Edward, who graduated with first-class honours in the BSc Economics this summer, received £250.

He said: "I am delighted and feel a great sense of pride at having become the second recipient of the Professor Balasubramanyam Prize. Recognition of achievement is a cherished part of anyone’s education and I am thankful for the efforts and expense spent by all those associated with the award for making this possible.

"The substantial financial prize is incredibly generous and finishing my degree with champagne really was the icing on the cake.

"The Development Economics module has not only helped develop my critical thinking but has also shown me a whole new side to Economics. I have thoroughly enjoyed both the rigorous challenges of the course and the variety of content which was covered. Once again, many thanks to everyone involved with the course and this fantastic award.”

Edward is undertaking the NIHR Research Methods Fellowship comprising of being affiliated with the Team for Economic Evaluation and Health Technology Assessment and being a Health Economics Master’s student at the University of York.

The Professor Balasubramanyam Prize fund was donated by Professor Jagdish Bhagwati and Professor Padma Desai in 2014.