A team of students from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń secured 3rd place in the national final of the CFA Institute Research Challenge, which took place on 26 February 2026 at the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The team, supervised by an academic advisor from the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management (Michał Buszko, PhD), consisted of four students from the Finance and Accounting programme (WNEiZ) and one student from the Faculty of Law and Administration.
The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an international analytical competition for students organized by the CFA Institute in cooperation with local CFA societies and financial market partners. Participants, working in small teams under the supervision of an academic advisor and with the support of an industry mentor, prepare a professional equity research report in English concerning a selected publicly listed company.
In this year’s edition, the company selected for analysis was Cyber_Folks S.A. The teams were required to prepare a comprehensive analysis including, among other elements, a fundamental analysis of the company, valuation, risk assessment, ESG analysis, and an investment recommendation. The best teams in the country subsequently presented their reports during the final stage of the competition and answered detailed questions from the jury composed of financial market professionals.
For students of finance-related programmes, participation in the CFA Institute Research Challenge represents one of the most prestigious, demanding, and practice-oriented academic experiences.
Achieving 3rd place in the national final by the NCU team is of particular significance, as it marks the first time in the university’s history that a team from Nicolaus Copernicus University advanced to the final stage of the competition. Securing a place on the podium confirms the high substantive quality of the analysis, the team’s valuation expertise, the quality of the presentation, and the participants’ ability to respond effectively to the jury’s questions. In the final round, the NCU team competed against teams representing numerous renowned academic institutions from across Poland.
This achievement constitutes an important distinction both for the participating students and for the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management at Nicolaus Copernicus University, confirming the high quality of education in the field of finance and the effectiveness of preparing students for analytical work in the capital market.
