The ECLAN PhD seminar provides a friendly environment in which research students can gain experience in presenting their research, learn from each other’s research and develop contacts with other researchers in their field.
It aims to gather together PhD candidates working in the field of EU criminal law and holding a degree in law, political science, or international studies.
Candidates present a topic of their choice (e.g., their envisaged PhD topic, a chapter of their PhD, a recent paper, etc.) before a panel of outstanding professors of EU criminal law and members of ECLAN. They then receive comments, feedback and suggestions on their research. Finally, the floor is open for debate.
The Program of the next ECLAN PhD seminar 2026 will be OUT soon!
Since 2010, ECLAN has organised PhD seminars in different universities across the EU. So far, PhD seminars have taken place at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (2010), the University of Luxembourg (2011), the University of Bayonne (2013), the Queen Mary University (2014), the University of Copenhaguen (2015), the University of Vienna (2016), the University of Basel (2017), the University of Luxembourg (2019), the University of Vilnius (2022), the University of Liverpool (2023) and at the University of Utrecht (2025).
The 13th edition of the ECLAN PhD seminar will take place at the University of Coimbra Institute for Legal Research, on 22 May 2026. The Seminar will be preceded, on 21 May 2026, by the International Colloquium on "Combatting Corruption : Breakthrough or Step Sideways? ".
This year’s Seminar is dedicated to Emerging Voices in European Criminal Law and aims to provide a platform for early-career scholars to present and discuss their research in a supportive and intellectually stimulating environment. The call for papers (attached below) is open to researchers with interests in any area of European criminal law.
Topics of particular relevance include:
- the rule of law and fundamental rights in criminal matters;
- harmonisation of substantive or procedural criminal law;
- mutual recognition or other modes of cooperation in criminal matters;
- the operation of EU criminal justice bodies and agencies;
- the interplay between criminal law and other areas (e.g., administrative law, immigration law, internal market law, constitutional law);
- The impact of AI and other technological developments; and
- The external dimension of the area of freedom, security and justice.
The deadline for submitting application is 1 March 2026.
Applications should be sent to: eclan.coimbra@gmail.com
Some pictures and the programmes of the past editions are also available below.
Irene Wieczorek , PhD researcher, describes her experience of the PhD Seminar :
Participating to the ECLAN PhD seminars has meant to me much more than simply presenting my research and getting useful feedbacks. I felt I was progressively becoming part of a scientific community, of young and senior researchers sharing the same interest and passion for European Criminal Law. I created personal bonds and true friendships, which have stayed with me through out all my PhD, and have enriched me personally and intellectually. The debates did not stop at the presentations during the day, but continued throughout dinners and sightseeing moments. Every time it felt like a 2 days of non-stop intellectual interactions, which all the time resulted in true advancement for my research. I would recommend to anyone working in this field to join the ECLAN PhD seminar, as it is really a unique opportunity.
