Interested in doing a PhD at the Faculty? - How to Apply

The Faculty of Canon Law offers the following doctoral degrees:

• Doctor of Society, Law and Religion

• Doctor of Canon Law

Entry requirements:

• Fluency in English and/or Dutch

• A JCL. If you did not obtain your JCL at our Faculty, you will possibly be advised to follow a predoctoral programme in advance.

Funding opportunities:

Researchers looking for funding opportunities can consult following page or contact the research coordinator of the Faculty.

Application procedure:

1. The student contacts the doctoral coordinator of the Faculty (H. Pattyn) to check whether the student is formally eligible for admission to the doctoral training programme. If the student is not an alumnus / a of the faculty, an appointment will be made for an introductory meeting.

2. The student contacts a possible supervisor. The list of supervisors and their expertise can be found here. You cannot start the procedure without a supervisor.

3. The student fills in the information form  and submits it to his supervisor for approval.

4. If the student and the supervisor both agree on the topic and approach of the doctorate, they both sign the form. The student then sends the form to the doctoral coordinator (H. Pattyn).

5. Start-up your doctoral application dossier

   1. Students with EEA nationality and a diploma from the Flemish Community will receive an email with the link to the faculty's online application file.

   2. Students without EEA nationality and a diploma from the Flemish Community will receive an e-mail with information about the online application procedure of the Admissions service.

6. The student completes the application dossier and adds the following attachments:

   1. A recent copy of CV (including qualifications and work experience)

   2. A copy of diplomas and/or certificates (as well as a detailed description of the courses completed and exam results)

   3. The completed template for the research proposal

7. As soon as the candidate PhD student has completed and submitted his application, the supervisor will receive an e-mail with the request to issue an advice about the application via KU Loket: approval or rejection.

8. Next, the application will be forwarded to the doctoral committee, which will make the final decision on academic admission.

9. The doctoral committee may decide to postpone admission to the doctoral training programme and to advise the student to follow a predoctoral programme.

10. After the final academic approval, the PhD researcher will receive an email stating that he/she can register for the doctoral training.

11. The doctoral progression tab appears in the student's KU Loket

    1. Students with EEA nationality and a diploma from the Flemish Community have immediate access to their file

    2. Students without EEA nationality and a diploma from the Flemish Community will receive an e-mail with the request to check and complete the doctoral file. As soon as he/she has submitted the file, the doctoral coordinator will activate the file 'doctoral succession' in KU Loket.