I am extremely pleased  by the IMRCEES. The academic experience in Glasgow has been great in every sense. Studying at the CEES gave me the feeling of becoming a member of an academic community formed by prominent teaching staff and diverse but highly prepared colleagues that shared their passion for the area. I strongly appreciated the focus of the programme on developing your own academic production rather than on passive or standardized learning, and the huge quantity and quality of resources at the Glasgow library is an excellent asset for that purpose. I especially enjoyed the thousands of films available in the foreign languages library! Finally, the IM gives you the opportunity to study and conduct your research on a Central or Eastern European Country during year two and get a second masters diploma for the price of one!

Alejandro Pastor (Spain) IMRCEES 2009-11

I'd highly recommend  the IMRCEES program at the University of Glasgow.  I chose to study at Glasgow University because it sounded like a good program in an interesting city, and it really was.  The classes were fascinating (very politics oriented), I was able to study Polish (another reason I chose Glasgow), and the program enabled me to also study in Poland, which is quite unique.  Studying at the University of Glasgow was great, too, and very multicultural.  The student life was excellent, the people of Glasgow are friendly, and the city is exciting.  It's a very intellectually stimulating environment, with many opportunities in and out of the classroom to expand your horizons.

Sarah Tanksalvala (USA) IMRCEES 2009-11

 I had heard of the excellent reputation the University of Glasgow enjoys and after having covered Central and Eastern Europe for a Vienna based online magazine and spent six months interning at the Icelandic Embassy in Vienna, dealing a lot with the OSCE, I wanted to get a more intimate knowledge of the region. The IMRCEES programme afforded me the opportunity to study in the region, as well as gaining a first class education at Glasgow.

The high quality of the CEES department staff has to be one of the most positive aspects of the programme. Since the programme is mostly seminar based and the number participants was low, the instruction was quite intimate and each student had plenty of opportunity to contribute to each seminar session. I was also very happy that the academic staff has such broad research interests, offering students access to a wide range of expertise. Not only are instructors competent and accomplished academics, they are also very approachable and I felt welcomed in the department even before I arrived at Glasgow. That was mostly thanks to the amazing administrative staff at the department who proved itself absolutely indispensible. The amount of care provided by them to students is immeasurable.

The language training offered in the programme is also tremendous. I entered the programme without any knowledge of any Slavic language and during my semester at the partner university I was able to receive language tuition in Russian. Even before that I organised a month's trip to the Crimea on the fly, i.e. with as good as no prior planning before arrival. Everything from public transport to arranging accommodation had to be done on site, and was done without a hitch.

The CEES student society also served to keep up morale during the darker season with fun and no more than semi-serious events. But apart from the human touch, which made me stay at Glasgow unforgettable, the Glasgow University library is a veritable treasure trove when it comes to Russian, Central and East European Studies. Not only does it have a great collection dedicated to literature from and on the region, its opening hours are an amazing 19 hours a day. Therefore, I strongly recommend the IMRCEES at the University of Glasgow to anyone interested in gaining an expertese on Central and Eastern Europe.

As well as making use of the great academic facilities it's also important not to neglect one's own social life. So, if you are new to Glasgow, make contact with colleagues and maybe join one of the many clubs at the University. I joined the mountaineering club myself and was able to get out of town every once in a while. Also, do not be discouraged by the steep learning curve in the beginning, especially of the language tuition. As with any foreign language, beginning to learn it can seem an insurmountable obstacle. But with hard work and dedication it can be done and the reward is the opening of a different culture and a new perspective on Central and Eastern Europe.

Agust Már Agustsson (Iceland) IMRCEES 2009-11

Peter Braga (Canada) IMRCEES 2012

Peter Braga [mp4]