As a government officer of a developing country, I strongly believe that the education that I received allowed me to enhance my technical skills and professional expertise to contribute to the development process and global integration of my country in such a competitive and dynamic global economic order.
How did you come to study an MSc in Development and International Business at Queen Mary?
As a candidate for high-level positions in the Ministry of Trade, which is a core governmental institution that regulates and coordinates foreign trade policies of Türkiye, it was the right time for me to carry my professional expertise a step further by having an academic background in international business and developmental economics which would provide knowledge on both firm-level and country-level policies. In this context, I concluded that the Development and International Business programme offered by Queen Mary, one of the high-level universities in the United Kingdom, with its focus on issues such as development theory, global political-economic governance, trade policy, multinationals, and global value chains, would be the right decision for me.
On the other hand, after a very competitive examination process, I was awarded the Jean Monnet scholarship which has been carried out by the Republic of Türkiye and the European Commission for more than 30 years. As a European Union (EU) candidate country, Turkish citizens are eligible to be granted for their academic studies on EU-related issues within the framework of Türkiye’s EU harmonization process. The main goal of the scholarship is to strengthen Türkiye’s human capital and administrative capacity in EU acquis chapters. In this context, my field of study covers the “Common Trade Policy” chapter which is directly related to my profession and postgraduate programme. Besides having financial support for my academic studies, the scholarship provided a unique opportunity to be a part of a very valuable network, including those who work in high-level positions in the public and private sectors.
What did you enjoy most about the programme?
Like everyone else, I tried to get information about the academic content before applying to the programme, from the university's website which is prepared in great detail. It is a great pleasure for me to see that everything promised has come true. Well-prepared and designed courses were delivered by a high-level academic staff who are experts in their fields in terms of not only academic knowledge but also teaching skills. Besides, the high quality and diversity of students made the programme more interesting for me.
However, if you ask what I enjoy the most, I can mention two things in particular. The first one was that the university's online resources such as QMPlus and MyLibrary were very useful to facilitate the education process. I can say that Queen Mary carries out the education process at the highest standards through its physical and digital utilities. The other thing that made me feel privileged is the friendly and always helpful attitude of the School executives and administrative staff. In addition to being my first study abroad, it was also the first time for me and my family to experience abroad living. During this challenging period, the staff of the School of Geography sincerely tried to assist my every need with a very positive approach, both academically and administratively, from the very beginning of the application process to the end of the programme. I observed how important the quality of human resources is, which is one of the most valuable features of an institution, especially for the foreign students to adapt to the country and the university. For the rest of my life, I will always remember each academic and administrative staff member who made my journey at Queen Mary very special.
Can you talk us through your career so far and how the MSc will benefit your career going forwards?
After getting an engineering degree from Cankaya University, I started my professional career in the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye. I had spent approximately 9 years of my Trade Expert career in the Ministry before my postgraduate education, where it has been a great pleasure to work with highly-qualified people and concentrate on various economical issues. As part of my duties, I participated in various official bilateral meetings, trade missions, and business forums, where I obtained first-hand observation of high-level policy-making processes. For the last two years prior to my education at Queen Mary, I had served as a policy advisor to the Deputy Minister and Minister.
The flow of trade, capital, people, information, and ideas across national boundaries has enabled global integration to proceed rapidly. Accordingly, bilateral and multilateral trade relations have been progressing into a more dynamic and complex structure in recent years. In this context, as a government officer of a developing country, I strongly believe that the education that I received allowed me to enhance my technical skills and professional expertise to contribute to the development process and global integration of my country in such a competitive and dynamic global economic order.
All in all, it has been a great pleasure to be a part of the Queen Mary family. I would like to thank every person that helped me to realize my academic aspirations and professional goals.