A Finalist Celebration!

On Friday 16 July, the School of Economics came together to celebrate our final year students in an event that reflected on their time at Kent and also looked towards the future. Unable to celebrate together, we streamed live from The Gulbenkian with some help from KMTV.

Head of School Professor Miguel Leon Ledesma, unable to be at the event in person sent a message of congratulation, leaving the hosting duties to live-streaming pro Professor Alastair Bailey joined by Dr Amrit Amirapu and Dr Amanda Gosling to celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2021.

‘A degree in Economics represents an enormous investment of your time and energy and you should be rightly proud of your achievements.’ Bailey told finalists. Thank you to all of the friends and family members who are watching today – you have provided support in so many ways for our graduates, for which you too deserve thanks and congratulations.’ 

Stage Three convenor Amanda Gosling announced this years prize winners. 

Jack Butland was awarded Best 3rd year performance. 

Joel Pointon was awarded Undergraduate best performance and dissertation prize; Joel did his dissertation on ethnic pay gaps and you can watch the video of his speech played during the ceremony. 

Jacon Cowen was awarded the dissertation prize; Jacob did his dissertation on the impact of news on the stock market. 

Nikita Golubov was awarded the dissertation prize. Nikita’s work was on the impact of ‘framing’ on participant behaviour in economic experiments.

Eleanor Taylor was awarded the dissertation prize. Eleanor’s work was on transport demand. 

Adhitya Uan-Sudheer was awarded the dissertaion prize; Adhitya’s work was on worker preferences for office versus home working. 

The Thirlwall prize for development was awarded jointly to Joshua Green and David Bateman. 

Senior Tutor Amrit Amirapu acknowledged the challenges this particular cohort have had to make studying throughout a global pandemic.

‘Hopefully this experience in facing and adapting to challenges will serve you well in whatever you choose to do going forward.’ he continued ‘I know that you have been through a period of time that has been, in large part, scary, sad, frustrating or boring. Now, the overwhelming feeling may be one of uncertainty. But I hope that you are able to lean-in to that uncertainty and to feel a sense of possibility and excitement about the choices and paths that lay before you at this stage of your life. It is an exciting time, and I hope you relish that – because you’ve earned it!’ 

Congratulations to all our students! We really love it when you stay in touch. Please register with Kent Alumni so you can continue to stay part of our community.

As you head out into your respective fields, don’t forget the Careers & Employability Service at Kent, supporting you for up to 3 years after graduation. Register to access their services

Watch the full event on YouTube