Is there anyone who is enrolled in the master`s programme in legal research who could give me an idea about how you like it? I would be very interested in knwoing what you think about the classes and if the the quality of the programme met your expectations.
Thx to everyone in advance!

Hi Arianna,

I have been attending this master programme for a year and I have to say that it is just great. It is really intense and requires a lot of work if you want to do it well, but in exchange they really teach you how to conduct research in a systematic manner.

You probably already know that a large part of our programme consist of research projects that research students carry out under the supervision of a senior researcher of the faculty or elsewhere. Often, students have the possibility to participate in the research project of the faculty. Hierarchies are really flat and I have found professors to be suprisingly open and interested in what the research students are doing. Further, they really do their best to further our research and are also prepared to share their contacts in this respect. This has enabled me to spend some time at the Max Planck Institute for Public International Law in Heidelberg to to carry out some research there.

It might be interesting to know that you don't have to spend the whole study period in Utrecht. Professors usually encourage students to go abroad to follow courses at another university or to carry out research abroad. Me, I am currently working at the research institute of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, the UN specialised institution for social issues, where I work on a research project. Fellow students of mine have been interning at the International Court of Justice, the European Commission and the Council of Europe.

Another thing I really like about the programme is that you have a variety of possibilities to do work that will result in a publication. Most of the students get at least one of their research projects published, some of these in quite high-profile journals. Furthermore, a couple of us are participating in a big project on the status of EU law in the constitutional systems of the Member States which will be published as a book next year.

By and large, I think this master is really great if you like research and independent work. It can, at times, be a little tough since organising and realising your research projects requires quite some discipline, but I think you also really get something out of it. Especially if you want to do a PhD or other research work later, I would definitely recommend you this programme for you obtain many skills that you will need for other research, too.

If you have further questions, you can reach me under katana1717@hotmail.com.

Good luck with your search!

Franz