Frequently Asked Questions

You might stand a certain chance to be considered, if you are advanced in your legal studies, preferably close to graduation, obtained excellent grades and focussed on public International Law, Law of the Sea or Maritime Law. Your letters of Reference need to be written by your supervising tutors and to state as to whether attendance would be beneficial to yourself and your classmates. You will, however, not be eligible for any financial support.

An admission would depend on several further circumstances, e.g., quality of your Bachelor exam and the topics of your Master’s course. You would also have to demonstrate an intense interest in Law of the Sea / Maritime Law and provide excellent references, preferably from your tutors.

Your application would be considered. However, a Master’s degree is only one requirement. Admission might be granted depending on number and qualification of other candidates.

It is possible but would clearly depend very much on whether your current occupation is closely related to Law of the Sea or Maritime Law. As a practitioner in this field, you stand a fair chance.

Yes, but you clearly need to demonstrate a strong link between your current occupation and / or career and the topics of the Summer Academy. Although the focus of the Academy is on legal issues, related topics are covered as well.

As a rule, we do not offer part time arrangements. We might grant an exception, if places are available. You will, however, not be entitled to a Certificate and not eligible for any financial aid. The Course Fee needs to be fully paid as it is calculated on a per capita  cost basis regardless of the duration of your attendance.

Subject to availability of places, time-sharing is an exceptional option, if both candidates would qualify for full attendance. Neither will, however, be entitled to a Certificate and eligible for any financial aid. Both parties need to pay the full Course Fee.  Accommodation costs – if required – will be equally split.

Within 3 weeks after closure of the application period, the Foundation’s Selection Committee will finalise the list of participants and you will be notified as to whether your application was successful or you have been positioned on the waiting list or admission could not be granted. That decision is final.

Enquiries prior to that time will not yield any results; the Selection Committee will neither decide on specific cases beforehand nor advise about the chances of admission or your place on the waiting list. There is also no sense whatsoever in trying to approach functionaries of the Foundation directly.

If you do not submit an electronic application in time, the website application function will be closed for good and you will have to wait for the next Summer Academy in the following year.

However, if you find it difficult to meet the deadline (e.g. still waiting for recommendation letters or degree certificates or TOEFL results or distrust the mail service) let us know and the Foundation will try to accommodate your needs. We will always accept specific documents to be e-mailed as pdf. format before the deadline. Within reason, we will also wait for recommendation letters, provided you have named the person(s) to write the letter(s) of reference. Recommendations by direct e-mail or fax from the referee might also be accepted.

These parts of the program are organised for the whole Class, booked and paid in advance and attendance is obligatory. Leave of absence may be asked for and granted within reason but does not entitle to any refund.

A penalty does only apply if and when you have been notified about your application being successful and confirmed attendance. The penalty will be quantified in the Course Fee table.

The age limit of 40 years refers to the time of the Summer Academy, i.e. if your 40th birthday happened before the start of the course, the limit applies.

The limit is strictly applied as far as financial aid is concerned. Self-funding candidates above the age limit may seek an exception to be admitted as a regular participant. Candidates above the age of 45 could be admitted as a guest or observer (with the same rights and obligations as a regular participant) if places are available. However, the subsidized rate of accommodation cannot be granted – fees will be agreed individually.

If the age issue is marginal, i.e. if the 40th birthday occurs earlier in the same year, full scholarships would still not be available but a partial scholarship may be granted.

Letters of Reference need to be in writing on a letter headed document of the institution the referee is representing; they need to be dated and signed by the referee. The letters need to be recent; i.e. written within the application period (usually between 1 February and 15 April of a given year.) and specifically for the purpose of the Summer Academy.

Referees need to know the applicant personally, having observed her or his academic and personal capabilities as supervisor for a longer period of time (at least 6 months) which must not be longer ago than 12 months. References from peers, friends or relatives are not acceptable.

References by email are acceptable as scanned document in pdf format if sent directly by the referee to summeracademy@iflos.org from an email account of the institution the referee is representing.

Clearly not. Firstly, scholarships are not strictly reserved for participants from developing countries although such applicants may be preferred given equal qualification. Only in exceptional cases can scholarships be granted to nationals of developed countries. Secondly, the OECD listing is only one requirement to determine rating, the other being personal need for financial assistance, which is to be certified within the application. The Foundation reserves the right to request evidence of your inability to cover the Course Fee and other expenses. This is especially likely if you are employed. If in doubt, ask us beforehand; of course, such delicate matters are treated confidentially. This is certainly better than being summarily dismissed due to doubtful financial needs.

Not in principle, as eligibility is determined by nationality regardless of the country of domicile. However, you should expect the Foundation to question your financial needs (see above). You also need to note that a Travel Grant may not be awarded and if so, only from and to your current domicile.

If you are living in Hamburg or its vicinity at the time of application, you are expected to retain your current accommodation for the duration of the Summer Academy; accordingly, only a partial scholarship excluding accomodation can be granted; Travel Grants will not be awarded in such cases.

The application form contains the question as to whether you would like to attend as a self-funding candidate in case a scholarship cannot be granted. Only if you answer “Yes”, the Foundation will notify you, if and when a vacation for a self-funding candidate opens. If you answer “No”, you cannot make up your mind at a later stage, especially not after you have been notified that your application was unsuccessful.

The answer to this question depends on the rules and regulations of the supporter funding a scholarship. Currently, supporters do not allow for any pocket money or other cash subsidies being granted. Furthermore, the Foundation expects scholars to contribute to their stay in Hamburg, given the fact that certain costs at home are saved while being here.

Given the limited availability of scholarships, the Foundation expects applicants to invest own income or savings into further education and/or to search actively for funding other than through our financial aid. That includes grants from employers, universities or institutions, loans from banks or spouses and relatives. We expect you to elaborate on your attempts in the application.

Applications for both programs are admissible in principle. The award of scholarships under the Nippon program is decided by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and information about applications will be exchanged with the Foundation, double applications identified and decisions mutually agreed. However, within the scholarship application form you declare and certify that you are not applying for other funds. As a scholarship grant from another institution, including the Nippon program, would be such “other funds”, you need to state parallel application in your form or inform us separately about it.

All attendees will receive a certificate of participation. Participants that successfully take the exam in the Summer Academy’s last week will receive a qualified certificate.

Upon admission to the Summer Academy you will receive a “Welcome to Hamburg” paper with loads of useful information, covering each and any question we encountered over the last three years. Once you are here, you will also receive all sorts of tourist information . If you have a question which is new to us, the Team will try to help and accommodate your needs.

First of all, you need to tell us about such application at your earliest convenience (preferably with the electronic submission). If you are accepted as an Intern as well as a Summer Academy participant, we will liaise with the Tribunal and ensure that the Summer Academy will form part of your Internship. We’d expect you to retain your Intern accommodation in Hamburg for the duration of the Summer Academy.

No; as from 2014, we waive the certificate requirement in such cases.

The Summer Academy has always benefitted immensely from the physical presence of all participants, faculty, and organisers. Furthermore, holding the Summer Academy as a hybrid event would entail significant technical and practical challenges, ranging from handling the time differences to acquiring suitable video equipment. We have therefore decided to keep the Summer Academy an in-person event. Dependent on each session’s schedule and the above-mentioned issues, certain parts of the Summer Academy (e.g. the “open event”) may be made available online as a stream or an asynchronous video upload.

The Foundation will provide accommodation for all receivers of a full scholarship. Self-funding participants and receivers of a partial scholarship may choose to search and book their accommodation in Hamburg independently, or to have the Foundation provide accommodation for a fee of € 1,820, as of the 2024 session.

Participants choosing the latter option will be accommodated at Apartment 040 in a room with a small kitchen and necessary appliances, but excluding breakfast. Apartment 040 also provides access to washing machines and a cleaning service. Grocery stores, bars, and restaurants are close by, as well as parks and open areas. In just a 15-minute walk, you can reach Alster Lake, Hamburg’s biggest and most famous lake. It is situated in a popular, but calm area. Due to the Tribunal’s location on the outskirts of the city, the commute between Apartment 040 and the Tribunal takes ca. 55 minutes.

Should you choose to find your own accommodation, please note that Hamburg is, by international standards, a rather expensive city, and accommodation for four weeks in hotels will almost certainly cost more than the € 1820 on offer here.