Graduate School

Idea of the Graduate School

Successful science thrives on networking and exchange. This is particularly true in the area of PhD studies. The supervisors with research interests in intellectual property law, media law, data law and technology law are creating an inter-faculty research training group for the education of their doctoral students. Two goals are to be achieved with a structured programme: firstly, the quality of PhD studies is to be further improved. Secondly, better academic networking and a more intensive professional and personal exchange between the participants - supervisors and junior researchers - are to be achieved at the same time. A decisive element for the success of this project is the personnel continuity of those involved. For this reason, only doctoral students from a total of 11 supervisors can participate in the Graduate School. The decision on the selection is made by the respective supervisor.

Events

The programme of the Graduate School is laid out for two years for each participant. It requires each doctoral student to actively participate in a total of 4 events. This participation is a decisive prerequisite for the success of the project. Two modules are offered each year: the joint PhD seminar and a teaching unit (consisting of several teaching modules) at one of the participating universities. Each participant in the Graduate School must attend two PhD seminars (and give a presentation on their own work at one) and take part in two teaching units. Those who complete the entire programme receive a certificate acknowledging it.

PhD Seminar

The participants of the PhD Seminar are the supervisors with all PhD students. On 2-3 days, the PhD candidates present their research projects for discussion. If possible, the event will take place at the location and in the week of the annual GRUR conference, otherwise at another attractive conference venue in Germany (or in neighbouring countries). The PhD candidates present their work or the respective status achieved in an oral presentation (supported by slides, outline, handout, as chosen) of max. 30 minutes. Subsequently, the methods, theses and research approach are discussed among the PhD students, and later also with the professors/habilitation students (discussion duration approx. 45-60 minutes). Each doctoral student participating in the programme must give at least one presentation and participate at least once as a non-presenter. The presentation should also be discussed with the supervisor after the seminar.

Teaching programme at the participating universities

The participating professors take turns in offering a block course (lecture/colloquium/workshop) on questions of scientific work etc. at their home universities. Each block contains 4-5 different teaching units, which are conducted by the professors participating in the Graduate School. Guest lecturers may be engaged in addition. The aim is for the PhD students to receive a total of at least 15 hours of science-specific training. The following teaching units are part of the teaching programme:

• Theory of science - plurality of jurisprudential research approaches
• European methodology
• Comparative legal work
• Empirical work
• Law and (applied) natural sciences
• Techniques and formalities of jurisprudential work
• Good scientific practice and scientific misconduct
• Scientific writing
• The finishing touches - revising and correcting the manuscript, preparing for printing and finding a publisher
• Review seminar

Funding and support

From November 2020, the IRDT will take over the organisation and costs of the graduate school for 2 years. In the medium term, an attempt will be made to cover the costs through third-party funding. The inter-faculty disciplinary graduate school is a novelty. From the structure created, a research proposal can be submitted with a high chance of success.