Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) at OP Jindal Global University (JGU) continues its pursuit of knowledge, now with a renewed emphasis on interdisciplinarity, states a PTI report. In 2023, JGLS researchers showcased their commitment by publishing over 175 papers in various Scopus-indexed sources, marking a notable 25% increase from the previous year. Impressively, this output surpassed the combined publications of the top four National Law Schools (NLUs) by over 60%.
The research has been published in some of the top ranking and renowned journals globally, states PTI.
In previous years, JGLS's faculty members had published highly impactful research in some of the world's most renowned law journals.
Reflecting on this shift, Prof (Dr) C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor of JGU and Founding Dean of JGLS, said, "It is a strong and well-informed conviction that contemporary global issues require global approaches. Being global in willing and acting is the founding motto and functional style of JGU. We also strongly feel that limiting oneself to the parochialism of disciplinary loyalty is epistemic injustice, at least in our times. It is with such equitable sentiments that the faculty members of JGLS and JGU engage in interdisciplinary research. There is no disciplinary disloyalty here. That is to say, instead of breaking their own disciplinary convictions, they have invited expertise from other disciplines in the form of collaborations. Their openness to knowledge, in the spirit of, and reiterating, the classical Indian wisdom, Aano bhadra krtavo yantu Vishwanath (“Let noble thoughts come to us from everywhere”), has caused this extraordinary result. I thank and congratulate the faculty members of JGU for their extraordinary contributions to this achievement.”
The faculty's interdisciplinary research extends across various journals and forums, including but not limited to the King's Law Journal, Social Science and Medicine, and the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. Prof (Dr) C Raj Kumar has also highlighted, “Interdisciplinarity being the future approach to knowledge production, JGU has established the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies for building frameworks — clusters, networks, loops, and incubators — for the production and dissemination of interdisciplinary knowledge. All schools of JGU, including JGLS, will be the beneficiaries of this Office.”
Over half of JGLS's 2023 publications in Scopus-indexed forums stemmed from collaborations with national and international institutes. This collaborative spirit is nurtured within JGLS through initiatives such as faculty conversation series, writers' boot camps, and research colloquia.
Prof (Dr) Kumar added, “Interdisciplinary is achieved by making interdisciplinary connections happen. This includes opportunities for faculty members with diverse disciplinary backgrounds to connect and collaborate. JGU's infrastructural design has many 'nudges' that bring highly resourceful faculty members, who would have otherwise remained in their silos of production, to come together and discover possibilities.”
Prof Dipika Jain, Vice Dean (Research) at JGLS explains how the school prompts research among faculty members. “Research is not an art that can be taught. It is an urge, an urge to self-express and to break the silence. In order to have that urge there should be 'inspiration'. Hence, the school has been inviting inspiring writers and scholars to speak to aspiring writers and share their writing experience, their ways of breaking the silence, and their styles of expressing with the latter. Along with providing orientations in methods and materials, we invest faith in producing that 'essential spark' — the flow — which could ignite ideas and help young writers to recognise their voice.”
