MOTIVATIONS The progress of European integration has put labour law scholars into the unavoidable position of conducting their own research into the wider institutional framework of the European Union legal system. First, through the influence of the EC regulation on the national legal system and later, thanks to the introduction of the social and employment policy with the Amsterdam Treaty, EU labour law has progressively left its mark on the evolution of national labour market regulation and labour relations as well as on the social protection and the welfare systems. OBJECTIVES The Ph.D. programme in EU labour law at the Faculty of Law in the University of Catania, which has run since 1993, constitutes a seat of learning and scientific comparison for young graduates on EU labour law and social policy and their relation with the legal systems of EU member States. The course intends to prepare young researchers interested in an academic career and also people, interested in the issues mentioned above, who are capable of performing high level activities in public and private administrations. In an economic and political context more and more influenced by EU membership, the education of young experts in EU law and social policy represents a need to which the Ph.D. programme in EU labour law intends to fulfil.