Students are contributors to the research system at JSW Law, not only its beneficiaries. RALS gives every student a clear path from first assignment to first publication, and gives those who want more a chance to work alongside faculty on real research.
Your path into research
Empowering Student Researchers from Classroom to Publication
RALS equips students with research skills, faculty mentorship, and opportunities to present, publish, and gain recognition for their work—nurturing the next generation of legal scholars and researchers.
Research skills:
library orientation, information literacy and the Research Service Centre build skills from the first semester.
Supervised research:
students may work on faculty projects as volunteers, interns or research assistants.
Student Research Forum:
students present their strongest papers to faculty and peers each year, and twice a year from 2029.
Publication:
outstanding papers, first assessed by the Editorial Board, are eligible for publication support in the JSW Law Student Journal, and students edit and publish in the JSW Law Review.
Working papers:
supervised student and graduate working papers are published and deposited in the Institutional Repository.
Recognition
the Best Research Paper Award recognises the best student research each year.
Student Research Volunteer Programme
The Student Research Volunteer Programme, established under chapter 12 of the Research Centre Guideline 2026, gives students practical experience in the work that sustains legal scholarship: research, writing, editing, event management, communications and public engagement. The Programme has more than fifty active volunteers from the LL.B., PGDNL, GDLS, MLS and LL.M. programmes.
| Volunteer group | What it does |
|---|---|
| Student Research Volunteer Coordinators | Supervise activities, liaise with faculty and keep work aligned with the Office’s objectives. |
| Editorial Group | Drafts, edits and refines academic and public-facing content. |
| Social Media Group | Creates and shares legal awareness content, including Legis Lumen materials. |
| Event Management Group | Organises workshops, seminars, conferences, moots and public engagement events. |
| Communications and Media Group | Manages communications, press releases, newsletters and the podcast. |
| Library stream (new) | Supports orientation, shelf and catalogue work, user assistance and repository deposits. |
| Archives stream (new) | Supports cataloguing, digitisation and the recording and transcription of oral histories. |
Volunteers assist with literature reviews, grant applications and policy briefs; carry out preliminary legal research under supervision; verify citations and format manuscripts; translate legal awareness materials into Dzongkha, Tshangkha and Lhotsham; transcribe interviews, podcasts and oral histories; and produce videos, podcasts and infographics that explain the law to the public.
Standards and recognition: volunteers receive mandatory training in the publication style guide, research ethics, digital literacy and public communication, and are bound by the code of ethics for students in the Research Centre Guideline, including strict confidentiality of research data. A volunteer who fails to attend or complete assignments on two occasions without prior notice may be deregistered. A certificate of volunteerism is issued after one full academic year, or two consecutive semesters, of uninterrupted service.
Research Intern Programme
The Research Intern Programme offers a more structured, time-limited placement than volunteering. Interns take on defined responsibilities under a designated faculty member or RALS officer, who agrees a work plan at the start, gives feedback during the placement and assesses the work at the end. Assignments may include research assistance on faculty projects, systematic literature reviews, event support, transcription and translation, citation checking, research summaries and policy briefs, and support for DLIN content verification or archival projects.
Academic mentorship
The Centre links advanced students with senior faculty or visiting scholars who can offer guidance, feedback and intellectual companionship. These are collegial partnerships designed to build research capacity and confidence, separate from formal supervision. Students may also receive structured peer feedback on drafts through the Research Service Centre.