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Please note the rules and regulations of the J.S.D. Program are in the process of being updated for the 2008-09 academic year.
The J.S.D. Program at NYU aims to provide intense training in academic research in order to enable those intending to pursue a career in academia to produce first-class scholarship and secure teaching positions in the U.S. and around the world. Only a small number of applicants who demonstrate outstanding academic promise are admitted to the J.S.D Program.
As of the fall 2004, NYU School of Law provides full funding to entering students in the J.S.D. Program for three years, an opportunity heretofore unprecedented in the United States. The Program requirements have also been restructured for those who have enrolled beginning in the fall 2004. During the first year, students work closely with faculty advisors to select seminars that provide the methodological background necessary for advanced legal scholarship. While completing these courses, students prepare a "candidacy paper" - a substantial paper, in the form of a prospectus, a dissertation chapter, or a stand-alone article - that will be submitted at the end of the academic year as the application for admission to candidacy. Once approved by a faculty committee, students become J.S.D. candidates, and may proceed to full-time dissertation writing in the second and third years.
For complete information about degree requirements (including those that apply to students who began their studies before the fall 2004) and registration matters, please refer to the J.S.D. Handbook. Please note the J.S.D. Handbook is being updated for the 2008-09 academic year.