Course description:

The course is designed for students who have recently embarked upon their PhD studies and who need to enhance their general understanding of methodology, as well as the ways in which the theoretical framework and specific research methods may be applied in their research projects. The course can also be relevant for students who have been working on their research for a while and need new perspectives on the methodology they employ in their research project.  

The course provides an overview of main approaches commonly used by legal researchers. Apart from the main jurisprudential methods and approaches, participants will also be introduced to alternative methods and interdisciplinary approaches that are relevant to legal research projects. The research approaches will be discussed in the context of international as well as Danish law. The course comprises a two day course on Campus (27 and 28 November, 2024) and study groups that will run in Spring 2025. Participants can choose to participate in the entire course, comprising the two day course and the study groups, or the two-day course only.

ECTS: 

• 5 ECTS points for participating in the 2-day course, submitting the required written assignments and participating in the study group. 
• 3 ECTS points for participating only in the 2-day course (for PhD students not enrolled at University of Copenhagen) 

Course objectives:

The main objective of the course is to equip PhD students with the necessary set of skills required to carry out independent research of the highest academic standard. Participants will learn how to frame the theoretical foundation of their research project at the early stages of their PhD studies as well as how to identify and choose research methods relevant to their main object of inquiry. 

Intended learning outcomes: 

Upon the completion of the course, the participants will be able to: 

• demonstrate an understanding of methods and approaches relevant to legal research, 
• critically reflect upon the choice of method(s) and approaches in a legal research project, 
• identify which approaches and methods are most suitable for answering major research questions in the participants’ own research projects. 

Prerequisites:

• 3 weeks prior to the course, the participants will receive a set of recommended readings, with which they should be familiar at the time of the course.
• 2 weeks prior to the course, the participants shall submit a brief presentation of their PhD projects (½-1 page) together with a description of methodological aspects of their research (1 page). These documents will be distributed among all participants. 
• 2 weeks after the completion of the course the participants shall submit a 1-page reflection paper on the use of methodology and methods in their PhD project based on experience from the course.

Course format:

The course is divided into two parts. In part 1, senior scholars will discuss methodological issues in their respective areas of expertise, present challenges related to use of particular methods, and share examples from actual studies which they conducted or coordinated.  Part 2 is organized as a study group where the individual PhD students will be involved more actively. 

PART I

Day 1 offers a general introduction to the main methods relevant to the study of law and legal phenomena. It presents participants with different ways of employing doctrinal methods, and additionally presents them with comparative, interview, network and text analytical methods.

Day 2 introduces participants to different lenses – or approaches – through which to study law. The first part of the day focuses on positivist approaches, legal politics and critical approaches, while the second part of the day introduces participants to a select number of interdisciplinary (or Law and…) approaches, including Law & Economics, Law & Technology and Law & Anthropology.

PART II

Following the two-day course, participants will have the opportunity to delve deeper into their individual projects through study groups. These groups, which will include presentations and feedback sessions, will be organized in Spring 2025. The study groups will be formed based on the subject matter and methodological approaches of the participants’ PhD projects.

Track 1 course organizers: Rasmus Grønved Nielsen & Sune Klinge

Track 2 course organizers: Jakob v. H. Holtermann & Mikael Rask Madsen

Instructors:

The course consists of lectures, presentations, and workshops delivered by senior academics based at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen. The course instructors are specialists in Danish and/or in international law and represent different areas of public and private law. Their expertise and insights will thus be helpful to participants pursuing their PhD projects in different legal fields. 

Practical information: 

• Venue: The course will run at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Njalsgade 76, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Room: 4A-1-68.
  A guide on how to find Campus is available at our website via this link and a map of campus is available here  
• Wi-Fi: University of Copenhagen is connected to Eduroam, which allows students, researchers and staff from participating institutions to obtain Internet connectivity across campus and when visiting other participating institutions.  
• Registration: Please register via the link in the box no later than 7 October 2024.
• Questions: Any questions about the course may be directed to the PhD Administration (phd@hrsc.ku.dk).
• Language: English.
• Participation: A two-day course on Campus in November 27-28, 2024 (compulsory); participation in one of the subsequent tracks, Spring 2025 (optional).

PART I

PART II

Following the two-day course, participants will have the opportunity to delve deeper into their individual projects through study groups. These groups, which will include presentations and feedback sessions, will be organized in Spring 2025. The study groups will be formed based on the subject matter and methodological approaches of the participants’ PhD projects. More information about the composition and content of the study groups will be presented on November 28th.

Track 1: Course organizers: Rasmus Grønved Nielsen & Sune Klinge

Track 2: Course organizers: Jakob v. H. Holtermann & Mikael Rask Madsen

The course is designed for PhD students who have recently embarked upon their PhD studies and need to enhance their general understanding of methodology and research methods, as well as the ways in which the theoretical framework and specific research methods may be applied in their research projects. The course may also be relevant for students who have been working on their research for a while and need perspectives on methodology questions for their research project.

The course will provide an overview of main research methods and approaches commonly used by legal researchers. Apart from the main jurisprudential approaches, the course will also cover interdisciplinary approaches to law, and key empirical methods relevant for legal studies. The methods and approaches will be discussed in the context of international as well as Danish law.

The course consists of a compulsory part which comprises a two-day course on campus (for which participants will receive 3 ECTS) and an optional part which comprises participation in one of the study groups (for which participants receive 2 ECTS). Study groups will be organized around the subject matter and methodological approaches of the participants’ PhD projects.