The Sutherland School of Law is pleased to offer one new Ad Astra doctoral scholarship in September 2026.

The scholarship will provide tuition fees at up to the non-EU rate and a yearly stipend of €25,000. The scholarships are tenable for a maximum of four years, renewable each year subject to satisfactory progress. The scholarship is available to full time students commencing their doctoral studies in the School of Law in September 2026.

The successful candidate will undertake a PhD under the supervision of Dr Amanda Byer. Amanda Byer’s research is in international environmental law, landscape protection and spatial justice, with a special focus on the circum-Caribbean, small island developing states, and the Global South ((opens in a new window)https://people.ucd.ie/amanda.byer). She has published in the following areas:

-Eco-imperialism in international law

-Cultural heritage law

-The legal geographical origins of property rights in land

-Climate and environmental justice in the Global South

-Islands in international law

The candidate’s research focus should relate to Amanda Byer’s fields of interest. If unsure about the fit, serious candidates are encouraged to email Dr Byer in advance at: (opens in a new window)amanda.byer@ucd.ie by 12 March 2026, providing a copy of their CV (demonstrating their academic excellence and capacity for independent research), and a brief outline (c. 500 words) of their proposed research topic, demonstrating how their proposed research will make an original contribution to their field of research. If you wish to include a solo-authored writing sample to demonstrate your own research and writing (published or not), that would also be most welcome.

The PhD programme at UCD Sutherland School of Law reflects UCD’s aspiration to be Ireland’s global university, bringing together a global cohort of PhDs and postdoctoral researchers studying a range of international legal issues in different regions, including the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as specific case studies on legal practices in Nepal, Palestine, Columbia, China, and the Gulf States. The School is home to six major European Research Council (ERC) projects, including three on international law: women, peace & security (Professor Aisling Swaine); land, property and spatial justice (Dr Amy Strecker); with a third just awarded on the effectiveness of international refugee law (Professor Cathryn Costello).

The PhD programme is a structured programme with bespoke modules on advanced legal research methods, and the requirement to take doctoral level methods and substantive modules from across the university. We also provide tailored teaching opportunities.

The successful candidate can also benefit from joining one of the active research clusters at UCD Sutherland School of Law, such as the Environmental Law and Justice Research Group, the Human Rights Centre, or the Legal History Research Group.

UCD is committed to creating an environment where diversity is celebrated and everyone is treated fairly regardless of gender, age, race, disability, ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, civil status, family status, or membership of the travelling community.

The scholarships are open to Irish, other EU and international applicants.

How to apply: Please complete an on-line University Postgraduate application to B142 available at http://www.ucd.ie/registry/admissions/apply.html by the deadline. Please also send a covering letter explaining why you wish to undertake a PhD, and in particular, why you wish to undertake a PhD at UCD School of Law.

This letter should be no more than 2 sides of A4 single-spaced and can be sent as an email attachment to (opens in a new window)niamh.mccabe@ucd.ie

In addition to the cover letter you must submit the following documents:

1. A research proposal, there is no maximum length for a research proposal. Normally, it would be at least three or four pages long. This must include:

1. a statement of the research question the candidate proposes to examine;
2. an outline of the proposed methodology (in other words, an outline of how the applicant proposes to go about their research); and
3. a brief literature review. (The idea of this is to place the research within the current state of knowledge in the field in question. It should include a short, indicative, bibliography of works in the field).

1. A sample of the candidate’s academic writing.
2. Two academic references: Please note that it is your responsibility to contact your referees to ensure that references are received before the closing date/time for this scholarship.
3. All academic transcripts.
4. Applicants whose first language is not English must submit satisfactory evidence of competence in written and spoken English, i.e. overall IELTS 7.5 (including a minimum of 7 in all bands) or a score of 109 overall in the TOEFL iBT, 27/30 in reading and writing and 23/30 in speaking and listening. The test results must be less than 2 years old.

If you have queries on the scholarship, please contact Ms. McCabe at the above email address.

The deadline for applications is Thursday, 26 March 2026. Late applications will not be accepted for the scholarship.

All applicants will be notified of the decision of the scholarship committee. The committee’s decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into about the committee’s decisions. Applicants not awarded a scholarship may nevertheless be offered a place on the PhD programme.

Note: if an international applicant is offered a scholarship covering tuition fees at less than the non-EU rate, any such offer will be conditional on the applicant demonstrating at the time of accepting the offer that s/he has sufficient funds to cover the difference between the EU and non-EU tuition fees and, in the case of all international applicants, that the applicant has sufficient funds to supplement the stipend to cover the cost of living in Dublin. Information for international students contemplating studying at UCD is available at http://www.ucd.ie/international/

UCD Sutherland School of Law Doctoral Scholarship 2025 

Applications for 2025 have now closed

The scholarship was aimed at outstanding candidates who exceed the threshold criteria for admission to the PhD programme. In particular:

- Candidates should have a First-Class honours undergraduate degree (or equivalent), or a high 2.1 honours degree (or equivalent) supplemented by outstanding subsequent academic or professional accomplishments in law or a cognate field.

- Candidates should have either a Master’s degree in law or a cognate field, and/or extensive and relevant professional experience demonstrative of capacity for independent research and writing.

The scholarship will provide tuition fees at up to the non-EU rate and a yearly stipend of €25,000. The scholarship is tenable for a maximum of four years, renewable each year subject to satisfactory progress. The scholarship is available to full-time students commencing their doctoral studies in the Sutherland School of Law in September 2025 (or exceptionally January 2026).

Doctoral scholarship holders are usually offered some teaching opportunities as a career development opportunity.

The Sutherland School of Law has a diverse international community of doctoral students from across the globe. 

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

How to apply:

Candidates should identify a potential supervisor or supervisors at the School based on the fit between their research expertise and your research proposal, and contact the potential supervisor to discuss their availability, capacity and expertise.   They may be in a position to offer some guidance on your research proposal, but this is not essential.  Supervisor support is usually a prerequisite for admission, but admissions decisions are made by the School collectively not individual supervisors.   

The School particularly welcomes applicants with research proposals that align with the expertise of Faculty working in legal history and related fields, a particular strength of the Sutherland School of Law.   However, applications in all fields of law are welcome, provided the proposals fit with the expertise of an identified potential supervisor or supervisors. 

Once a possible supervisor has been identified, the formal admissions process is as follows:1. Please complete an on-line University Graduate application for PhD in Law FT/B142 available at https://www.ucd.ie/registry/prospectivestudents/admissions/graduateapplicants/applying/

By the deadline

• Please also send a covering letter explaining why you wish to undertake a PhD, and in particular, why you wish to undertake a PhD at UCD Sutherland School of Law, including the identity of your preferred supervisor, and if they have indicated their support.

This letter should be no more than 2 sides of A4 single-spaced and can be sent as an email attachment to Ms. Niamh McCabe, Graduate Programme Manager at (opens in a new window)niamh.mccabe@ucd.ie

You must also submit the following documents online as part of the online application:

• A research proposal.  While there is no maximum length for a research proposal, at least three or four pages is expected. This must include:
  • a statement of the research question the candidate proposes to examine;
  • an outline of the proposed methodology (in other words, an outline of how the applicant proposes to go about their research); and
  • a brief literature review. (The idea of this is to place the research within the current state of knowledge in the field in question, to demonstrate the importance and novelty of your research question. It should include a short, indicative, bibliography of works in the field).

• Two academic references: Please note that it is your responsibility to contact your referees to ensure that references are received by the school before the closing date/time for this scholarship. The school will not contact your referees.

• All academic transcripts.

• Applicants whose first language is not English must submit satisfactory evidence of competence in written and spoken English, i.e. overall IELTS score of 7.5 (including a minimum of 7 in all bands) or a score of 109 overall in the TOEFL iBT, 27/30 in reading and writing and 23/30 in speaking and listening. The test results must be less than 2 years old.

If you have queries on the scholarships, please contact Ms. McCabe at the above email address.

Late applications will not be accepted for the scholarship.

All applicants will be notified of the decision of the Scholarship Committee. The Committee’s decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into about the committee’s decisions. The School of Law reserves the right to decline to offer scholarships to candidates who meet the criteria for admission to the PhD programme but do not, in the judgement of the Scholarship Committee, meet the scholarship award criteria set out above. Applicants not awarded a scholarship may nevertheless be offered a place on the PhD programme.

Note: if an international applicant is offered a scholarship​, any such offer will be conditional on the applicant demonstrating at the time of accepting the offer that s/he has sufficient funds to supplement the stipend to cover the cost of living in Dublin. Information for international students contemplating studying at UCD is available at UCD Global | International Students University in Dublin 

School of Law Masters Bursaries

There will be a bursary available for the MCL programme - 25% fee reduction in year 1 and 2 of the programme.  Details of the Programmes are available here.

All successful EU applications (for any of the School of Law masters programmes) received before April 30th will be considered for the bursaries. Applicants should hold at least an upper second class honours degree at undergraduate or graduate level or be in the final year of their degree with an upper second class honours average to date. The scholarship is available to candidates commencing their studies next September.

• Please direct any queries regarding the scholarships and bursaries to Justine McCann by email to (opens in a new window)Justine.mccann@ucd.ieor by telephone to + 353 1 716 4109
• The closing date to be included in the Scholarship and bursary competition is April 30th
• All successful applicants will be notified of the outcome of the decision of the scholarship committee.  No correspondence will be entered into about the committee’s decision.
• All applicants should provide two academic referees names, if they wish to be included in the scholarship competition.

Please note that a number of scholarships will be offered for Non-EU students through the UCD Global Office  See here for further information.

The Doreen FitzGerald Caprani Masters Scholarship in Law

UCD Sutherland School of Law, with the generous support of Craig Nethercott (BCL 1991), is pleased to offer a scholarship, in memory of the donor’s grandmother, to fund full or part-time study in any of the following four Masters programmes in the School:

• LLM (Master of Laws)
• MCL (Masters in Common Law)
• MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• MSc in International Law and Business
• MSc in Environmental and Climate Law

Students proposing to undertake any of the four Masters programmes listed above in UCD Sutherland School of Law, for either one year on a full-time basis or part-time over two years, are eligible for consideration for the scholarship.  

A scholarship, to the value of €12,000 will be awarded annually.  The scholarship will comprise €9,000 towards the programme fees and a stipend of €3,000 for the recipient scholar.  Where fee differences occur between the four Masters programmes (see above), the School will waive the difference between the fee and the €9,000 scholarship. 

Candidates may be a UCD undergraduate, or a graduate from another university within the EU.  Applications will also be considered from those students outside the EU, where the school will waive the fee difference between the scholarship amount and applicable fee.   

Eligible candidates will be considered, by the School’s Scholarship Committee, on the basis of the completed application for the relevant master’s programme – including the personal statement, academic references and academic achievements submitted as part of the application for the programme.   Applicants must have achieved a Grade Point Average of 3.08 or higher or equivalent in an approved University degree programme.

Students must have completed the application for the programme by no later than 31 May prior to the start of the relevant academic sessions - 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 - in which they are undertaking the programme. 

International Graduate Scholarships

There are a range of scholarships available for international students studying graduate law programmes at UCD. Before applying for a scholarship, you must first apply online to your chosen law programmes at www.ucd.ie/apply.  When you have been offered a place you can then apply for the scholarship of your choice.

UCD Global also offers international students a number of 50% and 100% Global Excellence Scholarships.  Full details of scholarships for your country of residence can be found here: https://www.ucd.ie/global/scholarships/.

Undergraduates students who were eligible for government SUSI funding should note that they may be eligible for postgraduate funding under the scheme. To check your eligibility please see the SUSI eligibility indicator tool available at this (opens in a new window)weblink

Further information about SUSI grants and funding is available at this(opens in a new window) weblink.

UCD Sutherland School of Law, is pleased to offer the Declan McCourt Scholarship Masters Scholarship in Law, honouring the first chair of the Sutherland School of Law Development Council, Mr. Declan McCourt.  This perpetual scholarship has been made possible thanks to generous donations from UCD alumni and friends of the law school, many of whom were close to Declan.  

The scholarship is for one year of full-time study on any of the following Sutherland School Masters in Law programmes:  LLM General, LLM Intellectual Property & Information Technology, LLM International Commercial Law, LLM International Human Rights, LLM EU Law and Governance,  MSc in Business and Law or in Environmental and Climate Law.

It is open to all Sutherland School of Law Cothrom na Féinne scholarship and SUSI grant holders in their final year of study of the BCL and BBL programmes.
All successful applications for the LLM received before April 30th from Cothrom na Féinne scholarship and SUSI grant holders will be considered for the scholarship. Applicants must be in the final year of their degree with an upper second class honours average to date. The scholarship is only available to candidates commencing their studies next September. The value of the scholarship will match the tuition fees for the candidate’s chosen Masters (one-year, full-time, EU fees).

Eligible candidates will be considered, by the School’s Scholarship Committee, on the basis of the completed application for the relevant master’s programme – including the personal statement, academic references and academic achievements submitted as part of the application for the programme. Applicants should upload a separate document under the files or additional files section of their programme application called the Declan McCourt Scholarship and outline the reasons why they should receive the scholarship from an academic perspective.