Why study at Aberdeen?

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Why study at Aberdeen?

• Law has been taught in Aberdeen for over 500 years: the University of Aberdeen was founded in 1495 with law as one of its foundation disciplines. Today, the School continues to have an excellent academic reputation. It achieved the highest numerical rating possible - 5 - in the last two Research Assessment Exercises, the only Scottish law school to do so. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) published in December 2008, the School had a total of 80% of its submissions recognised internationally as being of excellence or of significance and originality, with the remaining 20% judged to be of national standing. The Law School has an international staff body and a wide range of subject specialisms in which it can offer expertise (for details, click here).

• You will join a thriving community of approximately 200 LLM students from all over the world: recent students have come from countries such as Angola, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, the Slovak Republic, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Uganda, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Zimbabwe. The Law School also has a flourishing population of about 80 research students, around 80 students taking the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice and around 900 undergraduate students.

• Teaching is on a modular, credit-based pattern. This flexible structure enables you to combine courses to suit your own needs and particular area of study. As a graduate student you are not restricted to a single entry date, and you may enter the LLM in either September or January. Part-time study is also possible for UK and EU students.

• You will be able to use our outstanding law library, which is located within the Law School building. The Taylor Library is housed separately from the main library and is in the same building as the Law School's teaching and staff rooms. It is a good working and research library with approximately 55,000 volumes. The library currently subscribes to all the main law journals in print and also to a wide range of electronic journals, periodicals, law reports. Many on-line databases are also available including Lexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline and SCOPUS. The Law Library has over 500 study places. Two project rooms are also available for students preparing for discussions and other group work, one of which is resourced with projection equipment and a networked PC. Networked PCs are available in the Computer Room and the library also has wireless internet access. The librarians are well-qualified and helpful.

• There are several excellent student societies within the Law School: the Law Society, the Legal Research Society, and the Law Mooting Society. Law Students also run a Student Law Review and a Law Clinic.

• Aberdeen, a beautiful, cosmopolitan city with a rich cultural life, is still small enough to maintain a sense of community. Scotland's sunniest city (and, according to one survey, the happiest place to live in the UK) is situated on the east coast, with an attractive beach and the Scottish Highlands within an hour’s drive. It has an international airport (flying time from Amsterdam, Dublin, London and Paris is just over one hour) and excellent rail links to London and Edinburgh.

• Aberdeen is the European centre for the oil and gas industry and, as such, is home to many multi-national companies. This global commercial environment has led to a number of international law firms being located within the city, with oil and gas law being a particular specialism. Aberdeen has its own District and Sheriff Courts and is home to a sitting of the High Court of Justiciary, Scotland's highest criminal court, most weeks of the year.