Law and Geopolitics ~ UNIPI

Language: English

Period: 6 – 10 July 2026

Application Deadline: 31 March 2026

Program Intensity: Full-time

ECTS: 3

Tuition fees: 250€

The Summer School will take place in Pisa. Between the afternoon of Monday, July 6, and the morning of Friday, July 10, 2026, twenty-five hours of lectures and seminars will be held. An MS Teams connection will be provided so that the lectures and seminars can be attended online as well.

Lectures will be delivered by European professors who are experts in topics with significant geopolitical impacts. To explore the influence of law on geopolitical analysis and the impact of geopolitical factors on the evolution of lawmaking, there will be constant interaction between geopolitical experts and comparative law scholars, who will introduce the lectures. This interaction will be enriched by the participants’ engagement. Professors and staff will prepare a documentation dossier for each lecture and upload it to the Summer School’s MS Teams channel. Participants will use these materials during seminars organized to analyze specific cases related to the topics covered in the lectures.

The lectures will illustrate the relationship between law and geopolitics in the following areas: new technologies (with a focus on artificial intelligence), climate change, circular economy, sustainable development, food sovereignty, migration, war, security, and sports.

A special lesson will be dedicated to the concept of “nation”, which appears to be of particular interest. This is because this fundamental geopolitical concept cannot be defined without the contribution of law, which also defines related concepts such as “state” and “people”.

The lectures and seminars will be scheduled in the morning or afternoon to allow participants to engage in individual or group study activities during the other half of the day. After the lectures and seminars conclude, participants will take an online test on July 17, 2026. In this test, they will discuss a practical case agreed upon with the teachers.

A list of partner hotels and restaurants will be provided for on-campus participants.

The Summer School will be activated with at least 14 students. The maximum number of participants is set to 40 students.

The Summer School will be held on campus, in Pisa, at Palazzo della Sapienza, Via Curtatone e Montanara, 15.

The program will be activated also in distance learning mode (TEAMS platform).

Aim

The main aim of the Summer School is to develop interdisciplinary knowledge that enables lawyers to analyze legal provisions in the context of geopolitical factors and allows geopolitical scholars to constantly incorporate legal science into their analyses. Geopolitics and law are currently rarely considered related disciplines. However, when studying geopolitical scenarios, the strong impact of geopolitics on law and how much law contributes to shaping elements of geopolitical analysis become clear. The Summer School will explore this mutual influence through discussions between legal scholars (particularly comparative law scholars) and experts on topics with strong geopolitical implications.

Theoretical lectures and seminars will be enriched by practical cases drawn from history and current events, to demonstrate the necessity of integrating legal reasoning into geopolitical analyses. This integration is necessary to better understand geopolitical scenarios and to identify limits on the conduct and objectives of geopolitical actors, which must be consistent with legal standards.

Who can apply

The Summer School is designed for three categories of participants:

graduates, Ph.D. candidates, and Ph.D. holders in law or political science;
graduates, Ph.D. candidates, and Ph.D. holders in other disciplines;
students enrolled on degree programs in law or political science, provided they have passed at least one comparative law.

Participants of the three categories are not ranked in order of priority; they are distinguished only on the basis of the admission requirements.

Application

Admission Requirements

Admission requirements vary depending on the category of applicant:

For graduates, Ph.D. candidates, and Ph.D. holders in law or political science, the following are required:
- a degree certificate,
- a CV,
- an abstract of the thesis or, if available, of the doctoral dissertation.
For graduates, Ph.D. candidates, and Ph.D. holders in other disciplines, the following are required:
- a degree certificate,
- a CV, an abstract of the thesis or, if available, of the doctoral dissertation,
- as well as a letter of motivation.
For students enrolled on degree programs in law or political science the following are required:
- a certificate showing university exams taken,
- a CV, and
- a letter of motivation.

The scientific advisor and the operational manager reserve the right to request additional documentation if provided materials do not demonstrate that the admission requirements have been met.

Once the admission has been confirmed, candidates must complete the enrollment process by paying the tuition fees within the following 10 days.

Required documents

Identity Document (*PASSPORT in case you are a foreign student*)
Enrolment Form
Curriculum vitae
all the other documents specified here above in the Admission Requirements paragraph, depending on the category of the applicant

All the documents must be in pdf format, in order to upload them on the portal when required (See the “How to apply” page)

Fees

Tuition fees: 250€

Pay fees by Debit/Credit Card or PayPal online using the following Payment Form

NOTICE:

International students without Italian Tax Code: please tick the box ‘Anonymous’ in order to disable the field ‘Italian personal ID/VAT number’.
Please type your NAME and SURNAME next to the pre-filled text of the field ‘Reason’
Please pay only after receiving the admission letter

REFUND POLICY:

Tuition fees are non-refundable.

Tuition fees will be refunded only if the Summer School does not reach the minimum number of participants and therefore the course is not activated.

Contacts

Coordinator
Prof. Paolo Passaglia paolo.passaglia@unipi.it

Operational Manager
Dr. Giovanna Spanò giovanna.spano@jus.unipi.it

Summer/Winter School Office support.summerschool@unipi.it

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Admission Requirements

Required documents

Contacts