By Andrew Cohen
The Center for the Study of Law and Society (CSLS) has announced a new graduate fellowship in Berkeley Empirical Legal Studies (BELS) starting next semester. It is expected that 10 BELS Fellows—students from a range of disciplines across the UC Berkeley campus—will be chosen each year.
Eligible candidates include doctoral, JD, and JSD students engaged in theoretically-informed, empirical research that investigates the origins, dynamics, or consequences of law and law-related social institutions. Preference will be given to students who are in their third year or beyond during the fellowship period.
“There seems to be a lot of interest around campus,” says new CSLS director Calvin Morrill. “We’ve already fielded multiple inquiries about it and have some strong applications filed.” More information about the fellowship is available here.
BELS consists of 12 multidisciplinary research centers as well as several faculty and student researchers. Through an interdisciplinary approach, it seeks to ground empirical analysis in socio-legal theory and embrace a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods.