Research Challenge

CFA Institute Research Challenge

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that connects university students with investment professionals from within the CFA Society^® network. The competition provides students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and ethics and tests participants' analytical, valuation, reporting writing, and presentation skills.

Members of our society, along with a faculty advisor and an industry mentor, work with teams of students to value a stock, write a research report, and present their recommendations. Teams then compete with peers from other schools at local-level competitions organized and judged by CFA Society members and volunteers. The winning university team(s) from each local competition then advances to see who will become the sub-regional, regional, and global champions.

Learn more and read FAQs See the schedule and get involved

4,000+

Member Volunteers

150+

CFA Societies

6,200+

Students

1,100+

Universities

How it Works

Local level competitions are organized and judged by CFA Society® members and volunteers who function as local hosts.

The winning university team from each local competition advances to one of the three regional competitions.

The regional and global competitions are hosted by CFA Institute in the Americas; the Asia Pacific; and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions. The winning teams from each regional competition advance to the Global Final, where one team emerges as the global champion.

How to Get Involved

The Research Challenge provides all participants – both individuals and organizations – with incredible opportunities to get involved.

Students: Find out if your university participates by asking your professor, our Society, or checking the participating universities list.
Universities: Form your team and give students the opportunity to compete against their peers and gain real-world experience.
Employers: Become a judge, mentor, grader, speaker, or corporate sponsor.

Questions?

Students FAQs

University FAQs

Employer FAQs

Participating Universities

Princess Sumaya University for Technology
Yarmouk University
Hashemite University
University of Jordan
American University of Madaba
German-Jordanian University

Competition Timeline

October 2025	Register with CFA Institute
20th October 2025	Company Presentation
31st January 2026	1st Draft Due to Mentor
5th February 2026	Final Report Due
Interim	Report Grading
15th February 2026	Local Final Presentations
March & April 2026	Sub Regional & Regional Final
May 2026	Global Final