Visiting Fellowships and Visiting Scholar Places at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge (Self-Funded)

The Lauterpacht Centre for International Law is the University of Cambridge's research centre for public international law, based at 5 Cranmer Road, about five minutes' walk from the Faculty of Law and the Squire Law Library. It welcomes academic visitors and postgraduate students from around the world, and there are usually between 15 and 20 visitors at the Centre at any one time.

Visitors come to pursue their own research in a quiet, collegial setting, to meet Centre Fellows and other visitors, and to take part in the Centre's activities. The Centre is not a teaching institution and does not award diplomas or certificates.

The Centre runs a single admissions process with two categories of visitor, distinguished by career stage rather than by money:

• Academic visitor, the route the Centre's records describe as a Visiting Fellow. For academics from other institutions and professional individuals. The maximum visit is 52 weeks.
• Visiting student, the route commonly described as a Visiting Scholar. For candidates completing work on a PhD elsewhere. The maximum visit is 25 weeks, and applicants must submit proof of English language competence.

Neither route carries a stipend, a salary or a grant. Both routes are fee-paying: the visitor pays the Centre for bench space and facilities. This is a research residency you fund yourself, not a paid fellowship.

The Centre accepts applications from students completing work on their PhD, academics from other institutions, and professional individuals. It encourages qualified academic and student applicants with interests in the broad field of international law.

• The work of the Centre is conducted in English. A good standard of English is required, in line with the standards the Faculty of Law sets for PhD students: currently IELTS 7.5, or iTOEFL 110, with minimum levels in each element. For academic visitors the Centre has discretion to accept proof of qualifications from an English-speaking majority country, or a letter from the PhD supervisor confirming language competence.
• The Centre does not accept persons enrolled for higher degrees at UK universities, including Cambridge, as visiting PhD students. Where such a student is accepted, it is on the understanding that the visitor will be resident in Cambridge for the period of the visit.
• No nationality restriction applies. Applicants from India and elsewhere outside the UK are eligible to apply on the same terms.
• It is the applicant's responsibility to obtain the correct UK visa, as an academic visitor or as a student visitor, if one is required.

The Centre's own words on the application form are that neither the Lauterpacht Centre nor the University of Cambridge is in a position to provide financial assistance to visiting scholars, and that all visitors must assure the Centre that they have sufficient funds available to cover all costs and expenses for the duration of the stay, including visas, living and transportation costs, health insurance and travel insurance. The how-to-apply page repeats that the Centre is not able to provide financial assistance.

The application form asks each applicant to state the source of financial support, whether it is self-funded, a scholarship or institutional funding, whether the funding is already in hand or is to be applied for, and the amount of support available per month in pounds sterling.

The one funding scheme the Centre administers for prospective visitors is the Bohdan Winiarski Scholarship, funded by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in the United Kingdom, which opens for applications around Easter each year. It is open only to nationals of the Visegrad Group states and the Western Balkans states, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, with preference for candidates permanently attached to a university or other established international law institution in their country of nationality. Indian applicants cannot use this route and must arrange their own funding.

Visitors pay a Centre bench fee per term, which covers the University IT account, laptop docking station, fixed desk space and library access. Fees from Michaelmas Term 2026 are:

• Snyder LH or RH individual office: £1,780 for student visitors, £2,136 for non-student visitors including VAT at 20%.
• Bahrain House first floor, individual or shared between two: £1,654 shared or £1,780 individual for student visitors; £1,985 shared or £2,136 individual for non-student visitors.
• Bahrain Study, office shared between four: £1,522 student, £1,826 non-student.
• Bahrain Library, office shared between five: £1,297 student, £1,556 non-student.
• Snyder Room window desk, office shared between nine: £1,226 student, £1,470 non-student.
• Snyder Room other desk, office shared between nine: £986 student, £1,183 non-student.

The Centre notes that these fees may increase each January by 5%. A deposit is payable on confirmation of the visit and is deducted from the full fee; the balance must be paid before arrival. There is no reduction for shorter visits except during the Summer Research Period, where a shorter visit is charged pro rata plus an administrative charge of £150. Accommodation is charged separately.

Admission is on a termly basis. Centre dates run longer than University term dates, and there is an additional Summer Research Period. For 2026-27 the Centre's dates are:

• Michaelmas Term: 28 September to 11 December 2026.
• Lent Term: 11 January to 26 March 2027.
• Easter Term: 19 April to 25 June 2027.
• Summer Research Period: 5 July to 17 September 2027.

The minimum visit is one term during Michaelmas, Lent or Easter. Shorter visits can be accommodated in the Summer Research Period subject to availability. A visit period is approximately eleven to twelve weeks. Academic visitors may apply for up to 52 weeks in total; PhD student visitors for a maximum of 25 weeks.

Every visitor is allocated a desk, described as bench space, equipped with a PC, an internet connection and a University IT account, with Wi-Fi throughout the buildings. Visitors can apply for access to the University Library and to the Squire Law Library, which holds one of the largest printed and electronic legal collections in the United Kingdom.

Visitors are invited to the Centre's term-time Friday Lunchtime Lectures, the annual Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture and the Eli Lauterpacht Lecture, and other meetings and conferences. During their stay visitors take turns to present their own research to other visitors and Fellows at weekly round-table sessions. They may also attend open lectures and talks on international law and related subjects elsewhere in the University.

LLM lectures at the Faculty of Law are not open to visitors, although occasional attendance may be permitted with the approval of the lecturer concerned. Acceptance as a visitor does not entitle a visitor to attend Faculty of Law courses, and the Faculty reserves the right to charge for attendance at its courses.

Download the Academic Visitor / visiting student application form from the Centre's how-to-apply page and send the following to visitors@lcil.cam.ac.uk in one PDF file by the relevant deadline:

• The completed application form, which asks for personal and institutional details, position or status, professional qualifications, source and monthly amount of financial support, first and second choice of visit dates and office space, and an outline of the proposed research in a maximum of 500 words with a subject area and title.
• A CV.
• For student visitors whose first language is not English, English language test results in line with Faculty of Law requirements.

Two academic references must be sent by the deadline directly by the referees to visitors@lcil.cam.ac.uk, as PDF files that are not password protected and carry the institution's letterhead.

Complete applications go to the Centre's Committee of Management, which meets once a term. The outcome is communicated within two months of the deadline. Space is limited and the Centre advises applying early. Visits are subject to availability and alternative dates may be offered.