The inaugural Warwick Economics Summit Bursary Scheme was launched in December 2011 and received a large number of applications from as far as Croatia, Canada, Brazil, Nigeria, the United States and India. Candidates were asked to submit a personal statement detailing their interest in their chosen field and what they hoped to gain from attending the Summit. In addition, applicants submitted references from their Universities showing their academic records and financial need.
A committee consisting of representatives from Warwick Economics Summit, the University of Warwick Students’ Union and the University of Warwick International office had the unenviable task of selecting the winners of the awards. Summit Co-Coordinator Stela Bonifacic said “It was very hard to choose between the candidates as there were so many excellent applications. We were thrilled to have received so many applications from so far away.”
The winners of the bursary have been announced as Pulkit Agrawal from Harvard University, Massachusetts in the United States and Richa Srivastava from India Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India. Both are undergraduates in Economics at their respective universities. Pulkit and Richa demonstrated outstanding academic ability, interest in the Summit and significant financial need which would have otherwise prevented them from attending the Summit. Summit Co-Coordinator Winston Yap commented “We are delighted that we were able to offer such deserving students the opportunity to come to the Summit. We hope the winners will have memorable experiences at Warwick Economics Summit”. The bursary scheme was funded by the student-run Warwick Economics Summit, in conjunction with the University of Warwick International Office.
Now in its 11th year, Warwick Economics Summit has quickly become one of the most well known and largest student-run academic conferences in Europe. Each year 400 students from over 50 top universities such as MIT, Princeton, Oxford and Cambridge, and almost 20 countries around the world including the United States, Brazil. Canada and India descend upon the University of Warwick for a weekend of talks, seminars and debates by world renowned speakers from the spheres of Economics, Politics and International Relations. The social highlight of the weekend is the Summit Ball for all 400 delegates.
In previous years, speakers have included Nobel Laureate Professor John F. Nash, Professor Ewald Dowotny, Governor of the National Bank of Austria and Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2010. The 2012 Summit promises to be an historic occasion with more world renowned speakers. Confirmed speakers for the 2012 Summit include Nobel Laureate Professor George Akerlof, bestselling author of “The Armchair Economist” Professor Steven Landsburg, Mr Rufus H. Yerxa, Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organisation and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The event will be livestreamed on the offical website http://www.warwickeconomicssummit.com.
The Summit, which takes place from 17-19 February 2012, is organised by a diligent team of 45 students with support from the University of Warwick and corporate sponsors. Warwick’s Vice Chancellor Professor Nigel Thrift said “Warwick Economics Summit is a fantastic event that the University is proud to host. We are delighted to have speakers of this calibre on our campus.”
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Note to Editors:
1. When publishing features about the above event online, please provide a link to our official website: http://www.warwickeconomicssummit.com
List of confirmed speakers for Warwick Economics Summit 2012
Nobel Laureate Professor George Akelof
Bestselling Author Professor Steven Landsburg
Rufus H. Yerxa, Deputy Director-General of the WTO
Lamido Sanusi, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
Dr Adam Posen, Monetary Policy Committee
Paul Ormerod, leading British economist
John O’Sullivan, Britain Economics Editor, The Economist
Baroness Vadera, former government minister
Charles Seaford, New Economics Foundation
Dr Johannes Abeler, University of Oxford
Professor Abhinay Muthoo, University of Warwick
Professor Sascha Becker, University of Warwick
Margaret Doyle, journalist and broadcaster
John Hemming MP, Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley
Phillip Blond, Director of ResPublica
Maya Mehta, founder of the microfinance group at Clifford Chance
