What your child is joining, in detail.
Global Research Fellowship is a selective finance research program for high school students. Fellows work with a practitioner mentor on a live market question and finish with written research they can defend. This page sets out how the program works, what it costs, and where its limits are.
What GRF is, and what it isn't.
Student programs often blur the line between real research and enrichment. This section draws it clearly, so you can judge fit before committing anything.
What GRF is
- Finance only: markets, macro, credit, currencies, sovereign risk, and capital flows. Not a general research experience.
- Mentorship from people who have done this work professionally, applying the standard they were held to.
- A small, structured environment that produces written work your child can explain and defend.
- A program that treats the parent or guardian as the primary point of contact.
What GRF is not
- Not an admissions guarantee. We make no claims about acceptances.
- Not a summer enrichment program, and not an investing club.
- Not a credential. What your child leaves with is the work itself.
- Not large. Seats are limited because attention is the point.
How each track works.
Both are held to the same standard: direct feedback, primary sources, and revision until the argument holds. They differ in group size, price, and what your child produces.
A working analyst desk
A six-week cohort of five Fellows led by Alex Dryden, who did this work at J.P. Morgan. The desk takes on one live market question together, and each Fellow owns and writes a distinct angle on it.
An independent paper
One-to-one mentorship for a student writing their own finance paper. The mentor is matched to your child's interests and guides question design, sources, argument, and revision. Your child remains the author throughout.
Your child learns from a practitioner.
The desk is led by Alex Dryden. The standard your child's work is held to is the one he worked to across a decade of making real market calls.
How authorship works.
A mentor's job is to challenge the question, cut weak arguments, and force revision. It is not to write the work. Credit is assigned as follows in each track.
In the cohort
The desk investigates one situation together, but each Fellow holds a distinct research question and writes their own paper on it. The completed paper is featured under their own name on the GRF website alongside the work of the other Fellows.
In 1:1 mentorship
Your child is the primary author from the opening question to the final line. The mentor guides and critiques. The thesis, the evidence, and the writing stay the student's own.
What we don't promise.
The limits deserve to be stated as clearly as the offer.
No admissions outcomes
Research can strengthen an application. It cannot guarantee an acceptance, and we make no claim that it does.
Website showcase, not journal publication
Completed Research Desk papers are featured on the GRF website in a cohort collection. This is not publication in an external academic journal. Journal submission is considered only where the work is genuinely ready, and external acceptance is never guaranteed.
No manufactured track record
GRF is a new program. There is no alumni list yet, and we will not invent one. What we point to instead is the mentor, the structure, and a sample research paper, which you can read before deciding anything.
What it costs.
Pricing is stated up front. If cost is a genuine obstacle for a strong applicant, note it in the application and it can be discussed during review.
Research Desk tuition. Five Fellows, September 2026.
Private 1:1 Mentorship. Individual mentor matching, direct guidance, and a student-authored paper.
Questions before your child applies?
Both applications ask for a parent or guardian email, because we keep you informed throughout. If something here isn't covered, write to us and we will answer it directly before you decide.