Research Programs and Centers

Harvard Law School's research programs and centers produce cutting-edge work in a wide range of fields and disciplines. From civil rights law to cyber law, human rights law to law and economics, these "idea laboratories" host lectures, symposia, and conferences that enhance intellectual discourse and debate on campus and beyond. The programs also provide students with valuable research opportunities and the chance to work directly with faculty members on projects at the cores of their scholarly agendas.

Berkman Center for Internet and Society: An entrepreneurial research program founded in 1997 to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development.
Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice: The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice seeks to further the vision of racial justice and equality through research, policy analysis, litigation and scholarship. The Houston Institute will place a special emphasis on the issues of voting rights, the future of affirmative action, the criminal justice system and related areas.
Child Advocacy Program: Committed to advancing children's interests through facilitating productive interaction between academia and the world of policy and practice, and through training generations of students to contribute in their future careers to law reform and social change.
East Asian Legal Studies Program: Seeks to respond to the interest in the legal cultures of China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia on the part of lawyers, historians and scholars of international and comparative law.
European Law Research Center: A collaborative faculty effort to foster new thinking about European international and comparative law. Founded in 1991, the Center focuses on the law of the European Communities, national law in western and central Europe and the European intellectual tradition.
Fund for Tax and Fiscal Research: Established in 1985, the Fund for Tax and Fiscal Research is an endowed fund that supports research in taxation and related areas.
Harvard Law School History Project: Committed to advancing the educational excellence of the Harvard Law School by interdisciplinary historical and pedagogical research leading to a better understanding of the School's past challenges and achievements.
Human Rights Program: Gives impetus and direction to international human rights work at Harvard Law School through clinical and course work, student participation, research and scholarship, and links with human rights groups.
International Center for Criminal Justice: Pursues interdisciplinary research and policy proposals designed to address global crime, national security, and corruption.
Islamic Legal Studies Program: Dedicated to achieving excellence in the study of Islamic law through objective and comparative methods.
John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics and Business: Supports research, issues discussion papers, and offers research assistantships and fellowships to Harvard Law students in law and economics.
Labor and Worklife Program: A multidisciplinary, research and policy program examining labor issues and the world of work.
The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics: Launched in 2005, the Petrie-Flom Center is an interdisciplinary research program dedicated to the scholarly research of important issues about the intersection of law and health policy, including issues of health care financing and market regulation, biomedical research, and bioethics.
Program on Corporate Governance: Fosters research and scholarship about corporate governance.
Program on International Financial Systems: Promotes research and instruction linking law, economics, and finance; provides public policy assistance in commercial and financial law reform; and conducts international symposia that foster building the financial system.
Program on Negotiation: An inter-university (Harvard, MIT, Tufts) research center dedicated to improving the theory and practice of negotiation and dispute resolution.
Program on the Legal Profession: Promotes research, scholarship and teaching about the norms, structures, and functions of the legal profession in the United States and around the world.

Affiliated Programs

Ames Foundation: Advances legal knowledge and aids the improvement of the law, principally through publishing historical legal texts.
Selden Society: Founded in 1887 'to encourage study and advance the knowledge of the history of English Law'.