XClose

UCL Department of Economics

Menu

UCL Economics Explore Econ 2024 winners announced

6 June 2024

UCL Department of Economics’ annual undergraduate student research conference awards student research

Explore Econ 2024 Best presentation winner Ishika Gupta
Image: First presentation winner Ishika Gupta pictured with Wendy Fung and Wendy Carlin

 

Explore Econ is the annual undergraduate student research conference, organised by the Centre for Teaching and Learning Economics (CTaLE) on behalf of the Department of Economics, showcasing our world-leading economics research both in and outside the curriculum. This past week, Explore Econ was back for its tenth year, highlighting the best independent research of our undergraduate students and the best entries will be submitted for publication in the Economic Tribune's Journal of Economics.

The conference was opened by the department's Director of Education, Peter Postl.  The host was our very own Ramin Nassehi and a panel of judges heard presentations from each of the shortlisted candidates and UCL Department of Economics alum and friend of UCL, Wendy Fung (HSBC Hong Kong), who presented prizes to the winners. The student-staff panel was chaired by Cecilia Nardinia (Compass Lexecon) and the panellists were Stephen Hansen (Department of Economics, UCL), Osama Rahman (Director of the Office of National Statistics Data Science Campus) and Undergraduate Economics students Emily Glezer and Anya Gray.

Ramin noted:

“I was thrilled to see Explore Econ celebrating its 10th anniversary with its characteristic energy. Students dressed smartly and eagerly invited friends and family to witness their presentations. I was especially delighted by the presence of attendees from LSE and Imperial College. My vision is to elevate Explore Econ into a prominent London-wide event, increasingly driven by student initiative.

  • Best presentation (first place)

Awarded to Ishika Gupta (main image) for her paper entitled, 'Decoding Vietnam’s economic miracle Structural change in Vietnam: The ‘Doi Moi’ era (1986 - 2005)'.

  • Best presentation (second place)

Awarded to Sanika Ghodke for her poster entitled, 'Did Universal Credit Lead to Better Labour Market Outcomes in the UK?'.

Second presentation winner Sanika Ghodke pictured with Wendy Fung and Wendy Carlin

  • Best presentation (third place)

Awarded to Yutong Li (pictured below with Wendy Fung and Wendy Carlin) for his paper entitled, 'Productivity Breakthrough or Not: How Internet Industry Has Impacted College Premium in China'

Third best presentation winner Yutong Li pictured with Wendy Fung and Wendy Carlin

  • People’s Choice Award

Awarded to Javier Torre de Silva (pictured below with Wendy Fung and Wendy Carlin) for his paper entitled, 'Outward-looking policy and structural change: The “Spanish Miracle” of 1959-1974'.

People's Choice winer Javier Torre de Silva pictured with Wendy Fung and Wendy Carlin

  • Stone Centre Prize

The Stone Centre Prize for the best inequality-related submission was awarded to Shriya Rastogi, Anandi Pal, Shyam Patra and Joe Hswen Lim (pictured below with Wendy Fung and Wendy Carlin) for their paper entitled, 'Examining the Impact of Digital Microcredit Programs on Borrower Poverty: Evidence from the M-Shwari Program in Kenya'. Shriya, Anandi, Shyam and Joe Hswen now join the Stone Centre at UCL as Stone Scholars, alongside Matias Makiranta who won last year’s prize.

Stone Centre winners Shriya Rastogi, Anandi Pal, Shyam Patra, Joe Hswen Lim pictured with Wendy Fung and Wendy Carlin

The closing remarks were delivered by the Head of department, Fabien Postel-Vinay, noting the department's special thanks to the generous prize donors, alumni Wendy Fung and the Stone Centre (led by Wendy Carlin and Imran Rasul of the Department of Economics.

Links

Image credit(s): UCL / Kirsten Holst