The TiLPh Experience

The Doctoral programme at TiLPh (PhD in Law, curriculum Philosophy of Law and History of Legal Culture) is focused around: a) seminars of visiting scholars, workshops, and conferences, b) internal discussion meetings and reading groups, and c) supervision and first year courses.

Workshops, Conferences and Visitors: Each year TiLPh organises various workshops and conferences and hosts many legal philosophers from around the world. This puts TiLPh students in direct and regular contact with the leading experts in their fields.

Discussion Meetings and Reading Groups: The internal discussion meetings, called seminario biancamaro, serve to challenge the ideas and papers of TiLPh students. Smaller reading groups are formed to study journal articles and books of particular interest for their works in progress.

Supervision: A TiLPh student has two supervisors, one of which is typically a member of the TiLPh faculty.

Office accommodation: All TiLPh students have work spaces at the Institute in Balbi Street. This contributes significantly to TiLPh’s close and collaborative research environment.

Library: Our library in Balbi Street has one of the world’s best collections of works in legal philosophy. Most of it is in English, Spanish and Italian, though we also have numerous publications in French, German, and Portuguese.

International exchange: Most TiLPh students spend one or two substantive research periods at another world class institution. In recent years students have visited Barcelona, Berkeley, Chicago, Girona, Heidelberg, Kiel, Krakow, Madrid, Mexico City, Oxford, Paris, Sao Paulo, Uppsala, and other European, North-American and South-American universities.

Languages: A TiLPh student can usually write their thesis in their mother tongue. Spanish, English and Italian are used at TiLPh on a daily basis. Various members of our faculty also speak or read French and German.

Ranking: In the most recent assessment of the Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research, the University of Genoa was ranked first among all Italian research groups for legal philosophy.

How to Apply?

Each year a Call is published sometime in Spring with the application deadline in the first days of June.

In 2020, the deadline is June 15, 2020 at 12.00 noon (Italian time).

You can find all the general relevant information here (in English) and here (in Italian).

The selection of candidates is based on student’s curriculum vitae et studiorum, her research project, transcript of records for the university degree, and up to three letters of recommendation. Usually, three or four candidates altogether are invited to enrol, while the two highest ranking ones are also offered a three-year scholarship of the University of Genoa.

The academic year for PhD studies starts in November. The official Call is published here (in English) and here (in Italian).

For more information, check the last Call published on the same website or contact directly one of our current PhD students or a TiLPh faculty member. You can also write to as at info@istitutotarello.org