Today -July 1st, 2020- the Institute for European Studies (IES) of Vrije Universiteit Brussel organizes a graduation ceremony for the students of the Advanced Master in European Integration and LLM in International and European Law programmes. Nothing exceptional in itself, were it not for the fact that this ceremony will get a β€œhistorical” touch as it is the very first at the VUB to take place entirely online.

The whole event will be streamed on the IES Facebook page and will be as interactive as possible, as it is important to engage the students directly. In this way, the international student group of both these Advanced Master programmes, which will be spread all over the world at the time of the ceremony, will have the opportunity from their off-campus location to conclude their studies at the VUB in a festive and personal way, together with their fellow students, relatives and friends.

Sven Van Kerckhoven, Vice Dean of Education at the IES, emphasises the importance of this initiative: β€œOur students who graduate in 2020 do so in circumstances that we have never known before. They deserve infinite respect and appreciation for their performance. So we felt we should wave them off in an appropriate way, on their way to the next step in their lives. Behind the scenes, we are working hard on the preparations for this graduation and I am confident that it will go smoothly. With a healthy dose of nervousness that comes with such a premiere in livestream, we are all very much looking forward to it!”.

Curious how such an online graduation ceremony works? Then take a look at the Facebook channel of the Institute for European Studies on Wednesday 1 July at 5 pm. And do not hesitate to show your appreciation for our graduates during this online event with emojis or congratulations!