From my experience as an IMSISS student, I have found the best element of the masters programme so far to be how it provides cutting-edge academic teaching on a wide range of topics such as the ethics of intelligence and surveillance practices, migration studies and gender. As security and intelligence studies are rapidly expanding disciplines, I have found both the lecturing staff, the IMSISS fellows and the additional guest speakers (who are often expert practitioners in their specialist field) to draw on the latest development and provide great insights into the latest emerging trends. It is the quality of the IMSISS partner universities as well as the programme’s innovative combination of conceptual issues such as security theory with the practical contemporary security challenges facing modern societies which makes it such a useful and interesting masters programme. Most recently I had the opportunity to participate in the Cyber 9/12 UK competition on behalf of the IMSISS 18/20 cohort – this involved taking on the role of senior policy advisors to government and private sector officials in relation to cyber security policy and a developing cyber security threat scenario. The fact that my team and I succeeded in making it to the finals of this competition, with the coaching of Dr Damien Van Puyvelde (University of Glasgow) shows the calibre of teaching in relation to cyber security and intelligence.

The Erasmus Mundus International Master in Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies brings together students from over 30 countries, creating a valuable platform to debate current topics related to the international security and intelligence field. Being part of this multicultural environment is a unique opportunity that promotes continuous exchange of knowledge, and helped me to widen my understanding of the international security framework and improve my critical thinking skills. Moreover, IMSISS fosters the development of practical knowledge for future employment through the competitive based internship and placement component of the program. Finally, the program promotes students’ active involvement in extracurricular activities. Due to my particular interest in cyber security the programme gave me the chance to participate in the UK Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge as part of the University of Glasgow team, getting to the Semi-finals and being awarded the Best Oral Presentation. This experience was a major opportunity to acquire practical experience and interact with professional representatives from the cyber field.

Mehwish Rani is one of our students from the 2017-2019 cohort. Please watch the short video from her visit to London to meet Emily Winterbotham from RUSI (Royal United Services Institute).