Doctoral Program in Law

Program Description

The Program is aimed primarily at law graduates with interest in academic research and consists of two stages. During the first stage, students must complete the mandatory and in-depth courses to prepare them to write and defend the thesis project. Once the above process has been completed, students become doctoral candidates and a Master’s degree in Legal Science. The second stage is research and ends with the public defense of an original and unpublished doctoral thesis, after which the degree of Doctor in Law is obtained.

The Program has a doctoral faculty composed of doctors qualified to supervise doctoral theses in Private Law, Public Law, Criminal Law, and Philosophy and History of Law. In addition, the faculty members have active research areas in their specialized fields and are of recognized prestige, both nationally and internationally.

Years of Accreditation

• Program accredited by CNA-Chile for 3 years until October 2026.

Program Objectives

• To provide its students with the methodology and knowledge necessary to research in the legal sciences with excellence.
• To contribute, through the research of the legal problem of each thesis, to the advancement of legal knowledge and reflection.

Learning Outcomes

The academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Law requires developing a systematic process of research based on the sources of law, which requires the preparation and defense of a thesis. Therefore, this Thesis will consist of an independent, original, and unpublished work in law that helps solve a legal problem, thus certifying the competence of the Candidates as autonomous researchers.  

Specifically, these characteristics will be reflected in the fact that the graduates of the Doctoral Program will be able to: 

• Propose a creative and innovative solution to the legal problem that is the object of doctoral research.
• Rigorously use research and consultation techniques of doctrine, jurisprudence, comparative law, and the law required in the creation and materialization of the doctoral thesis.
• In a written and oral format, transmit rigorously the results obtained from their research and that arise from the elaboration of the Doctoral Thesis.