Burak Haylamaz, UCL Laws Academic Excellence Scholarship

Programme, and year of study: LLM, 1st year
Where you are from: Istanbul, Turkey
Scholarship received: UCL Laws Academic Excellence Scholarship

Why did you choose to apply to study at UCL Laws?
After completing my undergraduate studies last year, I realised that I wanted to go into the field of Competition Law. I was looking at different institutions which offer Competition Law masters, and saw that UCL Laws have such a huge investment in Competition Law. That’s why I decided to apply for the Master’s degree here.

Was there anything about studying in London which made you want to apply?
Of course – once you start thinking about what you're going to do after your postgraduate studies, you research where you want to go next. In London, there are plenty of opportunities – UCL Laws can be a catalyst to help develop your legal interests and help you decide where to go in your career.

What are your favourite things about studying at UCL Laws?
What I like about UCL Laws is the combination of being taught by legal practitioners, and as well as legal theorists and philosophers. For instance, I have a module where the content is very theoretical, but it was taught by a practitioner who has been practising law for 20 years. It means I can fully improve my knowledge of a legal subject in an environment where I can learn both theoretical and practical aspects. It’s interesting to see this combination in my postgraduate studies.

Living in London is really quite challenging but it also provides lots of opportunities. I follow the UCL Law Society, where they organise regular events. There are opportunities to attend networking events and to meet people from various the law firms – this is very helpful in understanding what you want to do after studying or what type of law firm to join; but also to see what you don't want to do.

What do you hope to do once your studies are complete?
After I complete my postgraduate studies, I think I’ll take some time away from studying before pursuing a PhD. I’m hoping to provide some in-house counselling in my two specialisms - competition law and data protection law, which were areas that I realised I wanted to specialise in during my studies.

I’m thinking of completing a PhD thesis in a combination of private international law and data protection law. UCL Laws offers lots of funding opportunities for PhD students, so I’d consider doing my PhD studies at UCL.

How did you hear about the UCL Laws scholarships?
I Googled which universities offered Competition Law specialisms; UCL Laws came up and I was able to see the different funding options, including scholarships, on the website.

What impact has receiving this scholarship had for you?
This scholarship has meant that I didn’t need to postpone my plan and work full-time – I’ve always intended to complete a Master’s degree in Law after my undergraduate degree and the scholarship has allowed that. I’m now able to work part-time during my studies.

If you hadn’t received this scholarship what do you think your plans would be, if not studying at UCL Laws?
I’d probably work one more year to save some money, before starting my Master’s degree. It’s important to get work experience, but I like to combine it with studying – the scholarship has allowed me to do both.

If someone was thinking of applying for a scholarship what would you say to them?
I’ve been playing basketball for years and there's one common saying: if you never shoot, you'll never score. So, just apply and see what may happen – you may be successful in your scholarship application!