Snapshot

Terms and Dates:

  • Academic Year 2026-27

Advisor:

Margaret Price

Cornell Affiliations:

Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies

Website:

Laidlaw Leadership and Research Program

Overview

Opportunity Description

The Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Program promotes ethical leadership and international research around the world—starting with the passionate leaders and learners found on campuses like Cornell.

With generous support for your research, leadership development, and a summer abroad putting your skills into action, this two-year cohort program for emerging leaders lays out a path for you to invest your skills, knowledge, and experience to make global change. As a Laidlaw scholar, your talent and motivation are cultivated through international experiences, leadership training, research experience early in your college career, and networking with like-minded peers at 22 of the top research universities around the world. 

Interested in joining our next cohort of scholars? Join us for an upcoming information session, meet the current scholars at the International Research Showcase, or contact our Laidlaw coordinator. 

The Program's Key Components

Research

Build your research skills on an internationally focused research project with the support of a faculty mentor and/or an experienced research team during your first summer. We'll help you find a project and a faculty mentor or you may propose your own. Your work is supported by a stipend.

Leadership Training

Learn about your unique leadership strengths, further develop your skills through critical reflection, and explore how to be an ethical and values-driven leader. You'll receive an Oxford certificate in ethical leadership at the end of the program. Training is an ongoing component of the program.

Laidlaw scholars stand among researchers in Kenya looking at a field of corn.
"Participating in the Laidlaw Scholars Program has been a great privilege of my time at Cornell. The two-year duration of the scholarship has allowed me to be intensely involved with my professor’s research program at Cornell and with her partner in Kenya, introducing me to the best colleagues and most rewarding experiences." —Eli Newell '24, seen on the far right

Leadership-in-Action Experience

Work internationally on a hands-on, community-based project. You can develop your own leadership-in-action project, or we'll help you identify an international organization to work with. You'll learn from real-world leaders enacting change in their communities.

Networking

Connect with like-minded scholars who are passionate about Laidlaw's shared values—ethical leadership, global perspective, and research with a real-world impact. In addition to other Cornell scholars, you'll meet scholars from other universities at the in-person North American Laidlaw conference during your first fall and connect virtually throughout the program with scholars around the world.

Explore the research and leadership experiences of current and previous Laidlaw scholars on the Laidlaw Scholars Network. 

Learn more about the program and its global reach on the Laidlaw Foundation website.