in Europe, North America and Latin America, facilitating mobility, joint supervision of theses, and the placement of graduates within the global academic market.
This area focuses on the study of human rights and their protection through courts with constitutional jurisdiction, ensuring their effective enforcement. Topics include the protection of vulnerable groups; challenges in migration law; indigenous and tribal peoples; interactions between the branches of the State and human rights; restrictions on freedom of expression and hate speech on social media; and the judicial and institutional safeguards of human rights. Analysis is conducted from the perspectives of both domestic law and international human rights law, exploring the interactions between the two.
Structured around three disciplinary fields of Public Law—Administrative, Constitutional and Criminal Law—this area addresses the legal challenges inherent in State modernisation. It examines issues such as administrative organisation, administrative powers, administrative procedures and oversight mechanisms, as well as foundational concepts concerning the State, sovereignty, territory and government. It also addresses the State’s criminal justice policy and institutional reforms in the criminal justice system, including matters of cybersecurity and cybercrime, as part of a strategy to safeguard public order and social peace.
This area concentrates on legal norms—national and international—governing complex economic systems. It addresses theoretical and practical problems in fields such as environmental regulation in the context of climate change; protection of international investment in the face of public policy measures; regulated self-regulation and compliance; and the implications of the “new” economy for global society. Work spans economic and tax regulation at the global/international levels, investment law, environmental law, and economic criminal law (white-collar crime), in both national and comparative contexts.
This area undertakes detailed study of Consumer Law, particularly in relation to mass-market/standard-form contracting, financial and insolvency issues, consumer protection from a Law and Economics perspective, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. It addresses issues such as connected contracts and their special consumer protections; consumer over-indebtedness and its prevention; the application of Law and Economics to Consumer Law; and the impact of AI and new technologies on consumer relationships.
The admission requirements for the program are set out in Article 18 of the Regulations and are as follows:
- Hold a Bachelor’s degree in Law (Licenciatura en Derecho / Licenciatura en Ciencias Jurídicas) or an equivalent qualification.
- Hold a Master’s degree in Law (e.g., LLM / Magíster en Derecho / Magíster en Ciencias Jurídicas) or an equivalent qualification. In exceptional cases agreed by the Doctoral Board, equivalence to a Master’s degree may be recognised on the basis of academic output, professional trajectory and specialist studies.
- Applicants must demonstrate competence in a foreign language, normally English, at level B1 or higher according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Upon a reasoned request by the applicant, the Programme’s Academic Committee may recognise competences in other foreign languages where they are relevant to the development of the applicant’s doctoral research project.
1- Completed application form with personal details.
2- Comprehensive curriculum vitae.
3- Doctoral research proposal (5–10 pages) including:
3.1. Statement of the legal problem to be researched and its alignment with the program’s research areas
3.2. Theoretical framework
3.3. State of the art
3.4. Hypothesis
3.5. General and specific objectives
3.6. Bibliography
4- Statement of purpose (may be submitted separately from the form), indicating:
4.1. Applicant’s motivation
4.2. Research interests
4.3. Intended time commitment/availability for the Program
- Two letters of reference.
- Digital copy of the professional degree (where applicable).
- Digital copy of the Bachelor’s degree, together with official transcript.
- Digital copy of the undergraduate dissertation/thesis.
- Digital copy of the Master’s degree, together with official transcript.
- Digital copy of the Master’s dissertation/thesis.
- Digital copies of language certificates.
- Any other relevant supporting documents evidencing academic, teaching or professional information provided in the application form.
(1) Receipt of the applicant’s complete dossier via email: [email protected]
(2) Eligibility screening by the Doctoral Board.
(3) Interview, conducted in person or online.
(4) Selection based on general criteria of impartiality and non-discrimination, and on specific criteria of academic and/or professional merit, in strict accordance with the rules set by the Doctoral Board, which consider at least the following:
(a) Grades obtained in prior studies;
(b) Academic background and prior professional experience;
(c) Statement of purpose;
(d) Research proposal.
A points-based scoring rubric is applied to determine the highest-ranked candidates. Decisions are communicated to the email address provided in the application form.
Applications open: 1 July 2025
Applications close: 31 October 2025
Document review and interviews: November 2025
Decision notification: January 2026
Cohort start date: April 2026