On Monday 12 October, Queen Mary University of London and Tashkent State University of Law (TSUL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding and an agreement to provide a pathway for TSUL undergraduate students to join postgraduate programmes within Queen Mary's School of Law and Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS).
Following successful completion of four years study at undergraduate level or one year's study at postgraduate level at TSUL, students may pursue a master's degree course within Queen Mary's School of Law, subject to entry requirements.
Queen Mary and TSUL have also identified other potential areas of collaboration, including programme development, translation of Queen Mary authored law books into Uzbek language and possible collaboration in other areas, including medicine and life sciences.
His Excellency Mr Said Rustamov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the United Kingdom, chaired the signing ceremony, which was attended by Professor Khakimov Rakhim, Rector of TSUL, Professor Islambek Rustambekov, Deputy Rector (Academic Affairs) and Mr Shokhruz Samadov, Head of Education, Culture & Healthcare for The Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in London.
Professor Colin Grant, Vice-Principal (International) and Professor Ioannis Kokkoris, Dean for International (Humanities and Social Sciences) and Clare Burke, Head of Partnerships, attended the ceremony on behalf of Queen Mary.
In his opening remarks Ambassador Rustamov described Queen Mary as 'one of the leading universities in the UK', and wished both universities a successful and fruitful collaboration. He also highlighted the academic potential of Uzbekistan, where 60% of the population are under the age of 30, improvements are being made to English language teaching and significant changes are being made in the education sector to raise standards.
Professor Grant said: "I am delighted that Queen Mary University of London has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding between our School of Law and Tashkent State University of Law (TSUL).
"We hope that this partnership - our first with a university in Uzbekistan - will build on our existing relationship and result in a greater number of TSUL students becoming part of the small but growing number of students from Uzbekistan choosing the UK as a destination for their studies. We look forward to welcoming them to our campus in London."