Stella So, winner of a PriceWaterhouseCoopers £5,000 bursary and a place on the University of Ulster’s new MSc Applied Management course, receives her award from PwC partner, Professor Bob McCullagh, economist John Simpson (left centre) and Dr Norry McBride, Co-Ordinator for Academic Enterprise for the Ulster Business School.

Stella So (23) is set to be a rising star in the business world after scooping major study awards at the University of Ulster.

Student Stella, from Newcastle, Co Down has won a £5,000 PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) bursary and a place on Ulster’s new Masters course in the skills of higher management.

PwC has thrown its weight behind the new MSc Applied Management degree. As part of its ongoing support for the course, it will deliver a Management Consultancy module.

Course Director Dr Norry McBride, Co-Ordinator for Academic Enterprise for the Ulster Business School, describes it as a highly innovative and diverse course.

 He says: “It focuses on an applied approach to management and part of it will involve students working in companies in Northern Ireland.  Included also is a brief study period at the University of Kempten in Germany in association with German industry.” 

Congratulating Stella, PwC partner Professor Bob McCullagh said a competition for the bursary had attracted much interest across the province. He will be one of the key presenters on the course. Economist John Simpson chaired the competition judging panel.

When she graduated with a BSc in Business with Computing in July, Stella also received the Northern Health & Social Care Trust award for the top University of Ulster student in that combined category.

As well, Stella was a member of the University of Ulster team who were outright winners of FLUX 2009, the UK's largest inter-university enterprise event. It draws teams together to compete an enterprise challenge.

Stella has her feet firmly on the ground, however. “I decided to go for the Masters in Applied Management because it seems such a hands-on programme that will provide the type of exposure to financial, marketing, entrepreneurial and other elements, that I just wouldn’t get anywhere else.”

 In her final year, she and fellow students visited Invest NI to gather information and to learn about its support mechanisms. That has given her a taste for that type of work, but her heart might lie in a career in academia.

 “I definitely want to work in InvestNI,” she says. “Further into the future, after being out in the world of work and getting some worthwhile experience, I would like to go into university lecturing.”

For further information, please contact:

Press Office, Department of Communication and Development
Tel: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk