Law of Information
and Communication Technologies

Who should be interested?

This programme is designed for aspiring academics and researchers as well as for practitioners aiming at top academic qualification in cyberlaw. Mostly welcome are namely those looking for intellectual challenges, stimulating research assignments, vibrant international academic and professional community, access to high-profile research projects and direct contact with relevant stakeholders in European and international law-making, policymaking and adjudication. The programme is positioned to accommodate conceptually or theoretically oriented dissertations as well as practical or applied works.

The approach

Doctoral students are, at first, guided and motivated to develop their own conceptual and methodological toolbox and then supervised in actively using it to explore their chosen fields of interest in cyberlaw.

Although cyberlaw is not a coherent discipline, there are several core concepts and methods that work across its various areas from privacy to data protection to cybersecurity. These common grounds serve, besides forming a basis for solid and throughout understanding of chosen field of interest, also as a common ground for efficient communication among the professional and academic community. It also enables doctoral students to undertake elective collaborative research assignments incl. participation at national and international research projects - it is quite common that students in this programme choose to take a part at research projects at the Institute of Law and Technology in order to improve their research profile, get direct access to academic or professional partners and gain additional income.

The curriculum

Each doctoral student assembles, under the guidance of his or her tutor, an individual study plan where he or she chooses a composition of courses and tasks that mostly suits his or her research aims and aspirations. The curriculum generally consists, besides the mere work on the doctoral thesis, namely of research skills, conceptual and methodological background of cyberlaw and then of profile research-based courses that cover most relevant contemporary issues in cyberlaw.

An integral part of the studies are also regular consultations of the dissertation with the tutor. The Institute encourages doctoral students to consult their theses, where applicable, also with practicing experts from the judiciary, public administration, law-making or commerce, and actively assists with respective contacts.

Profiles of graduates

Graduates of this doctoral programme regularly aim at academic careers at universities and research institutions, and they aspire at participating at or leading international research projects in cyberlaw and related fields. Graduates who choose (or have already chosen) their career paths in practice usually aim at high-profile positions at international law-firms, mid-sized or large national or international enterprises (mostly IT, advisory or financial) or in public service (governmental, EU or international).

Cyberlaw is a well-established discipline both in legal academia and legal practice and the Institute of Law and Technology is a nationally and internationally recognised academic institution. There is thus steady full employment of the graduates of this programme at positions that are in the field and correspond with the level of this qualification.