On Tuesday 18 April, the School of Law was honoured to take part in a ministerial visit from Rhineland-Palatinate to the University of Glasgow. Minister President Malu Dreyer of Rhineland-Palatinate headed the delegation, which included federal German government officials, academic representatives from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), and members of the German press. 

The party was welcomed to the University by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Frank Coton and Scottish Government Minister for Higher and Further Education, Graeme Dey. They began their visit of the campus by meeting staff and students from the School of Law and School of Modern Languages in the Senate Room. 

Professor Frank Coton opened the session, welcoming Minister President Dreyer and the delegation to the University. Citing the University’s strong international student profile, he emphasised that the institution ‘is and will remain proudly European’, in spite of the UK’s recent departure from the European Union. 

Remarks followed by Minister President Dreyer, in which she directly addressed the students in the audience, expressing her thanks that German students remain able to take advantage of the opportunity to study at Glasgow. 

This was proceeded by a welcome from Scottish Government Minister Graeme Dey, who emphasised the governments’ shared values as Europeans and social democrats, and desire to strength cooperation between the two parties in tackling issues such as climate transition. 

There followed speeches from Professor Stephen Forcer, Head of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, and Professor Jane Mair, Head of School of Law, who reflected on the importance of language learning for employability, as well as the rich benefits of student and staff mobility for the University and legal scholarship. 

Professor Jim Murdoch, former International Dean for Mobility, and Professor of Public Law shared his reflections on the long-standing links between the School of Law and the Law School of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). Professor Murdoch cited the establishment of the Glasgow-Mainz exchange as the launchpad for the School’s successful study abroad programme, which has seen over half of our third-year students take part in international mobility placements. 

Following the close of formal proceedings, Minister President Dreyer and members of the visiting party had an opportunity to speak with German students, including members of our LLM programmes, about their experience of studying at the University. The delegation then departed for a tour of the Advanced Research Centre to gain an overview of the University of Glasgow’s ambitions in the field of life sciences research. 

The visit to the University of Glasgow was part of a longer trip to Scotland to discuss strengthening ties in culture, education and research, which included a meeting between Minister President Malu Dreyer and First Minister Humza Yousaf on Wednesday. 

First published: 21 April 2023

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