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Ahead of his upcoming Entrepreneurial Masterclass on Monday 20th March, Communications Representative Cate Hamilton interviewed Stephen Roe, the School of Physics and Astronomy’s Entrepreneur in Residence, to find out about his career and how physics and industry can intertwine.
Duncan Harris, 4th year Physics & Music student, shares his experience with student run social finance fund, Prosper.
Going into the third year of my Physics and Music degree I began to look for ways to use the skills I had been learning on my course for something beyond the realm of quantum mechanics. A friend pointed me in the direction of Prosper Social Finance, I applied to join and have been involved ever since.
Prosper is the UK’s first student run social finance fund, started by some students here at Edinburgh a couple of years ago. We take on student analysts and train them in the fundamentals of financial analysis, stock markets and sustainability assessment methods whilst they research companies who might be suitable for our fund. This culminates in a stock pitch to our panel of industry experts who select the best stocks to invest in with money from the University. We invest with a longer term view, holding our investments for 5 years after which we sell and take any of the profits and distribute them to social enterprises and charities in Edinburgh.