Hello everyone,

I graduated from Durham University about 1.5 years ago and now I am working as an anti-trust counsel. I am thinking about getting a masters degree on International Trade and EU Law and I found that Europa Institut offers a couple of modules which fits to my masters degree needs. I have a couple of questions in mind:

1) How's the school? Especially tutors and lecturers? Because I practice competition law, I do need to publish papers regularly so how is their academic help for masters students who do want to get published?

2) Even though I do like practicing competition law, I also do want to have a work experience in an international organisation (mainly WTO) so how is their graduate and alumni office? Do students easily find jobs or internships in international organisations?

3) How's the city? I am looking for a place where I can improve myself academically while obtaining a masters degree so I am actually not looking for a city which is 24/7 alive or where I have to wait 1.5 hours in traffic.

4) Lastly, I might want to pursue a PhD degree and postdoc if I can not find a job in an international organisation. I would appreciate if an alumni could inform me on PhD opportunities at Europa Institut.

Thanks!

Edit: The title was supposed to be 19/20, sorry!

Melih

[Edited by melihy on Jun 05, 2018]

Hi. I graduated from the EI two years ago and I think I can give you some insight.

1. My experience is that the Europa-Institut has a very good reputation. The faculty is very diverse and highly specialized and what I really valued is that most of the lecturers are also practitioners who can give you great insight into how things are actually done.
The Institut has its own publication (you will find it on their website) and contributions from students are welcome.
2. There is a big alumni association with links to European and international organizations, through which you can get the right contacts. The Institut also organizes meetings with alumni in Brussels, Luxembourg, etc. throughout the year to facilitate networking and job-seeking. But of course, it ultimately depends on the student, their involvement, networking skills and actual profiles which will help them land a job/intership.
3. I personally love Saarbrücken because it is small, quiet and very homey, but there is also always something going on whether it is sports, cultural events or night-life. Most things are within walking distance (distance from campus to city center by bus is also short, about 15-20 minutes). Rent is relatively cheap, living costs as well, and overall a safe city to live in.
4. Some colleagues of mine stayed at the Institut to pursue their PhDs or are doing it externally. I am contemplating the option as well. The requirement therefor is that your grade at the end has to be at least “good” which is not hard to attain if you take the program seriously and do the work.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Hi. I graduated from the EI two years ago and I think I can give you some insight.

1. My experience is that the Europa-Institut has a very good reputation. The faculty is very diverse and highly specialized and what I really valued is that most of the lecturers are also practitioners who can give you great insight into how things are actually done.
The Institut has its own publication (you will find it on their website) and contributions from students are welcome.
2. There is a big alumni association with links to European and international organizations, through which you can get the right contacts. The Institut also organizes meetings with alumni in Brussels, Luxembourg, etc. throughout the year to facilitate networking and job-seeking. But of course, it ultimately depends on the student, their involvement, networking skills and actual profiles which will help them land a job/intership.
3. I personally love Saarbrücken because it is small, quiet and very homey, but there is also always something going on whether it is sports, cultural events or night-life. Most things are within walking distance (distance from campus to city center by bus is also short, about 15-20 minutes). Rent is relatively cheap, living costs as well, and overall a safe city to live in.
4. Some colleagues of mine stayed at the Institut to pursue their PhDs or are doing it externally. I am contemplating the option as well. The requirement therefor is that your grade at the end has to be at least “good” which is not hard to attain if you take the program seriously and do the work.

Hope this helps. Good luck.