The team of the Law Enforcement Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan took second place in the final stage of the first national Capstone Project competition on research projects. The final took place on the eve of the V Samarkand Forum on Human Rights.

Nine teams from higher education institutions providing education in the fields of law and law enforcement competed for the prize-winning places. Students of the Academy presented their research on topical issues of human rights and law enforcement practice. The jury noted the relevance of these works, the scientific validity of the conclusions and the practical focus of the proposed recommendations.

Capstone Project is an educational initiative aimed at developing students’ research skills. It has been implemented since April 2026 in cooperation between the National Centre for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Centre for Development and Justice International (CDJI). In Uzbekistan, the project was organised for the first time in the form of a national competition for research in the field of human rights.

In the process of working on the projects, students applied their theoretical knowledge to the study of specific problems, conducted independent research and prepared well-founded proposals for their resolution. In this process, they received guidance from teachers of their respective higher education institutions and professors from Tilburg University (the Netherlands). The participation of local and foreign mentors enabled the students to draw on diverse academic experience in preparing their research.