Global Research Fellowship | Programs

Two ways into serious finance research.

Choose a five-student Research Desk Cohort or a private one-to-one mentorship. Both are built around the same discipline: ask a focused question, work with credible evidence, defend a view, and revise until the work holds.

Compare the programs See the research method
A real questionMove beyond a broad interest to a research problem that can be answered.
Serious feedbackTest evidence, expose weak claims, and revise with practitioner and academic guidance.
A defensible outputFinish with work the student understands deeply enough to explain under scrutiny.
Program paths

Two tracks. One standard of work.

The difference is not whether the work is serious. It is the amount of individual attention, the shape of the project, and whether the student learns inside a small research desk or through a fully private mentorship.

Group trackSeptember 2026

Research Desk Cohort

Five Fellows examine one major market theme from different angles. Each student owns an individual question and completes an individually authored report. Completed reports are featured together on the GRF website in a cohort collection.

$1,000per student
  • FormatLive online, worldwide
  • Cohort5 Fellows, Grades 9–12
  • Length6 weeks
  • DatesSeptember 14 to October 25, 2026
  • SupportPractitioner-led desk sessions plus individual research direction
  • AidNeed-based support up to 50%

Primary output

A 2,000–2,500-word report under the student’s own name, featured with four other reports on the GRF website in a Research Desk cohort collection.

Explore the Research Desk
Private trackRolling admission

Private Research Mentorship

A one-to-one research program built around one student’s interests. The question, mentor match, source base, schedule, and revision process are shaped around the individual project.

$4,999per student
  • FormatPrivate 1:1 mentorship
  • AdmissionRolling, subject to mentor availability
  • ScheduleSet with the matched mentor
  • QuestionIndependent and selected around the student’s interests
  • SupportCloser guidance on scope, evidence, argument, drafting, and revision
  • AidNeed-based support up to 50%

Primary output

An independently authored finance research paper, with honest external submission guidance where the quality and venue are genuinely aligned.

Explore private mentorship
How the work moves

From a real question to work a student can defend.

Both program paths use the same underlying research discipline. The mentor does not hand the student a conclusion; the process teaches the student how to earn one.

01

Question

Turn genuine curiosity into a finance question narrow enough to investigate properly.

02

Source base

Find credible reports and data, then decide what each source can and cannot prove.

03

Thesis

Move from an interesting topic to a clear view supported by the strongest evidence.

04

Revision

Challenge weak claims, confront counterarguments, and replace evidence that does not hold.

05

Final output

Complete work the student can explain, present, and defend without hiding behind jargon.

Who supports the work

Market judgment, academic structure, and close oversight.

Students are supported from three directions: a practitioner who understands the markets, an academic director who sets the research standard, and a program director who keeps the work moving.

01

Alex Dryden

Lead Market Mentor · Former Executive Director, J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Alex helps students interpret market evidence, test assumptions, and turn a developing idea into a view they can explain clearly.

02

Dr. PK

Academic Director · Curriculum and Research Structure

Dr. PK designs the research framework and standards for sources, argument, analytical writing, and revision.

03

Aaditya Singh

Founder and Program Director · Student Experience

Aaditya coordinates mentors and feedback, monitors progress, and oversees quality control through the final output.

J.P. Morgan
Columbia University
UC Berkeley
SOAS London

Professional and academic backgrounds of GRF program leaders. GRF is not affiliated with or endorsed by these organizations.

Research areas

Questions drawn from the forces that move markets.

Projects vary by cohort theme, mentor expertise, and student interest. GRF focuses on areas where the team can supervise the evidence and argument properly.

Macro

Sovereign risk

Debt sustainability, reserves, refinancing pressure, institutional credibility, and the path toward default.

FX

Currencies

Exchange-rate regimes, capital flight, balance-of-payments stress, and what central banks can defend.

Credit

Private markets

How loans are structured and refinanced, and what changes when access to credit becomes harder.

Geopolitics

Global capital

How policy, trade, demographics, and country risk change the direction and price of capital.

Which path fits?

Choose for the work the student needs now.

The cohort is not a lesser version of private mentorship, and private mentorship is not automatically the right choice. The better path depends on the student’s independence, the complexity of the question, and how much individual guidance the project requires.

Ask which path fits

Choose the Research Desk when…

  • The student wants the momentum and accountability of a five-Fellow cohort.
  • A shared market theme offers enough structure to begin serious research.
  • The student wants an individually authored report at a lower tuition.
  • A fixed six-week September schedule works for the family.

Choose private mentorship when…

  • The student already has a specific interest or independent question to develop.
  • The project needs a mentor match and a more individualized source base.
  • The student benefits from closer review across scope, thesis, evidence, and revision.
  • A rolling start and individually arranged schedule are important.
What the work is useful for

Substance that remains after the program ends.

The value is not a line on an activities list by itself. It is the evidence of sustained curiosity, analytical writing, independent thought, and the ability to finish difficult work.

A clearer intellectual lane

Students move beyond saying they are interested in finance and develop a defined question, argument, and evidence base.

Work worth discussing

A strong report gives students something concrete to explain in essays, interviews, research conversations, and future applications.

A method they can reuse

Students learn how to frame a question, select evidence, defend a view, accept criticism, and revise with purpose.

No admissions promises

GRF does not guarantee college admission, publication in an external journal, or a particular career outcome. Completed cohort reports are featured on the GRF website in a cohort collection; that is a program showcase, not journal publication. External submission guidance is offered only when the work and a suitable venue are genuinely aligned.

Choose the structure. Then do the work.

Explore the five-student Research Desk Cohort or the private one-to-one mentorship in detail before applying.

Research Desk Cohort Private Mentorship