All Aston University postgraduate students studying business have the opportunity to take part in the Universities Business Challenge (UBC) Global Masters. The UBC Global Masters is a team-based business simulation event that provides participants with the opportunity to act as a board of directors, who have taken responsibility for improving the performance of a company. You and your team will need to take into account not only the financial performance of the company but also its responsibilities to its various stakeholders including its suppliers, its customers, and its employees.
The UBC Global Masters offers postgraduate students a unique opportunity to develop the skills that you will need when moving into the working world. Whether you are hoping to work for a large multinational corporation, take on a public-sector role, return to run a family-owned business, or set up your own enterprise, you will need to develop your skills in making the strategic and operational decisions that create value for organisations.
The UBC Postgraduate Global Masters provides an opportunity for personal and professional development that is intellectually challenging and practically relevant, equipping participants with essential skills. Find out more here.
The UBC is an annual event, where you will compete with University teams across the UK. The UBC commences around October and runs over two rounds through to approx March the following year. All Aston University postgraduate students studying business can take part in this activity (September and January starts), you can pick your own team of 5 from your course or express an interest to join and be matched up with other Aston postgraduate students from a range of courses.
Aston University has taken part in many UBC Global Masters, within the last two competitions we have funded the entry of 12 teams and had five of these teams go on to represent Aston in the finals. Find out more about the teams that made it into the finals below.
2022/2023 UBC Final
As the current holder of the UBC Global Masters Trophy (see below), the March 2023 grand final was hosted here at Aston Business School, with teams from the universities of Dundee, Lancaster, Leeds, Lincoln, Liverpool, Sheffield Hallam, Southampton and Aston. Exceptionally, three Aston teams made it into the 12-team final (out of approx. 90 entries) but didn’t get onto this year’s podium – ceding ‘our’ title to Southampton University.
- Team AD2
Team members are Vidhya Sivakumar, Anoop Gupta, Anshika Lakhina, Avni Ahuja and Suvam Podder - all studying their MBA at Aston University.
Their team leader is Vidhya Sivakumar and their staff mentor is Dr Ilias Basioudis.
They won their eight-team qualifying group to make it into the UBC GM Grand Final.
- Team AF2
Team members are a mix of MSc and MBA students at Aston University, comprising Hamza Ali, Kranthi Kumar Varaganti, Eno-Emem Egbas and Monica Ugoma Ekeleme.
Their team leader is Hamza Ali and their staff mentor is Dr George Salijeni.
They won their eight-team qualifying group to make it into the UBC GM Grand Final.
- Team AK2
Team members are Anurag Verma, Nikhil Nunna, Pham Quynh Mai Dinh, Riddhi Banerjee and Taradheesh Dubey – all studying their MBA at Aston University.
Their team leader is Anurag Verma and their staff mentor is Dr Reza Marvi.
They won their eight-team qualifying group to make it into the UBC GM Grand Final.
2021/2022 UBC Final (winners!)
This year we had two Aston University teams make it to the final in March 2022, which took place at Liverpool University - there were only 10 finalists out of 72 participants overall. A team of Aston MBA students took the top prize at the Universities Business Challenge (UBC) Global Masters 2022!
- Team GG3
Team members are Jagriti Verma, Kumar Putta, Rohan Nanda, Nabeel Ismail Hassan and Jaya Singh - all studying their MBA at Aston University.
Their team leader is Jagriti Verma and their staff mentor is Dr Ilias Basioudis.
They qualified for the grand final and finished between 5-10th place.
- Team GE7
Team members are Mithun Joy, Aishwarya Nagath Menon, Nashit Khalifa, Vasilijs Garbacevics and Divya Kristipati - all studying their MBA at Aston University.
Their team leader is Mithun Joy and their staff mentor is Dr Julius Stephan.
They qualified for the grand final and went on to win the competition in March 2022!
“It’s a fantastic feeling to win the UBC, especially against some of the best business schools in the country. It’s a testament to the knowledge and experience I have gained in my MBA programme. The win has certainly boosted my confidence in terms of my capabilities as a leader and an entrepreneur.”
Nashit Khalifa
2020/2021 UBC Final
- UBC Final agenda
This academic year, two Aston University teams made it into the final, which took place on Wednesday 10 March.
Due to the pandemic, all UBC events and the final had to take place virtually, however, the UCB team made sure to make the day worthwhile, and it was packed with some fantastic guest speakers as well as a range of challenging simulations. 20 teams from universities across the UK made it into the final.
- Team AE5
AE5 team members are Zongmin, Juijuan, Honghao, Jien and Fangning. They are all international students studying MSc Strategic Marketing Management
Their team leader is Fangning Xu (bottom right), and staff mentor is Lecturer in Marketing, Dr Julius Stephan (bottom middle)
They won their qualifying group and came 9th out of 20 in the final.
- Team AG5
Team AG5 is made up of five students, two are from the UK and three are international. Each person is on a different Aston Postgraduate course and they have come together to create this team.
The team leader is MBA student Shruti Arora (top left), and their staff Mentor is Accounting Lecturer, Matt Davies (top middle).
They qualified as best runners-up in round 1, from a very tough group with teams from Nottingham Trent (last year’s UBC GM winner) and Loughborough (2018 winners). They came 6th out of 20 in the final!
2019/2020 UBC Final
This year they had two qualifying rounds to get into the final's which was due to take place in London, however, due to the pandemic the final took place virtually on 2 April 2020. Three Aston University team's made it into the finals, find out more about the teams below.
- Team AH2
Aston team AH2 was made up of postgraduate students Faiza Adam, Yewande Porter, Pamela Chibanguza, Benjamin Hamandishe, and Joane Wankjiku Njeru.
They presented their final UBC pitch on setting up antique markets for the elderly and came 10th overall.
- Team AJ2
Aston team AJ2 was made up of postgraduate students Karina Kapina, Yuting Zhao, Khushbu Thakker, Amanpreet Sidhu, and Florence Mazy.
They presented their final UBC business pitch on setting up a castle visit subscription for the elderly. With the tagline: 'Don't miss your chance to water your roots. They came 5th overall.
- Team AJ2
Aston team AK2 was made up of postgraduate students Amanjot Grewal, Daven Sharda, Hussein Shabbir, Syed Jaffer Ali Jaffri, and Ben Maina.
They presented their final UBC business pitch on selling 'energy creating bicycles' for the active and Eco-friendly market and came 3rd overall.
