Biography

Dr Burcu Yüksel Ripley is a Lecturer in law and the Director of the Centre for Commercial Law. She is also the Programme Coordinator for commercial law themed LLMs (online, on-campus and blended) with a focus on international commercial law, international trade law and sustainability. 

Burcu has benefitted from experience in a wide range of research and education institutions in the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Turkey for over 15 years. She obtained her LLB and PhD in Private International Law from Turkey, and her LLM in International and Comparative Business Law from England. Before joining the University of Aberdeen in 2014 initially as a researcher, she worked at the leading Turkish university, Ankara, at the Department of Private International Law of the Law Faculty for over 5 years. She also practised law, enrolled with the Ankara Bar Association, and worked at the Export Credit Bank of Turkey (Turk Eximbank) where she dealt with legal and practical aspects of international trade finance.  

Burcu is the author and editor of several publications in the fields of international trade and finance law, private international law, international payments, international commercial law, international commercial litigation and arbitration. She has been involved in international collaborative research projects. She regularly speaks at international conferences, workshops and seminars, and acts as a referee for articles submitted to prestigious and internationally renowned UK and Turkish academic journals. She has been appointed by courts in the UK and Turkey to give expert opinion evidence on matters involving a foreign element. 

Burcu is interested in the following areas: international trade and finance law, private international law (international jurisdiction, applicable law and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil, commercial and family law matters), international payments, international commercial law and dispute resolution, law and technology (in particular digitalisation, distributed ledger technology/blockchain and virtual/digital/cryptocurrencies) and Turkish law. 

Burcu is a NERC Constructing a Digital Environment (CDE) Fellow of the Digital Environment Expert Network as part of the NERC/UKRI ‘Constructing a Digital Environment’ Programme. She is also a member of the Centre for Private International Law at the University of Aberdeen, Young ISTAC (Istanbul Arbitration Centre, Turkey) and IACPIL (Interdisciplinary Association of Comparative and Private International Law, Austria).  

Research Overview

Burcu's research interests are in the following areas:

• international trade and finance law
• private international law (international jurisdiction, applicable law and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil, commercial and family law matters),
• international payments
• international commercial law and dispute resolution,
• law and technology (in particular digitalisation, virtual/digital/cryptocurrencies, distributed ledger technology and blockchain),
• Turkish law. 

Current Research

Burcu is currently researching on digitalisation in international trade, virtual/digital/cryptocurrencies, distributed ledger technology and blockchain. She is particularly interested in conflict of laws and emerging technology. 

Funding and Grants

• 2014-2016: Cross-Border Litigation in Europe: Private International Law Legislative Framework, National Courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union (EUPILLAR), JUST/2013/JCIV/AG/4635, funded by the European Commission, Civil Justice Programme (Position held: Researcher).

• 2012-2013: Cross-Border Litigation in Europe (series of workshops), EU Private International Law Research Network, funded by the European Commission, Jean Monnet Scheme (Position held: National Coordinator for Turkey).
  

Teaching Responsibilities

Undergraduate:

• LS1520 Contract
• LS2032 Public International Law
• LS2532 Private International Law
• LS401Q Private International Law of Commercial Law Honours
• LS451U International Trade Law (Course Coordinator)

Postgraduate:

• LS502Q Private International Law- Jurisdiction, Recognition & Enforcement
• LS502K Comparative Contract Law for International Transactions
• LS5588 International Trade and Finance Law
• LS5909 Professional Skills: International Trade Negotiation (Course Coordinator)
• LS503D/LS553D Financing of International Sales (online) (Course Coordinator)
• LS553A Core Principles of WTO Law (online) (Course Coordinator)