Summer School on Internet Governance and International Law (SSIGIL)

SSIGIL is hosted by the University of Lodz, Faculty of Law and Administration, Department of Public International Law and International Relations, and facilitated through the Lodz Cyber Hub (Research Centre on International Law in Cyberspace) - an At-Large Structure within ICANN's EURALO. SSIGIL itself is a recognised member of the UN IGF Dynamic Coalition on Schools of Internet Governance (DC SIG). 

Each edition addresses a distinct set of pressing issues: digital sovereignty, critical infrastructure protection, data governance, DNS abuse, cybersecurity law, and the sustainable development of cyberspace. What does not change is the programme's core commitment: bridging legal theory with the practical, real-world challenges of global internet governance, in a format built for close engagement between students, faculty, and leading practitioners in the field.

What Makes SSIGIL Unique

• Practitioner-led simulations, not just lectures. Students draft real policy contributions, submitted through actual channels such as the IGF and WSIS+20 consultations, rather than producing coursework that ends in a drawer.
• A growing international consortium. Each edition has added partner universities and institutional partners, without losing the small, high-contact format that makes the week work.
• Deliberately exclusive. Places are strictly limited by design, to preserve the quality of engagement between participants, faculty, and speakers.
• Built on and feeding back into research. SSIGIL grew out of a funded research project and has itself produced scholarly output (see the 2024 edition below), a two-way relationship between teaching and research that is unusual for a summer school of this size.

2026 Edition — Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme

The third edition of SSIGIL is delivered as an Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) — an online preparatory component followed by an intensive residential week in Łódź, 20–24 July 2026. Participants are awarded 4 ECTS credits upon successful completion.

This year's edition is delivered in partnership with:

• Kore University of Enna (Sicily, Italy)
• Vilnius University (Lithuania)
• Bucharest University of Economic Studies – ASE (Romania)
• University of Luxembourg

Students from partner institutions may be eligible for Erasmus+ mobility funding through their home universities. More on the BIP format and funding.

Participation is free of charge, and a limited number of fellowships covering travel and accommodation are available for eligible applicants. Places are strictly limited to preserve the quality of the experience.

Previous Editions

SSIGIL has run every year since its founding:

• SSIGIL 2025 — Satellite Internet: Trust and Data Governance (Łódź, 22–26 September 2025)
• SSIGIL 2024 — the inaugural edition of the Trusted Internet Summer School, which produced the open-access volume Global Governance of Low Earth Orbit Satellites (University of Łódź Press, 2025)

Our Partners, Through the Years

SSIGIL exists because of the Internet Society Foundation. Its support for a research project on the global governance of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites funded both the 2024 and 2025 editions of SSIGIL, and was the spark that established Łódź as an international hub for internet governance education. We remain grateful for the Foundation's trust and its continued investment in the next generation of internet governance professionals.

That research also produced a lasting scholarly output: the open-access volume Global Governance of Low Earth Orbit Satellites (eds. Joanna Kulesza and Berna Akcali Gur, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego / University of Łódź Press, 2025), freely available at the DOI above.

The programme has since grown through partnership with leading international institutions:

• Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE)
• United Nations University – Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS)
• Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)
• University of Surrey
• Stetson University College of Law
• GigaNet – Global Internet Governance Academic Network

Support SSIGIL

SSIGIL is built on the belief that the brightest minds shaping the future of the internet should have a seat at the table, regardless of where they come from. Sponsorship allows us to welcome fellows from the Global South and other underserved regions, so that the perspectives that matter most in global internet governance are part of the conversation.

If your organisation shares that commitment, we would welcome the chance to talk. Download our sponsorship prospectus, or write to us directly to discuss how you can help make SSIGIL bigger, more inclusive, and more impactful.

Sponsorship enquiries: ssigil@wpia.uni.lodz.pl