What is the Applied Research Award?

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Now in its 11th year, 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, and risk management. Building on the strong momentum of the inaugural India Research Award in 2024, we anticipate an even greater impact and visibility in 2025.

The Award will grant $7500 to the winning job market paper and $1500 to the 4 runners-up. Job market papers should be based on quantitative research and provide practical solutions to the challenges faced by investors and risk managers.

2025 Academic Panelists

Dr. Ronald N. Kahn

Dr. Ronald N. Kahn

MD, Global Head – Systemic Investment Research, BlackRock
Dr. Sankarsan Basu

Dr. Sankarsan Basu

Professor Finance – IIM Bangalore, President of Asia Pacific Insurance Association (APRIA)
Dr. Sandeep Juneja

Dr. Sandeep Juneja

Director, Safexpress Center for Data, Learning and Decision Sciences, Ashoka University
Dr. Rajeswari Sengupta

Dr. Rajeswari Sengupta

Associate Professor of Economics at IGIDR, Mumbai, Member FICCI Economist forum,SERI
Dr. Ranjan Chakravarty

Dr. Ranjan Chakravarty

Professor of Practice, Great Lakes, Co-founder Multi asset strategy HFT Trading
Dr. Karthik Balakrishnan

Dr. Karthik Balakrishnan

Professor of Accounting, Indian School of Business

Interested in Applying? Here's What You Need to Know

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In its second year in the region, the award continues its collaboration with the India Finance Association (IFA) to broaden outreach among Indian researchers. To learn more about IFA and submit your research paper, visit the submission form here

Application Deadline: August 17, 2025

All applications must be submitted through the IFA website. A panel will review the submissions and select ten finalists for a virtual presentation round. Each finalist will participate in a half-day virtual session, presenting for 20 minutes followed by a 10-minute Q&A with judges and BlackRock subject matter experts. Candidates must submit their PowerPoint presentations in advance, which will be used during the session.

Final Presentation and Recognition

The award ceremony will culminate in November 2025 at BlackRock’s offices in Gurugram and Mumbai, India (exact date to be confirmed). Panelists will join both in person and virtually from BlackRock’s global offices. Finalists will also present their work at the India Finance Conference in December 2025, as per the official schedule.

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.
    • 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.