Cem Arsiray, Germany

LLM in Public International Law, 2008-2009

“Before finishing my undergrad in Germany, I applied for a couple of universities in the UK and got accepted at all of these colleges.

I chose Queen Mary, University of London, to pursue my graduate studies for various reasons. First of all, I was impressed by the very helpful, quick and friendly administrative staff during the application procedure, who supported me in all sorts of matters and made me feel welcome from the very beginning.

Secondly and for the first time ever, I had the chance to tailor my courses according to my personal interests - after five years of very stiff curricula in my German law school.

Queen Mary, University of London provided a varied and interesting list of courses and I eventually opted for the LLM in Public International Law and was positively surprised by the contents of the courses. First and foremost, I was thrilled by Norah Gallagher and Professor Loukas Mistelis' class on International Trade and Investment Dispute Settlement.

Without really knowing what this class would be like and without having ever heard of investment arbitration before, I can now say that this is the area where I will hopefully work in the future. In that sense, the QMUL LLM was a real eye-opener.

More generally, I was able to profit from the quality of the academic staff and the easy access to the teaching materials. The very international and highly motivated student community and the direct contact to the teaching staff made it possible to experience an extremely valuable academic discourse. Being in London also had a share in this. As a student of the University of London, we had also access to the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, which is the best law library I have ever seen.