Research Fellow

**About Vidhi**:
Vidhi is an independent think-tank doing legal research to make better laws and improve governance for the public good. Vidhi is committed to producing legal research of the highest standard with the aim of informing public debate and contributing to improved governance. Vidhi works with Ministries of the Government of India and State Governments, as well as other public institutions, providing research and drafting support at various stages of law-making. Vidhi also conducts and freely disseminates independent research in areas of legal reform which it believes is critical to India’s future.

Vidhi is an equal opportunity employer and neither practices nor tolerates any kind of discriminatory behavior.

**Role Description**:
Vidhi is looking for a Research Fellow for the Disability Inclusion and Access Team to work out of its New Delhi office. The team works on issues of access and inclusion of persons with disabilities so that they can fully and effectively participate in society equally with others. The team’s work intersects with several areas, such as, access to urban spaces and services/ facilities cities offer, digital accessibility, health and education, social security, and institutional mechanisms. The team undertakes independent research work in critical areas of intervention and also provides drafting, analysis and research assistance to government stakeholders on legal and policy reforms towards disability inclusion. The team also proposes to collaborate with organisations working at grassroots level towards advocacy and facilitating better implementation of the guarantees under the extant Indian law and policy.

**Responsibilities**:
The Research Fellow will be required to:

- Undertake high quality legal research on Indian and international legal and policy frameworks, including research for interdisciplinary projects.
- Provide research and legislative drafting assistance for engaged projects in this area cutting across other practice areas.
- Conceptualize develop and execute independent research projects on critical and upcoming legal issues in this area.
- Prepare quality reports, research notes, presentations and such other material necessary for dissemination of Vidhi’s work.
- Coordinate and participate in meetings with concerned stakeholders, for discussing and presenting Vidhi’s research work.
- Organize and attend consultations with key stakeholders for informing and disseminating Vidhi’s research.
- Conceptualize, develop and participate in the dissemination strategy of Vidhi’s research.

**Eligibility**:
**Essential Requirements**
- Undergraduate or postgraduate degree in law;
- Between 1 to 3 years of demonstrable work experience in the domain of disability rights, gender and law, human rights, or allied areas;
- Excellent writing and presentation skills.

**Preferable Requirements**

Applicants who meet the following requirements will be preferred:

- A postgraduate degree in the area of disability rights, human rights, or allied areas.
- Prior experience of undertaking inter-disciplinary or empirical research within the law and policy domain.

**Location and Salary**
- This is a full-time position based out of New Delhi. The Fellow may be required to work with teams in Vidhi Maharashtra and Vidhi Karnataka given that ‘Disability Inclusion and Access’ is a horizontal intersection with other practice areas.
- Remuneration will be commensurate to the level of skills and experience.

**Application Process**:

- Latest Curriculum Vitae (CV) in not more than two A4 pages; 2
- Any piece of published or unpublished original writing sample of not more than 1000 words with an in-depth analysis on any recent legal issue concerning the rights of persons with disabilities that demonstrates the applicant’s legal analysis and writing skills;
- Names and contact details of two professional referees who may be contacted for references.