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UK Students compete for £15,000 scholarship
Ambitious students were recently given the chance to compete for a £15,000 grant to start their own business.
Two students from the UK were fortunate enough to be shortlisted for the grant. Mike Quinn, awarded an MBA from Oxford’s Said Business School, and Regis Pradal of LSE’s management course visited the Dutch city in late November, competing against six others.
As part of a worldwide initiative by Meltwater Group, a global software company, entrants were asked to submit a video pitching their idea. The finalists were then flown to Amsterdam, where they again pitched their ideas to a panel and received feedback, regardless of the outcome.
Quinn, whose African Business Partners hoped to help enterprises reinvest to tackle local poverty, said of the session: “It has forced me to have a hard think and look at the practical steps I need to take to move forward.”
The grant was eventually awarded to a group of three students from the UC Berkeley, California, who were developing a lighting system for greenhouses that would offer the best rate of photosynthesis at the lowest cost. If all goes to plan, they hope it to be more efficient than natural light.
All three students are currently working on their doctorates and worked on the project in addition to their other academic responsibilities.
The Meltwater Scholarship, in it’s first year , attracted 120 entries from which the finalists were then selected.
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