General Law Faculty Postgraduate Scholarships - Applications for 2025 ARE OPEN.

All postgraduate scholarship enquiries must be sent to Kauthar Hendricks.

Please Note

  1. The closing date for applications is 13 December 2024.
  2. Applications must be submitted online only at THIS LINK.
  3. No late applications will be considered.
  4. Incomplete applications will not be processed - complete the entire form and attach all necessary documents as requested.
  5. It is the applicant's responsibility to include a list of referees.

Scholarships background

The Faculty of Law - through its own fundraising efforts, donor support and legacies - has a number of scholarships in support of postgraduate study every year. Some scholarships are awarded on application, while others are awarded based purely on merit at the discretion of the Law Faculty Postgraduate Scholarships Committee. Full information is available in the Faculty Handbook or you can contact the Law Faculty Office.

Please note: The UCT Postgraduate Funding Office has a handbook on general funding opportunities for postgraduates. 

The funding criteria are listed below for each scholarship opportunity, but please also check the Law Faculty Handbook. 

Scholarships for postgraduate study awarded on application

Only candidates registered within the minimum time for completion of their degree are eligible for the award of any of these scholarships, bursaries or grants.

Excellence in Law Postgraduate Scholarships

The Faculty of Law has raised donor funding to be able to offer scholarships to previously disadvantaged South African postgraduate candidates. Several Excellence in Law scholarships are available annually, at LLM, MPhil and PhD level. These are awarded based primarily on academic merit, although financial need may also be a consideration.

  • Closing date: 13 December 2024
  • Value: R60 000 pa for LLM or MPhil candidates and R90 000 pa for PhD candidates
  • Tenure: One year for LLM or MPhil by coursework and research candidates. Two years for Master's by research only candidates, subject to satisfactory progress in the first year of registration. Three years for PhD candidates, subject to satisfactory progress in the first and second year of registration.

Law Faculty Master's and Doctoral Scholarships

To encourage postgraduate research, the Law Faculty makes awards to suitable candidates for master's degrees by research only or doctoral degrees in the Faculty of Law at UCT. This funding is in addition to other scholarship opportunities and is intended as a form of bridging finance to give candidates contemplating higher degrees the security of knowing that their financial needs will be at least partially met for the first year of their studies, which is a critical period in their progress. Successful candidates must also make application to the UCT Postgraduate Funding Office and other appropriate sources for scholarship funding. Any award from external sources that takes financial support beyond the level of R230 000 per annum for a master's candidate or R283 000 per annum for a doctoral candidate will then be deducted from the scholarship granted by the Faculty.

  • Closing date: 13 December 2024
  • Value: R84 000
  • Tenure: One year (the scholarship may be re-awarded on application once only.)

Basil and Con Corder Scholarship

In 1997, a scholarship was established in terms of the wishes of the late Basil Corder. The scholarship is awarded to a University of Cape Town graduate in law who is registered at the University of Cape Town for the LLM degree by coursework and minor dissertation, on the basis of financial need, proven academic merit and having displayed a concern for the wider community through service individually or in voluntary organisations. Preference will be given to an applicant who will be completing part of the degree at a university outside South Africa. In the event that there are no suitable candidates for the award at the level of LLM studies, the scholarship may be awarded to an applicant registered for the Intermediate or Final Level LLB, on the basis of financial need, proven academic merit and indication of concern for the wider community, as set out above.

  • Closing date: 13 December 2024
  • Value: Variable (approximately R10 000)
  • Tenure: One year

Ethel Walt Human Rights Scholarship

Ethel Walt was a human rights activist who directed her passion for social justice through her work in the Black Sash. This scholarship is awarded towards tuition for the LLM or MPhil programme in Social Justice or Human Rights Law by coursework and minor dissertation. Preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate proven community involvement of some kind, and a commitment to engaging in community issues after graduation.

  • Closing date: 13 December 2024
  • Value: R10 000
  • Tenure: One year

The Alexander Burman Memorial Grant

One grant is awarded each year to a woman who is either a South African citizen or permanent resident, and is in their first year of a PhD in the field of socio-legal studies. The award is based primarily on academic merit although financial need may also be considered, and preference will be given to candidates from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.

  • Closing date: 13 December 2024
  • Value: R100 000
  • Tenure: One year, non-renewable

Sir William Solomon Memorial Scholarship

In 1939 Miss Emile Jane Solomon bequeathed R10 000 to the University to found a scholarship in memory of her brother, the late Sir William Solomon MA KCSI KCMG, formerly Chief Justice of the Union of South Africa.

The scholarship is available for candidates taking research degrees in law by thesis only.

  • Closing date: 13 December 2024
  • Value: R20 000 for LLM or MPhil and R30 000 for PhD
  • Tenure: One year (The scholarship may be re-awarded on application once only)

Wilfred Kramer Law Grants 

Wilfred Kramer Law Grants are available for those who enroll for approved higher postgraduate study in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Town. In addition, limited funds are available for candidates who wish to participate in an approved exchange programme at an overseas university; the candidates do part of the LLM coursework at an approved overseas university and the balance of coursework as well as the minor dissertation at UCT Law Faculty. Further information is available from the Law Faculty Office.

  • Closing date: 13 December 2024
  • Value: Variable
  • Tenure: One year (a grant may be re-awarded on application once only)

Beric Croome Postgraduate Tax Law Scholarship

This scholarship has been established in recognition of the contribution made by Dr Beric Croome to the practice of tax law. Generous financial support from Dr Croome, an Advocate of the High Court and qualified CA who completed a PhD in Tax Law at UCT Law in 2008, as well as from friends and associates, has enabled the establishment of a fund from which an annual scholarship of R10 000 will be awarded to a candidate undertaking postgraduate tax law studies and who has an undergraduate record that reflects effort and perseverance, has financial need and who provides some evidence of having overcome disadvantage.

  • Closing date: 13 December 2024
  • Value: R10 000
  • Tenure: One year

The Dikgang Moseneke Postgraduate Fellowship

These fellowships have been established by the UCT Faculty of Law, in recognition of the contribution that Justice Dikgang Moseneke has made to the field of law in South Africa. Generously supported by Justice Moseneke, as well as friends and associates, these fellowships are intended to promote and encourage academic research into areas of legal theory and practice, and their impact on social justice, democracy, constitutionalism, public accountability, development, and social change. The fellowships are awarded to suitable candidates registered for postgraduate studies at master’s and doctoral level, a major component of which would be a thesis within the broad area of law, justice and society. Only one PhD and one LLM fellowship is awarded each year.

  • Closing date: 13 December 2024
  • Value: This scholarship is valued at R140 000 for a PhD award, and R90 000 for a Master's award. This scholarship is funding-dependent and may not be available every year
  • Tenure: Max one year for a candidate registered for an LLM by coursework and research degree. Max two years for a candidate registered for an LLM by research only degree, subject to satisfactory progress being shown in the first year of registration. Max three years for a candidate registered for a PhD degree, subject to satisfactory progress being shown in the first and second years of registration, and subject to availability of funding.

Scholarships awarded without application

Ilse Lowissohn Grants

In 1984 a sum of R10 000 was bequeathed to the University by the late Miss Ilse Lowissohn for the purpose of providing a grant to assist a graduate of the Faculty of Law to undertake courses of postgraduate study in legal history or comparative law at an overseas university. Candidates are selected annually by the WP Schreiner Professor of Law from graduates of the faculty who have shown interest in the historical and comparative dimensions of Roman-Dutch law. Recipients must be registered or intend to register for an approved course of postgraduate study at an overseas university and use the grant to further their knowledge of Roman Law or one of the modern civil law jurisdictions.

  • Value: Variable
  • Tenure: One year

Ina Ackermann Scholarship

A scholarship in memory of the late Ina Ackermann was established in the Faculty of Law from contributions donated to the Ina Ackermann Memorial Fund by family, friends and colleagues. The scholarship is awarded annually in recognition of the importance which Ms Ackermann attached to the role of women in the practising legal profession and is awarded to a woman graduate of the Faculty of Law at UCT who proceeds to the full-time first semester programme offered by the School for Legal Practice. Factors considered when making the award would include academic achievement, financial need and potential for success in the practising legal profession.

  • Value: Variable
  • Tenure: Six months

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The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung-iNtaka Scholarship in Postgraduate Law & Technology 

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Applications for this scholarship opportunity for 2025 are CLOSED

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Institute for Marine & Environmental Law - the call for the Faculty Postgraduate Scholarship in Marine & Environmental Law for 2025 is CLOSED.

The University of Cape Town Law Faculty’s Institute of Marine & Environmental Law issues an annual invitation to apply for a once-off LLM/MPhil/LLM Professional Scholarship in Marine & Environmental Law or Environmental Law for the following academic year to the value of around R100 000 to cover tuition fees. The objective of this Scholarship is to build capacity in the field of marine and environmental law, and for recipients – after their academic studies - to contribute actively to promoting the sustainability of all species on Earth.

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