Professional doctorate: FGV accepting applications for first Law and Entrepreneurship class
The aim of the new program is to train national leaders with the potential to transform legal practice in their areas of activity by designing innovative solutions that preferably involve the use of advanced technologies.

Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Sao Paulo Law School is now accepting applications for the first edition of its Professional Doctorate in Law and Entrepreneurship Program. This is the first program of its kind in the field of law in Brazil. It was approved by the Brazilian Education Ministry’s graduate education support agency (CAPES) through Ordinance 2,149 of December 26, 2023.
The aim of the new program is to train national leaders with the potential to transform legal practice in their areas of activity by designing innovative solutions that preferably involve the use of advanced technologies. The students should be able to propose improvements and lead changes to Brazil’s legal and regulatory frameworks.
“The FGV Sao Paulo Law School’s Professional Doctorate aims to confer greater professional distinction on those who work in the field of law. To stand out in the job market or in public sector careers, mastery of theoretical concepts is not enough. Modern professionals must be able to argue on the basis of empirical evidence, requiring the mobilization of numerical data. The development of quantitative reasoning is now fundamental to having a critical view of statistical studies that support legal theses. This is precisely where the main innovative component of our professional doctorate lies: the production of applied legal research that combines doctrinal and empirical approaches with the use of quantitative data. The doctoral dissertation will require greater depth and methodological rigor when compared to a master’s thesis. Accordingly, it is hoped that the doctoral degree will strengthen students’ capacity to act as an agent for transforming legal practice and formulating proposals to improve the legal and regulatory framework,” says Professor Mario Engler, the coordinator of the new program.
The average duration of the Professional Doctorate Program will be 36 months. To obtain the title of Doctor of Law, students must obtain 28 curricular credits (corresponding to 14 courses, each 30 hours long), produce a research paper on best practices in the legal field, combining doctrinal and empirical approaches, and be approved by an examining board. The program is primarily aimed at those who already have a master’s degree, but “direct doctorate” candidates will be admitted in exceptional cases, if they demonstrate professional seniority and a strong ability to carry out applied legal research.
Preliminary research proposal
As part of the selection process, candidates must submit a preliminary proposal related to one of the program’s two broad areas of activity: (i) Business Activity Organization, Regulation, Compliance and Taxation; and (ii) State Governance, Public Policies, Innovation and Partnerships with the Private Sector or State Governance, Public Policies, Innovation and Partnerships with the Private Sector.
This preliminary research proposal for a doctoral dissertation may be up to eight pages long (in accordance with ABNT standards). It must state the candidate’s full name, the program’s relevant area of activity and the dissertation’s provisional title. The preliminary proposal must also include the following items:
- Context and overview of topic;
- Core research question and breakdown into up to six questions;
- Justification of practical relevance, innovative nature and potential impact;
- Research methods, consultation sources and methods of access;
- Familiarity with the research topic;
- Main research challenges and expected results;
- Preliminary bibliography.
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