One research, two degrees: Inside Arnab’s PhD journey

Arnab Bhattacharyya (Alumnus, SoL) has been granted the University of Glasgow and the University of Sydney Collaborative PhD Scholarship, a joint doctoral programme between the two universities that allows the PhD candidate to receive a dual degree certificate bearing both universities’ crests. “One of the strengths of a collaborative PhD is that it allows my research to be shaped by multiple academic traditions rather than a single institutional perspective,” explained Arnab. 

Currently, Arnab is working on how colonial legal legacies have shaped contemporary national security laws and how courts interpret and legitimise those powers through procedural reasoning. “My research focuses on how national security laws have been used in postcolonial South Asia to regulate political dissent. This topic sits at the intersection of criminal law, constitutional law, legal history, and postcolonial legal theory,” clarifies Arnab. He hopes his research can contribute to more informed discussions about balancing security with constitutional freedoms and due process. 

One of the things applying for PhD programmes taught him is that academic merit alone does not guarantee success. The PhD application process required constant feedback and revision on research proposals, as well as contacting potential supervisors and handling rejections and uncertainty. His time at BRACU helped foster his approach to legal research by encouraging critical engagement with judicial decisions, constitutional values, human rights, and policy. As he reflects, “The professors at BRACU consistently encouraged my intellectual curiosity. Instead of accepting judicial decisions at face value, they challenged us to ask why courts reasoned in particular ways and what broader implications those decisions carried for society.” 

When asked about what he hopes students would take away from his endeavour, Arnab preached one simple message:

“Your starting point does not define your destination. I began as a law student trying to understand difficult legal questions, and that curiosity gradually became a PhD. You do not need to have everything figured out from day one. Keep reading, keep asking questions, and be willing to learn from rejections, which are part of the journey, not the end of it.”