Study Programme

Below you will find the courses of Year 1 and 2 of the Master's programme Legal Research. 

You can also download the Master's programme Legal Research year schedule as a PDF file for easy reference. Please note that the names of the courses may change next year.

Content of your two-year programme

You start with several compulsory subjects to help you understand the ‘dynamics’ of law as well as legal methodology. In the first semester, you also take the compulsory non-credit course Academic Writing and Presentation Skills. In addition, throughout the first and second year, you complete two research projects, take a minimum of three elective courses, and write your Master’s thesis. In writing your research projects and thesis, you will be supervised by an experienced professor or senior lecturer. In addition, you will be supported by the ‘Methodology Round Table’, which consists of monthly interactive sessions in which you discuss research issues with your peers.
With respect to the elective courses, you are (in principle) free to choose from the entire range of legal disciplines on offer within the Utrecht University School of Law. These courses should form part of your own research profile, which you develop in consultation with the tutor who supervises you throughout the two-year programme.
When completing this programme, you will have gained in-depth knowledge of the field of research in your preferred legal discipline as well as developed a strong set of legal and academic skills. You will also have learned to produce texts that are relevant to legal academics and to participate in a variety of individual and collaborative projects.

Educational and examination methods

Below you can see the overview of the educational and examination methods in this programme.

Academic Calendar

Consult our Academic Calendar, where you can find more information about the Master's schedule per period, course registration periods and holidays.