ITLOS – Nippon Foundation Capacity Building and Training Programme 2026/2027 for junior to mid-level government officials and researchers (Fully Funded to Hamburg, Germany)

Application Deadline: 6 March 2026.

Applications are actually open for the 2026/2027 ITLOS – Nippon Foundation Capacity Building and Training Programme. In cooperation with the Nippon Foundation, the Tribunal runs an annual capacity-building and coaching programme on dispute settlement below the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (‘UNCLOS’).

The full-time programme, which runs for 9 months and begins in July annually, takes place on the seat of the Tribunal in Hamburg, Germany. Contingent upon the supply of funds, a name for purposes is usually introduced annually in the course of the month of January or February. 

The programme is aimed toward junior to mid-level government officials and researchers primarily from growing international locations who’re presently engaged on points associated to the regulation of the ocean, maritime regulation or dispute settlement. It supplies contributors with a novel alternative to develop their authorized expertise and deepen their sensible information of dispute settlement within the regulation of the ocean below UNCLOS.

Eligibility

• Applicants should be between the ages of 25 and 40.
• Applicants should have a primary college diploma in regulation and display a capability to undertake unbiased scientific analysis, study and coaching.
• Applicants should be:

1. Junior to mid-level government officials from an administration or government company, coping with ocean affairs or maritime issues in addition to authorized points relating thereto; or
2. Researchers from an institute (tutorial or government) coping with ocean-related or maritime issues in addition to authorized points relating thereto.

• Applicants should point out the analysis matter which they intend to pursue in the course of the programme. The analysis matter ought to handle authorized problems with relevance to the State and establishments of the contributors concerning the implementation of UNCLOS, specifically Part XV thereof.
• The administration or institute nominating the applicant should point out on the nomination type the duties carried out by the applicant and clarify the extent to which the coaching programme will profit the establishment/State involved.
• Applicants should have a superb information of one of many official languages of the Tribunal (English and French) and a working information of the opposite language. The lectures and actions of the Programme are primarily held in English.

Benefits

• Participants’ prices, together with journey, lodging, medical insurance coverage and a month-to-month subsistence allowance, are coated by the Nippon Foundation.

Practicalities

• Participants are accountable for acquiring a visa for Germany for the interval of the programme at their very own price, though help could also be offered so as to facilitate the visa application course of.
• During the programme, the fellows turn into part of the ITLOS neighborhood and are absolutely built-in within the lifetime of the Registry for 9 months. They work together with workers, Judges and contributors of the opposite coaching programmes run on the Tribunal. As ITLOS alumni, the fellows be a part of a rising community of younger professionals from all over the world working within the subject.
• Fellows are supplied with a totally outfitted workplace with pc, printer and web connection for the period of the programme. Fellows have entry to the Tribunal’s specialised Library, which homes a complete assortment on the regulation of the ocean and associated topics, equivalent to maritime regulation, environmental regulation, ocean affairs, coastal administration, worldwide courts and tribunals, worldwide organizations, dispute settlement, arbitration, and common problems with public worldwide regulation.
• Accommodation within the neighborhood of the Tribunal is offered in studio flats, with a bed room/sitting space, kitchen and toilet.
• During their first weeks in Hamburg, the fellows are launched to life in Germany and given German language lessons. Language coaching in French may additionally be offered.

Program Details

Lectures

A collection of lectures takes place all through the 9 months of the programme. Lectures are typically held over the course of two days, providing the fellows the opportunity of shut debate with the lecturers. The school of lecturers is drawn from Judges of the Tribunal, Registry officials, United Nations and worldwide organizations, universities, regulation corporations and different related establishments.

At the start of the programme, the fellows take part within the four-week Summer Academy of the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea. This course focuses on regulation of the ocean and maritime regulation and is attended by round 40 younger professionals from all over the world working within the fields of regulation of the ocean and maritime regulation.

Training

Training classes and workshops are organized so as to improve the sensible and skilled expertise of the fellows. 

The programme affords coaching in negotiation and mediation. Workshops are organized to put together the fellows for their potential function as brokers, counsel, or authorized advisers in circumstances earlier than worldwide courts and tribunals. The instruments used for this function embody workouts in drafting paperwork relating to circumstances, attendance at oral proceedings on the Tribunal, the International Court of Justice or the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and presentation expertise utilizing audio-visual instruments.  

Collaborating institutes

An integral part of the coaching and capacity-building programme on dispute settlement below UNCLOS is the cooperative association with Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea in Tromsø, Norway. Cooperation is undertaken within the following areas:

Study visits

Group visits of between two and 5 days complement the information gained and coaching given in dispute settlement and points/matters associated to the regulation of the ocean. Accompanied by a authorized officer, the fellows are given unique entry to consultants from the establishments and have the probability to attend hearings or conferences.

Application Procedure:

Procedure

The following paperwork should be submitted so as for an application to be processed:  

• Fellowship Application Form to be duly accomplished, signed and submitted by the applicant.
• Nomination Form to be duly accomplished, signed and immediately submitted by the nominating company. The submitted type should be typed.

In the case of government officials, the nominating company must be a related governmental physique. For researchers, the nominating company will be the institute or tutorial division of the college to which they’re affiliated.

Nominating businesses are invited to submit two copies of the Nomination Form:

1. One scanned model of the signed unique; and
2. One digital model.

The Nomination Form ought to ideally be despatched by e-mail to [email protected], by fax to: +49 40 35607-245, or by put up to:

Office of the Registrar
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Am Internationalen Seegerichtshof 1
22609 Hamburg
Germany

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the ITLOS – Nippon Foundation Capacity Building and Training Programme