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SJD Program

Join our Doctor of the Science of Law (SJD) program and graduate prepared to make significant contributions to your area of study and become a leader in the international academic community.

The Doctor of Juridical Science Program (SJD) is the highest law degree offered by the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. The SJD program focuses on research and the production of original scholarship. The degree is granted upon the successful completion and defense of a dissertation.

All SJD candidates are required to be in residence at Penn for the first year of the program. Residency after this period is encouraged as it is highly conducive to completion of the dissertation. View degree requirements.

Admission to the program is based upon the evaluation of a candidate’s past record and future promise as a legal scholar. Consideration is given to an applicant’s proposed research project, writing sample, academic record, professional experience, recommendations, personal statement, and English-language ability. General application information.

Research Proposal: All applicants must have a well-stated scholarly proposal that sets forth the project that the applicant intends to pursue in the SJD Program. An application will be successful only if the proposal indicates a strong likelihood that, upon completion, the project will make a significant contribution to legal scholarship and will satisfy the dissertation requirements. There is no specific requirement regarding the length of the proposal, but most submissions are 5-10 pages in length.

Writing Sample: Applicants must also submit a sample, in English, of their research-based writing on a legal topic of approximately 5-10 pages. This may be a work that has already been published and/or an excerpt of a longer work, so long as the candidate is the sole author of the submission.

In keeping with its mission of training future legal academics and global leaders, Penn Carey Law provides fellowships for eligible SJD candidates that include full tuition, health insurance, and a stipend. Fellowships will cover three years of residence at Penn Carey Law.

View SJD candidate profiles
View SJD alumni profiles

SJD Candidates

Jenan

Jenan Abu Shtaya

 
Portrait

Mehrnoosh Aryanpour SJD’25

 
Victor Cabezas

Victor Cabezas Alban

 
Kai-Ping Chang

Kai-Ping Chang

 
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Gene Choi

 
Hau Le

Le Nguyen Duy Hau

 
Eran Globus

Eran I. Globus

 
Waleed

Waleed Y. W. Haj Hasan

 
Yung-cheng

Yung-Cheng Lin

 
Santiago Grossman

Santiago N. Ortegon Giral

 
Giovanna

Giovanna Parini Bareiro

 
Alessandra

Alessandra Carolina Rossi Martins

 

SJD Alumni

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Alanoud Alajmi

 
Nadia

Nadia Banteka

 
   Chao-Tien Chang

Chao-Tien Chang

 
Yang Chen

Yang Chen

 
Giacomo new

Giacomo Rojas Elgueta

 
Cochav new photo

Cochav Elkayam-Levy

 
Betha Igbinosun

Betha Igbinosun

 
Parawee new

Parawee Kasitinon

 

Sin Chit LAI

 
Ben Lee

Joon Buhm Lee

 
Mengun

Mengyun Ma

 

Ananth Padmanabhan

 
Preserving Cultural Heritage in War - University of Pennsylvania

Ilya Rudyak

 
Muhammad

Muhammad Sarahne

 
   Amal new

Amal Sethi

 
Konstantinos new

Konstantinos Stylianou