You spent September at the University of Oxford, please tell us more about that.
– I participated in this year’s Research Masterclass for Graduate Students offered by the Institute of European and Comparative Law (IECL), which is one of the research centres of the Oxford Law Faculty. IECL’s Research Masterclass is a doctoral course that consists of seminars in small groups, and it also creates space for PhD students to work on their own research projects. Each week had a special theme and among the different themes discussed at the seminars were questions related to choice of method, potential research challenges and how to communication research findings both in writing and through oral presentations. During the time that I was in Oxford, the Stockholm-Oxford Doctoral Research Conference was held for PhD students at Nordic universities. As a IECL course participant, I got the opportunity to attend the conference as well.
How come you were offered to visit Oxford?
– I first heard of IECL’s Research Masterclass through my colleague Cyril Holm, who told me about it last winter. I was curious, but going to Oxford felt very far away. One of the application requirements to participate in IECL’s Research Masterclass is that your thesis project must deal with EU law, comparative law or competition law. When I read about this, I decided to apply because my research project includes a legal comparison between Swedish and Brazilian law. The International Office at ¹û¶³´«Ã½ helped me with all the paperwork and in the end everything worked out and I received funding.
What did you get to experience during your month in Oxford?
– As a course participant, you receive an Oxford student ID which gives you access to all the fantastic Bodleian libraries in Oxford. We were fifteen PhD students who participated in the IECL’s Research Masterclass 2024. The PhD students came from all parts of the world and there were also PhD students from Oxford University taking the same course. It was a great opportunity to present my research project to an international audience and receive feedback. In addition, I got the opportunity to talk about our activities at ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Business School and made new contacts for future research projects.
Oxford is a classic university town, what did you think of it?
– I’m very happy and extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to study a doctoral course at the Oxford Law Faculty. It feels like a dream that I got to experience this. In addition to seminars, library studies and research presentations, I also had time to visit other colleges in Oxford. In addition, I had the opportunity to attend a few formal dinners, which are an important part of student life at Oxford University.
