Whether watching furtive investors rush to buy gold at the Savoy, interviewing evasive European Commissioners or tracking the movements of Radovan Karadzic, there has always been plenty to do during my time as the Sander Thoenes fellow.

Having joined the FT the day after Lehman Brothers collapsed, I found myself at the heart of financial journalism at a particularly exciting and turbulent time. To see the FT’s team organise its response to the crisis and help to co-ordinate coverage across the world gave me a fantastic insight into global news reporting at its most impressive.

Both at the FT’s world desk in London and at its Brussels bureau – housed in a grand Belgian mansion – I have worked alongside inspiring reporters and editors who were generous with their advice and keen to discuss new ideas. True to the paper’s reputation for being collaborative, I was always encouraged to contribute to stories where I could, whether it be reporting on a landmark House of Lords ruling, Stansted airport protestors or the EU’s fiscal stimulus.

I have heard from those who worked with Sander that he was known for his enthusiasm, energy and determination. I am sure that any young reporter who is as eager to travel and write would find the award an incredible experience – and an ideal preparation for life as a foreign correspondent.

Read 2007 Laura Dixon’s account, Tom Burgis’ the 2006 prize winner and Siew Hua Seah, the 2005 prize winner.