Charles Poncelet, Belgium

General LLM 2010-11
School of Law Scholarship winner

I decided to study at Queen Mary, University of London right after finishing my Masters degree in Belgium at the Université Catholique de Louvain. Coming across the websites of the outstanding London universities I found out that Queen Mary was offering a LLM programme in the field of environmental law which was precisely what I intended to do. I also realised that the teaching staff was composed of skilful professors, lecturers and guest lecturers sometimes internationally well-known.

Turning this project into concrete actions has been a very rewarding experience so far. I am surrounded by students having various backgrounds and coming from wide-ranging cultures. I have been meeting people from all over the world in the very stimulating context of London. Through my different classes in Queen Mary, I have the opportunity to interact with the teachers and with the other students. In this regard, each and every students’ opinion matter and influence the way of teaching. What is more, given that some of my teachers are involved in the editorial board of law reviews, we have the chance to submit articles for publication.

Besides this, conferences are constantly set up in the different universities of London getting together experts, academics, practitioners, students. For this reason, I have the great feeling that I live in the heart of a place where the future of environmental law is shaped. I deeply benefit from the intellectual emulation that emerges from these activities. Moreover, I am currently working with some students of different UK universities on the organisation of the 5th Annual Public Interest in Environmental Law Conference, the UK's only student-led conference of its kind. Thanks to its substantive financial support, Queen Mary enables us to achieve this very challenging objective. On the whole, undertaking the LLM programme at Queen Mary is a global experience through which I acquire worthy tools for my future. The scholarship I was generously granted by Queen Mary helps me to further value these opportunities. I have a job which starts in October with a Belgian law firm called Liedekerke.