About studying at BSIS
The philosophy at BSIS is that the School is among the best in the world; and a School is
always only ever as good as its students.These high expectations are supported by academic staff that is always engaging, dynamic, and
interesting, and who push students to achieve their maximum potential; yet this is within a friendly atmosphere of trust, support, and encouragement.
At BSIS, there are approximately 220 postgraduate students pursuing degrees in Brussels, drawn from over fifty countries. The strong international composition of our student body contributes significantly both to the academic as well as to the social experience at BSIS.
Students enroll in one MA or LLM programme (choosing from among ten), and select electives from a wide range of modules. A student studying Conflict Analysis might develop a concentration in migration or development, while a student studying International Relations might take a legal or political economic approach.
For every issue that you study - be it international politics or law, political economy, human trafficking, EU/NATO enlargement/expansion, human rights issues, terrorism, immigrant integration, climate change and migration, analysis of conflict - you study with people from areas of the world directly affected by these issues. While many UKB students come directly from an undergraduate degree, many others have years of work experience. At UKB, the theory and experience come together, both through the faculty as well as through the students.
While the majority of our students are full-time, some choose to pursue their studies part-time while working in one of Brussels’ many policy-related institutions. The perspectives of such a diverse composite of students when shared both in and out of the classroom combine to greatly enrich the UKB experience for all.
The University has its own administrative, academic, and computing facilities, but as a registered UKB student, you will also have full use of the facilities at our two partner Belgian Universities:
- the Dutch-speaking community’s VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel),
- the French-speaking community’s ULB (l'Université Libre de Bruxelles).
These partnerships give University of Kent at Brussels students a wide choice of libraries, sports facilities, social events, and language classes.
While both of our partner Universities have undergraduate students, UKB is a specialized postgraduate University with MA, LLM, and PhD candidates only (our main campus in Kent has some 8500 undergraduate and 1500 postgraduate students). The opportunities for academic development and achievement in International Affairs and International Law in Brussels are unsurpassed.
By studying in 'The Capital of Europe' – headquarters of the European Union, NATO, and SHAPE, as well as hundreds of NGOs – you have access to numerous archives, scholars, experts and practitioners that thrive among the institutions of this city. In addition, as a student at UKB you have ready access to at least ten general and specialist university, government, and private libraries suitable for graduate study. All of these libraries have substantial holdings in English, and an up-to-date research guide on making use of them (and the extensive online services, including e-journals, to which you have access) is provided when you register.