The NBU has summed up the results of the V Student Championship Monetary Policy: NBU University Challenge. This is a competition among teams from different Ukrainian universities that is hosted by the NBU annually since 2019 to deepen students’ practical grasp of monetary policy’s role.
Over 120 participants from 11 regions of Ukraine and the city of Kyiv entered NBU University Challenge in 2023.
24 student teams from 22 Ukrainian universities participated in the competition. During the championship, students were able to:
- take a look behind the scenes of the monetary regulator’s decision-making process and find out how the NBU’s monetary function, Monetary Policy Committee, and Board operate amid a full-scale war
- improve their skills in macroeconomic analysis, analytical thinking, and economic and mathematical modeling
- develop their teamwork and public-speaking skills.
Each team prepared a presentation with its own macroeconomic overview, forecast, and proposed solutions for interest rates, the official exchange rate, and FX restrictions.
The best projects were presented during the final round of the championship on 24 November 2023. The jury assessed the students’ understanding of the key concepts in macroeconomics and monetary policy, the quality of macroeconomic analysis, completeness of answers to the questions, team work, and presentation skills.
Teams from the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv School of Economics, and Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University competed in the finals to win the NBU Governor’s Cup.
The team from Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University won this year’s Monetary Policy: NBU University Challenge and the NBU Governor’s Cup. The team includes the following 4th-year students of the Department of Economics: Bohdan Chepyha (captain), Oleksandra Dederchuk, Yuliia Fedoryshyn, and Diana Vyshyvaniuk. The team's mentor is Andrii Pilko, Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Cybernetics at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, PhD in Economics.
The 2nd degree diploma was awarded to the team of 1st and 2nd-year students from the Master's degree programs in Economics at the Kyiv School of Economics. Team members include: Denys Bobyr (captain), Maksym Homeniuk, Kyra Nechyporenko, Petro Nochovkin, and Regina Nechyporenko. The team mentor is Olesia Verchenko, Academic Director for Economics Education at KSE, PhD in Economics.
The 3rd degree diploma was awarded to the team from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The team consisted of 4th-year bachelor's and 2nd-year master’s students in the Department of Economics: Mykhailo Voronin (captain), Anastasiia Tashlyk, Yurii Kovalenko, Oleksandra Ovdiienko, and Roman Smychenko. The team mentor is Nataliia Slaviuk, Assistant Professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, PhD in Economics.
All 14 students from the finalist teams were invited for internship at the NBU. The winners of the challenge will also be awarded the NBU Governor's Cup and will be able to communicate with the NBU's experts in an informal atmosphere during a motivational meeting.
The jury for the finals of the V Student Championship Monetary Policy: NBU University Challenge comprised:
- Sergiy Nikolaychuk, Deputy Governor
- Volodymyr Lepushynskyi, Director, Monetary Policy and Economic Analysis Department
- Pervin Dadashova, Director, Financial Stability Department
- Olha Poharska, Deputy Director, Monetary Policy and Economic Analysis Department, Head of the Economic Analysis Office
- Mykhailo Rebryk, Head of the Monetary Policy Office, Monetary Policy and Economic Analysis Department
- Oleksandr Fаrynа, Head of the Research Division, Monetary Policy and Economic Analysis Department
- Mihnea Constantinescu, Manager of the Research Division,Monetary Policy and Economic Analysis Department. All the jury members above represent the NBU.
Additionally, Elisabeth Curtis, PhD, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics at Dartmouth College (U.S.), mentor of the student team that is a multiple winner of College Fed Challenge, joined the event as an honorary independent jury member.
“I would like to thank all the teams for participating in the championship. I also thank you for dedicating your time to such a very important topic as monetary stability. Monetary stability underpins many processes: stability forms the basis, while understanding of the underlying processes impacts the quality of decisions. Judging by the quality of presentations, I can confidently say that Ukraine has won today’s battle,” said Andriy Pyshnyi, welcoming the participants of the final round.
Winners’ presentations and a video of the final round of the 5th Student Championship Monetary Policy: NBU University Challenge is available at the dedicated lending page.
The NBU intends to continue the tradition of holding the NBU University Challenge in the future.