Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) education in New Zealand is also centered on academic papers. But doctoral dissertations are more demanding than LLM dissertations, both in length and quality. In terms of quantity, doctoral dissertations are limited to100000 words, and the number of words is only the text, excluding the contents, footnotes and references. In terms of quality, the doctoral thesis should be very original and make a great contribution to the knowledge in the field of particles.

The doctoral education generally lasts for three years.

Applicants for doctoral degrees should report to the doctoral and scholarship office of the university.

Office) submit an application and issue a certificate that you can engage in research in a certain field. This certificate should include: Bachelor of Laws (Honors) degree (first-class honorary degree or second-class upstream honorary degree); Or master of law. The Law School of Otago University also requires applicants to provide the following application materials: 1, cv; 2. Paper proposal; 3. Personal statement; State why Otago University was chosen for doctoral research; 4. Write a sample. If you are an international student, you must also provide proof that your English level meets the requirements of the university (such as TOEFL and IELTS scores).

The enrollment of doctoral students is considered temporary at the initial stage and needs to be confirmed according to academic progress in the sixth or twelfth month after registration. Unconfirmed students will have two destinations: First, the temporary period will be extended for up to 6 months. If the extension period is not confirmed, they will be required to drop out of school to pursue doctoral degrees or register for other degrees; The second is to be directly asked to withdraw from the doctor or register for other degrees.

From the date of registration, students should submit progress reports to the doctoral and scholarship office every six months. From the date of confirmation, the frequency of students submitting progress reports is changed to once a year.

Each doctoral student should have more than two tutors. The student's doctoral thesis will be examined by three examiners. One reviewer is from the University of Otago, one reviewer is from other universities in New Zealand, and one reviewer must be an international scholar outside New Zealand. A tutor cannot be a reviewer.

The results after the review are divided into five categories: first, pass, or pass with slight changes in the text, and award degrees; Second, it was passed, but it needs to be revised, and the degree was awarded after the paper was revised; Third, it needs to be rewritten, resubmitted and re-examined, but this opportunity is only once; Fourth, refuse to grant the doctor of law degree, but refer it to other departments of the school to consider granting other degrees; Fifth, it was rejected and there was no chance to resubmit it.