Field of Law
Doctoral research within the Doctoral School of Law aims to deepen the understanding of legal rules and the ways in which they should be interpreted and applied by citizens and state institutions, with the goal of ensuring the coherence of the legal system, a consistent judicial practice, the existence and functioning of the rule of law, and the protection of fundamental human rights.
Doctoral supervisors
Prof. univ. dr. habil Bercea Lucian
Lucian Bercea is a professor at the West University of Timișoara, Faculty of Law (since 1997), where he teaches commercial law and banking law and has been a doctoral supervisor in business law since 2015. He is a founding member of the Centre for Business Law Timișoara (West University of Timișoara) and the Centre for Studies of Natural Law and Normative Analysis (University of Bucharest). He has been a visiting professor at the University of Udine (Italy) and the University of Pécs (Hungary). He coordinates joint doctoral programs (cotutelle) with the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France) and the University of Torino (Italy). He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Society for Banking and Financial Law (AEDBF) and of the editorial boards of the Romanian Private Law Review and European Company Case Law. He is a reviewer for the Journal of Law, Market & Innovation and the Bratislava Law Journal. He organizes the Banking Law Conference (in collaboration with the National Bank of Romania – Legal Directorate) and the National Conference of Commercial Law (in partnership with Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Law). His scholarly output includes six books, over 70 studies and articles, and 10 edited collective volumes. His contributions have appeared in collective volumes published by international publishers (Springer, CH Beck – Nomos – Hart, Bruylant). He has participated in research projects in banking, consumer, corporate, business contracts, and insolvency law. He has contributed to studies on the compliance of national measures implementing secondary EU legislation. He has served as a national rapporteur at congresses organized by international scholarly societies (International Academy of Comparative Law, Association Henri Capitant). His research interests include the economic analysis of contracts and the influence of new technologies on business organizations and contracts.
Prof. univ. dr. habil Bercea Raluca
Raluca Bercea is a professor at the West University of Timișoara, Faculty of Law, where she teaches European Union law and human rights and has been a doctoral supervisor in European law since 2019. She is a founding member of the Centre for Comparative Law and Interdisciplinarity (West University of Timișoara). She has been a visiting professor at the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France). She coordinates joint doctoral programs (cotutelle) with professors from the University of Torino (Italy), the University of Udine (Italy), and the University of Pau et des Pays de l’Adour (France). Her research projects focus primarily on European constitutional law and the rule of law. She has served as a general and national rapporteur at congresses organized by international scientific societies (International Academy of Comparative Law, International Society of Public Law, Association Henri Capitant). She is an expert trainer for the Council of Europe. Research interests: European constitutional law, rule of law, fundamental rights.
Prof. univ. dr. Bufan Radu
Radu Bufan is a professor and doctoral supervisor within the Doctoral School of Law, specializing in tax law and insolvency. He coordinates master’s programs in tax law. He organizes national and international conferences on tax and insolvency topics, including the National Conference of Commercial Law, held in collaboration with the Faculty of Law at Babeș-Bolyai University (2011–2024, editions I–XIV), the Banking Law Conference in Timișoara (2013–2024, editions I–XII), and the National Conference on Tax Law organized jointly with the University of Bucharest, the Chamber of Fiscal Consultants, and the Faculty of Law at ASE Bucharest (2014–2024, editions I–XI). He has also organized the Malherbe Seminar on international taxation (2018–2019). He has participated in the National and Regional Insolvency Conferences organized by INPPI and INM since 2014 and the CEE Tax Lab Seminar attended by participants from Eastern European countries (Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Bulgaria, etc.).
Research topics of interest in doctoral studies include:
- The principle of contributive capacity in tax law
- Indirect harmonization in EU tax matters
- The balance between the investigative powers of the tax authorities and taxpayers’ rights
- Restructuring procedures for companies in financial distress.
Conf. univ. dr. Ciopec Flaviu
Flaviu Ciopec (CV) is an associate professor and doctoral supervisor within the Doctoral School of Law, specializing in Criminal Law.
Research topics of interest in doctoral studies include:
- Procedural Exceptions in Criminal Trials
- Electronic Evidence in Criminal Proceedings
- Road Traffic Offenses in Romania: Causes, Risks, Remedies
Prof. univ. dr. Motica I. Radu
Radu Motica is a professor of civil law and doctoral supervisor at the Doctoral School of Law. He specializes in the theory of obligations, contracts, succession, and family law. His primary research interests include contractual liability, tort liability, inheritance rights of the surviving spouse, and matrimonial property regimes.
Prof. univ. dr. habil Moțiu Florin-Aurel
Florin Moțiu is a professor at the Faculty of Law of the West University of Timișoara and a doctoral supervisor within the Doctoral School of Law. He supervises research topics in the areas of special civil contracts and insolvency. His main research interests focus on option agreements, promises of sale, preemption rights, intermediation, aleatory contracts, principles of insolvency proceedings, the relationship between civil law and insolvency law, and the compatibility of civil and insolvency procedures. He has authored publications on special civil contracts, including agency and brokerage contracts, and has participated in civil and insolvency law conferences. He has also published books and studies in special civil contracts and insolvency law.
Prof. univ. dr. Pașca Viorel
Viorel Pașca is a doctoral supervisor within the Doctoral School of Law at the West University of Timișoara, overseeing research topics in the field of criminal law. He is the founder of the Research Center for Criminal Law and has published numerous studies and treatises in the field of criminal law.
Prof. univ. dr. habil Roșu Claudia Eugenia
Claudia Roșu is a tenured professor at the Faculty of Law, West University of Timișoara, and a doctoral supervisor in Civil Procedural Law since 2015. Her main areas of interest in doctoral research are general civil procedure and special procedures, such as arbitration, as a viable alternative to ordinary court proceedings. She has published in civil procedural law and participated in national and international conferences on civil law and civil procedural law.
Prof. univ. dr. habil Sferdian Irina
Irina Sferdian is a professor at the Faculty of Law, West University of Timișoara, and a doctoral supervisor within the Doctoral School of Law. She supervises doctoral research in the fields of civil law and insurance law. She coordinates the Master’s program in Judicial Career at the Faculty of Law, West University of Timișoara. Her research interests include intangible assets, the general theory of property rights, patrimony, the role of potestative rights in acquiring ownership, the principal-accessory rule in private law, restitution of performances, construction contracts, and insurance law principles. She has coordinated three collective volumes in the field of property law and has published studies and treatises on fundamental rights and insurance law.
Prof. univ. dr. Trăilescu Anton
Anton Trăilescu is a professor at the Faculty of Law, West University of Timișoara, and a doctoral supervisor in administrative law. His doctoral research focuses on the regulatory competence of public administrative authorities, legal remedies against the government’s refusal to adopt implementing regulations, the limits of contractual freedom in legal relationships concerning private domain property, and the boundaries of discretionary powers held by local public administrative authorities in urban planning. He has participated in national conferences and has published studies and treatises in the field of administrative law.
Prof. univ. dr. habil Valentin Constantin Dorin
Valentin Constantin is a doctoral supervisor at the Doctoral School of Law, West University of Timișoara, coordinating research topics in public international law and the protection of human rights. He has published studies and treatises in constitutional law and public international law. At the West University of Timișoara, he organizes and coordinates the conference series What Remains to Be Said About Law? He also frequently contributes to Orizont, the Romanian Writers’ Union journal.
Prof. univ. dr. Vida Ioan
Ioan Vida is a doctoral supervisor at the Doctoral School of Law, West University of Timișoara, specializing in constitutional law. His work in constitutional law within the doctoral school focuses on an interdisciplinary approach to legal institutions, drawing primarily from the Constitution and constitutional court jurisprudence. Research in this field involves integrating doctrinal analysis, legislation, constitutional and European case law, and judicial practice. Topics of interest in his doctoral supervision include the national defense system, national sovereignty, the right to free movement, the right to health care, and Romania’s financial system.
Thematic areas of interest (2025)
Prof. Lucian Bercea, PhD, Habil.
- Secondary Costs in Contracts Between Professionals and Consumers: An Economic and Legal Analysis
- Digital Assets: A Legal Analysis of the Digital Representation of Economic Value
Prof. Raluca Bercea, PhD, Habil.
- Hate Speech and Cultural Pluralism: the Role of Governments and Judges (cotutelle)
Prof. Radu Bufan, PhD
- The Principle of Contributive Capacity in Tax Law
Assoc. Prof. Flaviu Ciopec, PhD
- Procedural Exceptions in Criminal Trials
- Electronic Evidence in Criminal Proceedings
- Road Traffic Offenses in Romania: Causes, Risks, Remedies
Prof. Florin Moțiu, PhD, Habil.
- Theoretical and Practical Aspects of Construction Contracts
- Marriage Between Law and Religion
Prof. Claudia Roșu, PhD, Habil.
- The Importance of the Active Role of First-Instance Judges in Civil Trials
- Judicial Impartiality at First Instance – ECHR Standards
Prof. Irina Sferdian, PhD, Habil.
- Real Rights over Intangible Assets
Useful information
Proposed topics for admission (2025)
For the complete list of topics, please refer to the table (link).
The funding status of each topic (scholarship-based budget, budget without scholarship, or tuition fee) is determined based on the admission competition, in accordance with the UVT methodology.
Admission
At the West University of Timișoara, the Doctoral School of Law organizes a competitive admission process for the doctoral program in the field of Law, with specialization areas corresponding to each doctoral supervisor:
- Prof. Lucian Bercea:
- Commercial Law
- Prof. Raluca Bercea:
- European Union Law,
- Comparative Law,
- International Human Rights Protection
- Prof. Radu Bufan:
- Commercial Law,
- Tax Law
- Prof. Radu I. Motica:
- Civil Law,
- Commercial Law
- Prof. Florin Moțiu:
- Civil Law,
- Commercial Law
- Prof. Viorel Pașca:
- Criminal Law
- Prof. Claudia Roșu:
- Civil Procedural Law
- Prof. Irina Sferdian:
- Civil Law
- Prof. Anton Trăilescu:
- Administrative Law
- Prof. Valentin Constantin:
- Public International Law,
- International Human Rights Protection
- Prof. Ioan Vida:
- Constitutional Law
The admission competition for the Doctoral School of Law at the West University of Timișoara is conducted in accordance with the calendar established in the UVT Doctoral Admission Regulations (Annex no. 1 of the DSL Admission Regulations) and consists of the candidate’s presentation of a research project and an interview based on that project, held before the examination committee
The research project must include: the title of the research topic, a justification of its relevance and importance, the research objectives to be achieved, the research methods to be used, and the bibliography consulted by the candidate. Guidelines for drafting the research project can be found in Annex no. 10 of the DSL Admission Regulations.
For more details regarding the application file, the admission calendar, and the organization of the admission process for doctoral university studies within the Doctoral School of Law, please refer to the DSL Admission Regulations and the UVT Doctoral Admission Methodology.
Resources
- Access to the university library (“Eugen Todoran” Central University Library, Timișoara)
- Access to the faculty’s research centers (Timișoara Business Law Center, Research Center in Criminal Sciences, Center for Comparative Law and Interdisciplinarity)
- Access to national and institutional research databases, through the ANELIS project (National Electronic Access to Scientific and Research Literature) and UVT-funded projects
Curriculum
- Doctoral students admitted in the first year in 2024 (link)
- Doctoral students admitted in the first year in 2025 (link)
Courses
Civil Law
Civil Procedure Law
Commercial Law
International and European Law
Constitutional Law
Administrative Law
Completion of Studies
For more details about the IOSUD-West University of Timișoara study completion procedure, please visit the Doctoral Studies > Completion of doctoral studies page (link).
For field-specific details, please consult the following:
- Order of the Ministry of Education and Research no. 3018/2025, dated January 13, 2025, on the approval of the minimum mandatory national standards required for awarding doctoral degrees, published in the Official Gazette no. 78 of January 29, 2025
(applicable to doctoral students admitted from 2025 onward) (link) - Order of the Ministry of National Education no. 5110/2018, dated September 17, 2018, regarding the approval of the minimum national standards for awarding doctoral degrees, published in the Official Gazette no. 817 of September 24, 2018 (link)
(applicable to doctoral students admitted before 2025) (link) - The National Guide for Writing Doctoral Theses related to the Field of Study (forthcoming publication)
- Sections concerning the graduation procedure in the Regulations of the Doctoral School to which you are affiliated