Last verified: 14 August 2026
You work in the fisheries department, the maritime authority or the environment ministry of a coastal developing State. You are somewhere in your thirties, you hold a first degree, and the gap between the ocean policy you are asked to implement and the training you have actually received keeps getting wider. Nine months of funded study abroad would close it, but nothing on offer fits someone who already has a job to go back to.
This one does. The United Nations Nippon Foundation Fellowship on Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, usually shortened to UNNF OALOS, was built for exactly that person, and applications for the 2027 session close on 13 September 2026.
Who this fellowship is built for:
The eligibility list is narrow by design, and it filters on employment as much as on academics. To qualify for the 2027 session you must:
- be between 25 and 45 years of age
- hold at least a first university degree or an equivalent qualification
- demonstrate the ability to undertake advanced academic research and study
- be a national of a developing State
- be a mid level government official or mid level professional working directly on ocean affairs or the law of the sea
- have a strong command of spoken and written English
Your proposed research also has to contribute directly to your own country’s formulation or implementation of ocean affairs and law of the sea policy. This is not a fellowship you win by having an interesting research idea. You win it by having an interesting research idea that your government can use.
The work areas named in the call are broad:
- implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and related instruments
- implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly SDG 14
- maritime zones and maritime boundary delimitation
- national and regional ocean policy
- coastal zone management
- conservation and sustainable management of marine living resources
- maritime transport and shipping
- maritime security
- protection and preservation of the marine environment
- marine science and related fields
Two further points from the official call are worth reading closely. The programme is committed to 50/50 gender balance and geographical diversity among participants, and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodation may also be provided on request to applicants with disabilities. Both are stated policy, not aspiration language, so if either applies to you it is worth acting on.
All Fellowship activities are conducted in English and require in person participation. Training materials in French and Spanish can be requested, subject to availability.
The nine months, phase by phase:
The 2027 session runs on fixed dates in two consecutive parts.
Phase One, 24 March to 30 June 2027. Three months of training at the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, inside United Nations Headquarters in New York. This is where you learn the international legal frameworks, the key issues and best practice in ocean affairs, and how the United Nations actually functions from the inside. Assignments run alongside the curriculum.
Phase Two, 1 July to 17 December 2027. Six months of advanced academic research at one of the participating Host Institutions, chosen for its expertise in your specific research area, working under a subject matter expert in your field.
By the end you owe three deliverables:
- a written thesis of 100 pages
- a presentation of your research
- an ocean governance matrix
The 100 page thesis is the part applicants underestimate. Six months is not long for original research at that length while also settling into a new country, so the strength of your proposal at application stage is doing double duty: it wins you the award, and it saves you the first six weeks of Phase Two.
Also Check: Science Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027 at the University of Toronto
What you are paid, and what still comes out of your pocket:
The financial package is solid, and it is worth understanding precisely because the parts it does not cover are the parts that catch people out.
What is provided:
- a monthly stipend throughout, in New York and at the Host Institution, paid from the day you leave your home country until the Fellowship ends
- return economy class flights, home country to New York, New York to the Host Institution, and Host Institution back home
- medical coverage through Cigna Health Insurance
- a book allowance of US$100 per month for Phase Two, paid as a single lump sum of $600 before you leave for the host country
The stipend amount follows established United Nations rates for each country and is updated regularly, so it varies by where you are placed. Your first month, and the first month of Phase Two, is paid at the higher “Max Trav” rate. Every other month is paid at the “Max Res” rate. It is a living allowance rather than a salary, and it is meant to cover lodging, meals, baggage fees, airport transport, visa fees and other basic costs for one person.
What is not provided:
- Visa costs. The United Nations will not cover or reimburse any visa related expense. The call points out that the higher first month stipend rate is where that money is expected to come from.
- Housing. Securing accommodation in both locations is entirely your responsibility. Neither the United Nations nor the Host Institutions will act on your behalf or serve as guarantors. Some Fellows manage to arrange something through their host institution, but nobody is obliged to help. Start researching local rental markets early, especially for New York.
- Ongoing costs at home. The stipend is explicitly not intended to cover expenses you continue to carry back home for yourself or your family.
- Specialised medical services. The Cigna cover is 100% for general medical and hospital treatment up to a limit. You pay the doctor first and claim reimbursement afterwards, so keep a small buffer available.
The nomination form will take longer than the application form:
Alongside your own application you must submit a Nomination Form, signed and stamped by a nominating authority. It has to be completed by a government official who can attest to the nature of your work on your government’s ocean affairs and law of the sea activities, and who can state how the award would directly contribute to those activities.
Two things follow from that. First, this is a signature from someone senior, in an office that moves at its own pace, and August is a month when senior officials take leave. Second, the person signing needs to write something specific about your work rather than a generic endorsement, which means they need briefing material from you.
If you are reading this in mid August with the deadline on 13 September, the nomination is the item to start today. Everything else you can write yourself.
Also Check: Professional Fellows Exchange Program for Governance and Society 2026 in USA (Fully Funded)
What you upload, and when you hear back:
Applications go through the Indico.UN platform. Before you start the online form, prepare three documents:
- the 2027 UNNF OALOS Application Form covering your personal history and proposed research and study programme, completed electronically and signed
- the 2027 UNNF OALOS Nomination Form, signed and stamped by your nominating authority
- a copy of your valid national passport
Upload all three in Word or PDF format. The official instructions single out sections 16, 17 and 18 of the application form for particular attention, which is a strong hint about where applications are won and lost.
The deadline is 13 September 2026. Award results are posted on the programme website under the News section by mid December 2026. The call is published in English, French and Spanish.
Start the online application at indico.un.org, and find the forms and the full call on the Apply Now page of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea site.
Making the research proposal land:
Everything about the selection criteria points the same direction: this programme funds people who will change something at home.
- Name the policy gap, not the topic. “Marine spatial planning” is a topic. “Our 2019 marine spatial plan has no enforcement mechanism for the artisanal fleet, and I sit in the office that would have to run it” is a proposal.
- Write the research so your nominating authority can recognise its own priorities in it. Their signature has to say the award contributes directly to government activities, which is far easier to write when it plainly does.
- Scope it to six months and 100 pages. An ambitious proposal that cannot be finished is a weaker application than a tight one that can.
- Choose a research area with obvious host expertise. Phase Two placement is matched to your topic, so a well defined area makes you easier to place.
- Give sections 16, 17 and 18 more time than the rest of the form combined.
- Draft in English, then have a strong English speaker edit it. The whole programme runs in English and your writing is the only sample the panel has.
One general caution, since fellowships of this profile attract impostors: applications are only ever submitted through the official United Nations platform, and no legitimate part of this process asks you to pay an agent or a processing fee.
For a mid career ocean professional in a developing State, this is close to the strongest funded option available: nine months split between United Nations Headquarters and a specialist host university, flights and stipend covered, and a thesis that your own ministry has a reason to read.
The trade off is that it is a genuinely demanding award. A 100 page thesis in six months, a fixed nine month absence, family left at home, and housing you arrange yourself in two countries.
If that still sounds right, the constraint on your timeline is not the writing. It is the stamped nomination form from a government office. The deadline is 13 September 2026
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to resign or take unpaid leave for nine months?
Neither, but you cannot simply carry on working. The rules require you to be free of all obligations outside the Fellowship for the entire Fellowship period, unless the Division specifically authorises otherwise. In practice that means an arrangement with your employer, which is usually straightforward since your employer is also, in effect, the beneficiary of the award. Settle it before you apply rather than after, because your nominating authority will ask.
I have been selected. Is the award now guaranteed?
Not quite. Two conditions still stand between selection and departure. You must be medically cleared by the United Nations Medical Service, and the award is contingent on that clearance. You must also obtain every necessary visa in time, including any transit visas, and that responsibility is yours alone. For Phase Two in particular you are solely responsible for researching the host country’s requirements and starting the process as soon as your placement is announced.
Can my spouse or children come with me?
The programme asks Fellows not to bring family members to either placement. No supporting documentation will be issued for family visa applications, no allowance of any kind is paid for accompanying family, and the medical insurance does not extend to them. The stipend is calculated for one person. The call also notes that Fellows may need to travel during the award in circumstances that would make it difficult for family to follow.
Does everything have to be in English?
The training does. All Fellowship activities are conducted in English and require you to be there in person. The research project itself may be undertaken in English or in French, but only if the Host Institution can supervise in that language, so it depends entirely on where you are placed rather than on your preference.
What happens if I do not finish the deliverables?
The reporting requirements are mandatory rather than advisory. A Fellow who does not meet them is not granted confirmation of completion, and the United Nations will take appropriate action including informing the nominating authority and the Fellow’s government. Given that your nomination came from that same government, an unfinished fellowship is a professional problem at home, not just an academic one. The programme also reserves the right to modify the reporting requirements mid programme, and meeting the modified version is equally mandatory.
