Ph.D. Programme Admission 2026 at National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam

National Law University and Judicial Academy (NLUJA), Assam, established in 2009, invites applications from eligible candidates for admission to its Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Programme for the academic year 2026.

A total of 8 seats are on offer (1 SC, 2 OBC-NCL, 1 ST and 4 Unreserved). The programme runs for a minimum of three years and a maximum of six years from the date of provisional admission, and includes coursework, a research proposal presentation, and the thesis.

Research may be in law or in disciplines within social sciences and humanities that interface with law, with a special focus on public policy or law.

• A one-year/two-semester Master's degree (after a 4-year Bachelor's for non-law subjects, or a 5-year Bachelor's for Law/Legal Studies), or a two-year/four-semester Master's degree after a 3-year Bachelor's degree, with at least 55% marks in aggregate; or an equivalent qualification.
• Candidates who have completed an M.Phil. programme with at least 55% marks in aggregate.
• Candidates after a 4-year (non-law) or 5-year (law) Bachelor's degree with at least 75% marks in aggregate are also eligible.
• A 5% relaxation in marks applies to SC/ST/OBC-NCL/Differently-Abled Persons/EWS candidates.

Candidates awaiting their qualifying results may appear provisionally, subject to submitting the final result at the time of the research proposal presentation.

Admission is through an Admission Test administered by the University, followed by an interview/viva-voce before the Research Committee. Candidates who have qualified UGC-NET (with or without JRF), hold an M.Phil., or have cleared SLET (Assam) are exempted from the Admission Test and admitted on combined merit of UGC-NET marks (70%) and interview (30%).

The two-hour Admission Test comprises 25 MCQs (1 mark each), 5 short descriptive questions of 5 marks each (out of 10), and two compulsory 1000-word essays of 25 marks each. Qualifying marks are 55% (General) and 50% (SC/ST/DAP). All candidates must submit a 1000-word preliminary research proposal, screened for plagiarism (must be below 15% overall / 10% from a single source).

Applications must be submitted in the prescribed format (Annexure II of the notification) along with a Demand Draft of Rs 1500 (Rs 1000 for SC/ST/OBC-NCL/PWD) drawn in favour of 'Registrar, National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam', payable at Guwahati, and self-attested copies of all relevant testimonials.

The duly filled-in application form with enclosures must reach The Registrar, National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam, Hajo Road, Amingaon, Guwahati - 781031 on or before 20 July 2026. Incomplete applications or those received after the due date shall be summarily rejected.