VISITING INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS PROGRAM

The IPIL Visiting International Scholars Program (VISP) at the University of Houston Law Center is designed to facilitate research on Intellectual Property & Information Law (IPIL) by foreign scholars.

As one of the nation’s leading programs for the study of intellectual property and information law, the IPIL Institute at the University of Houston Law Center has long encouraged international exchange of research and scholarly ideas in its field. 

The Institute has now expanded those initiatives through the creation of the Visiting International Scholar Program.  The program is made possible by the active support of IPIL sponsors and provides funding for foreign scholars to participate in the UH Law Center community and pursue research in IPIL.

The VISP offers selected participants these benefits:  (i) a stipend to be used to support in part the scholar’s travel and living expenses (stipends may vary from year to year); (ii) scholarly collaboration and collegiality with IPIL and other Law Center faculty, with the Law Center’s IP students and with law practitioners in Houston who comprise one of the most sophisticated intellectual property bars in the world; (iii) auditing of IPIL courses if desired; (iv) attendance at workshops, presentations, colloquia, panels, and lectures; (v) space on the Law Center campus for officing and computing; and (vi) access to the Law Center’s library and research facilities, including computer research capabilities.

VISP applicants should be faculty members or graduate students at institutions of higher education outside of the United States.  A visiting foreign scholar is a person who comes to the Law Center temporarily, primarily to do research and to interact with U.S. scholars, and who has achieved substantial success in his or her scholarship or shows strong potential for doing so.  The broad term “visiting foreign scholar” encompasses, for example, Fulbright scholars who come to teach, post-doctoral research fellows, and visiting professors.

The term of the visiting scholar appointment varies.  Some visiting foreign scholars are at the Law Center for only a few weeks; others remain for one or more semesters.   Visiting foreign scholars come to the Law Center for academic enterprises, not for non-academic employment.  VISP appointments are awarded on a competitive basis at the sole discretion of the IPIL program.  The VISP is not available for students who have been accepted to a degree program or will be enrolled in classes at the University of Houston or the Law Center.

To apply to the IPIL Visiting International Scholars Program, please submit the following:

• statement of interest and qualification status
  
• a detailed description of: (a) the academic purpose(s) of the visit; (b) the desired length of stay and semesters of stay; (c) the interaction of the visit with the applicant’s home-country academic pursuits; and (d) any other relevant factors, such as preferred courses for auditing or specific research interests
• detailed résumé or curriculum vitae
• if a graduate student, transcripts of prior coursework
  
• if a professor, copies of research publications
• English language proficiency information

All items should be provided electronically, as attachments in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, in a single submittal emailed to: vispipil@uh.edu

Application materials will be treated in confidence.

Current IPIL VISP Parameters

Application Deadlines for the 2009-10 IPIL VISP:
Applications will be collected throughout the fall until December 15, 2008.  By mid-February of the following year, selections will be made from the applications by considering all applications received up through the December 15 deadline.

Region of Origin Preferences for 2009-10 IPIL VISP Applicants:
 - Scholars from the Americas
 - Scholars from Europe
 - Scholars from Asia

Stipend Amounts for the 2009-10 IPIL VISP Applicants:
- Professors:  $10,000 per semester
- Graduate Students:  $5,000 per semester