BlackRock Applied
Research Award 2018

Exceptional thinking.
Exceptional results.

Application due date: October 29, 2018
Event date: November 28, 2018

What is the Applied Research Award?

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Now in its fourth edition, the BlackRock Applied Research Award recognizes the top five job market papers submitted by PhD candidates on a practical topic pertaining to financial markets, economics, investment management, or risk management.

The Award will grant $25,000 to the winning job market paper submitted by PhD candidates. Job market papers should be based on quantitative research and provide practical solutions to the challenges faced by investors and risk managers.

Hear from our winners!

“The BlackRock Applied Research Award was extremely important for my research career, for not only did the award provide generous financial support for my dissertation, it directly inspired my subsequent research pipeline to focus on practically relevant topics with measurable impact on the investment management industry. Throughout my interactions with professionals in different teams at BlackRock during the entire process, I was constantly impressed by their broad knowledge of frontier topics and methods in both finance and technology, and their ability to effectively integrate these knowledge in large-scale investment settings.

I strongly encourage Ph.D. candidates to apply for the BlackRock Applied Research Award, and benefit from the valuable interactions with BlackRock team members. You will learn a lot from them.”

- Di (Andrew) Wu, 2015 BlackRock Applied Research Award Winner,
Assistant Professor of Technology and Operations and of Finance, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
 

“Blackrock’s Applied Research award had a dual impact on me: one internal, one external. First, it gave me more confidence to face the job market process. If a jury panel of such high quality enjoyed my research, I knew other people would too. Second, Blackrock’s prestige spilled over on me, giving me much more visibility and giving me also a “quality certification mark”. In many interviews, the interviewers brought up the award.

In sum, Blackrock’s Applied Research Award had a huge impact on my placement, and therefore on my career path.”

- Pablo Slutzky, 2016 BlackRock Applied Research Award Winner,
Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business

Want to apply?
What you need to know:

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Candidates must send their applications to applied research award by October 29, 2018.

The BlackRock Applied Research Award Academic Panel will review all submissions and invite 5 finalists by November 20, 2018.
Finalists will be invited to defend their job market paper at our New York office on Wednesday, November 28, 2018.

Award determination will be made by BlackRock’s Applied Research Award Committee which consists of a panel of finance leaders from BlackRock and academia.

To be considered for the award the
application must contain:

    • The candidate’s PhD job market paper. Important note: we request that all names and personal references be removed from the content in job market papers to ensure an unbiased review by our committee. This includes authors(s) names and affiliations, acknowledgments, seminars/conferences where the paper was presented, etc.
    • The candidate’s resume
    • A recommendation letter from the dissertation chair
    • Confirmation of your presence in the coming job market and for the first time. This confirmation may be provided by the dissertation chair (including through the recommendation letter) or by the head of the PhD program or the school department.

*All documents included in your application should be titled beginning with your last name

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2018 Academic Panel

 

  • Robert Engle, Michael Armellino Professor in the Management of Financial Services Finance, New York University Stern School of Business; Awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Economics
  • Terry Hendershott, Professor in Finance & Operations and Information Technology Management, Willis H. Booth Chair in Banking and Finance, Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley
  • Antoinette Schoar, Michael M. Koerner Professor of Entrepreneurship, MIT Sloan School of Management
  • Andrew Ang, Blackrock, Managing Director, Head of Factor Investing Strategies
  • Ron Kahn, BlackRock, Managing Director, Global Head of Systematic Equity Research

The 2017 final was very competitive, with four other very promising researchers:

  • Emilio Bisetti, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Financial Economics
  • Daniel Green, Sloane School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Finance
  • Yueran Ma, Harvard University, Business Economics
  • Sebastien Plante, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Finance

2017 Academic Panel

  • Andrew Ang, Managing Director, Head of Factor Investing Strategies at BlackRock
  • Ronald Kahn, Managing Director, Global Head of Scientific Equity Research at BlackRock
  • Robert Korajczyk, Harry G. Guthmann Professor of Finance, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
  • Deborah Lucas, Sloan Distinguished Professor of Finance, and Director of the MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy, MIT Sloan School of Management
  • David Musto, Ronald O. Perelman Professor in Finance Department Chair, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania