Adam Smith Business School student wins Undergraduate of the Year Award
Issued: Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:57:00 BST
(Image L-R: Alistair Milnes (Gazprom), Joshua Brown and Sir Trevor McDonald OBE)
Congratulations to Joshua Brown, Business Economics student, who has been awarded the Mathematics, Economics and Finance Undergraduate of the Year Award, sponsored by Gazprom. Joshua, who is currently in his final year, spent his junior honours year at the University of Melbourne and has been an ambassador for the University’s Study Abroad programme.
Joshua was presented with the award by Alistair Milnes, Gazprom, and Sir Trevor McDonald OBE at a special event held in London on Friday 19th April. The award includes a summer internship at Gazrom’s headquarters in London and a week in their Singapore office.
Finalists in the Mathematics, Economics and Finance category included students from the Universities of Bristol, Durham, St Andrews, Birmingham, Nottingham, Oxford and Cambridge, institutions which reflect the high level of competition and calibre of candidates. Two Glasgow students were finalists in other categories.
This year’s competition, which is hosted by TARGETjobs, saw over 4,000 students enter from over 140 universities. The objectives of the awards are to recognise the best undergraduates from around the UK. Students are required to demonstrate academic excellence in their area of study, pass a succession of challenging online assessments and exhibit good written skills. Students also compete in assessment centres managed by the award sponsor.
Joshua Brown comments, “My decision to apply to the TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year award was definitely a "might as well give it a go" moment. I certainly did not expect to win, and when I met the other candidates at the assessment centre this feeling was confirmed. The awards ceremony by itself made the more tedious parts of the application worthwhile, with a lunch in East Wintergarden hosted by Sir Trevor Macdonald. I was extremely pleased to win, and am very excited about what next year has in store for me. During the summer I shall be doing an internship in the Sales and Trading department with RBS, and in September I will join Gazprom Marketing and Trading on their Gas derivatives trading desk, with a week in Singapore also being part of the prize.
Hopefully winning the award, alongside a highly recognised degree from the University of Glasgow and an exchange at the University of Melbourne will enhance my career prospects and allow me to enter a graduate scheme in the field that I wish to enter, one that allows me to interact with markets. Glasgow University have been key in this process, as the flexible structure of the course allowed me to try different subjects in order to find the one that best fit what I wanted to do. Had I been forced to stick with the subject I chose straight out of school, I certainly would not be in the position I am now!”
Professor Farhad Noorbakhsh, Head of the Adam Smith Business School, comments, “We are delighted that Joshua has been presented with the Mathematics, Economics and Finance Undergraduate of the Year award. These prestigious awards recognise and celebrate the best undergraduate students from across the UK in specific degree areas and winning this award is testament to Joshua’s academic commitment and continuous hard work. The competition was exceptionally strong this year and Joshua has demonstrated that he not only the academic ability but also the interpersonal skills that recruiters demand in graduates.
We wish Joshua every success in his future endeavours.”
To find out more about the TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards please visit the event website.