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Brunel funding opens global student opportunity to develop digital transformation skills

Malika Sachdeva_Summer School (1)

At Brunel, providing overseas opportunities for our students to enhance their personal development and professional growth to stand out in the global workplace is key. We’re committed to supporting participation in international activities as part of the academic experience, providing financial support for our students to develop their skills for the future.

This summer, Brunel was pleased to provide funding to enable our student - Malika Sachdeva - to attend the Building Up Digital Strategists (BUDS) ‘Management Consulting in the Digital Age’ intensive training programme in Italy; a summer school hosted by Tor Vergata University of Rome, providing the opportunity to hear from leading management consulting firms - including Accenture, Deloitte, SAP, Salesforce, and NTT Data - and learn about the digital transformation projects they are developing for the future.

Now a class of 2022 BSc Financial Mathematics graduate, Malika shares her experience of the summer school, her programme highlights, and the benefits of receiving financial support from Brunel to attend.

Tell us about yourself and your experience at Brunel?

I have completed a four-year course in Financial Mathematics, including a placement year as a Clinical Statistician at GSK. My experience at Brunel has been incredibly positive - I have been supported throughout my studies in several ways, whether that be by my professors in academia or by the Professional Development Centre for securing placements and graduate jobs.

How did you hear about the summer school and the funding available?

Brunel, via the Young European Research Universities Network (YERUN), offered the chance to attend this summer school. I heard about the summer school via an email sent by Dr Inma Andres - Brunel’s YERUN Coordinator - detailing the opportunity and application process. Thanks to EU funding, the programme was free of charge for all participants, with Brunel covering the cost of travel, accommodation and other expenses for all selected final year undergraduate and master’s students.

“The financial support kindly provided by Brunel was the key reason that made attending the summer school possible.”

How did you get a place on the summer school and why were you interested in attending?

To secure a place, I submitted my CV, a motivation letter and an academic transcript. I was interested in attending because, whilst applying for graduate jobs, I realised how important digital transformation is for companies. Regardless of the nature of the role I applied for, digital transformation related questions were a common theme in every application. In addition to this, my personal motivation to apply was to build on the skills I learned during my placement year as a Statistician with GSK where I was able to delve into data science.

Malika Sachdeva_Summer School (3)

What was your favourite part of the programme?

My favourite parts of the programme were comprised of more than one aspect. Firstly, it was the chance to collaborate with students from different countries. Being able to learn from their experiences and combine our individual ideas to work towards our project was a very educational learning experience. The second aspect that I enjoyed was the interactive nature of the summer school. I was able to listen to lectures delivered by senior employees working in various companies such as Accenture and Deloitte, and put forward my questions. Lastly, I enjoyed being able to apply the theoretical knowledge gained during the prerequisite self-paced course to practical settings and scenarios.

What difference did the Brunel financial support make to you?

The financial support kindly provided by Brunel was the key reason that made attending the summer school possible. Especially being a student, it would otherwise have been difficult to arrange the financial support I would need to travel abroad for a week. I would like to thank the University for the support which allowed me to gain invaluable experience and have a fun time whilst learning about digital transformation.

“I hope to apply my learnings from the summer school to help facilitate digital transformation for my company.”

What's next for you?

I will be starting a graduate scheme programme with Front Office Investment Banking. I hope to apply my learnings from the summer school to help facilitate digital transformation for my company, whilst also find as many opportunities as possible to continue collaborating with colleagues and learning new things.

We encourage our students to take advantage of the many opportunities provided by Brunel to have overseas experiences, explore new places, and develop their skills to stand out in the global job market. More information about global opportunities is available on our ‘Global’ student intranet pages.