Prota Financial, a Houston-based financial services firm, and CoFES have a strong desire to understand market phenomena and the complex interrelated factors that cause markets to move up and down.
The Prota Challenge, sponsored by Prota Financial in association with CoFES, is a competition that has become a cornerstone of involvement at many Eubank Conferences. The grand prize will be a $1,000 cash prize and will be awarded to the most viable solution that addresses the points of the challenge.
The Prota Challenge, which is open to all Rice undergraduate and graduate students and alumni, involves team-based efforts to investigate, analyze, and present a robust strategy to a real-world problem in computational finance and economic systems. The purpose of the collaborative problem-solving technique is to better understand markets, economic principles, and quantitative techniques used on Wall Street to make better market models.
If you are not currently a student and wish to participate, please contact the competition organizer Dr. John Dobelman to discuss eligibility. At least one member of your team must be a Rice student/alumni.
To participate, submit the online form by April 20. The poster titles and list of team members will be listed on the event website.
See Prota Challenge Description –https://eubank2022.rice.edu/prota-challenge-description
To enter the Prota Challenge participants must:
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- Complete the online registration form, which includes a one-page prospectus of your approach. The point of the prospectus is to see if contestants have a viable approach to address the points in the challenge. Details, such as coding algorithms and results, are not needed at the prospectus stage. Applicants will be notified after submitting their prospectus. This decision will be based on the quality of your prospectus.
- Develop and print your poster. Poster boards will be provided.
- Set up your poster on Monday, April 25 from 8:30-9:00 a.m. Early set up by your team will allow for all-day viewing of the poster.
- Teams present their poster at Eubank Conference during lunch and at the post-conference reception. Awards will be announced at the end of the reception. To be eligible for the prize, all team members are required to present.
How many people are allowed on each research team?
Teams should be no larger than necessary to accomplish the challenge objectives, usually 1-3 people.
Will electricity be available in case we want to use a projector system to animate our poster?
It is recommended that the poster be standalone without the use of electronic aids. If you wish to use a device to augment your poster, you should bring a stool or something of that nature on which to put your device. Power at the periphery of the exhibition hall is available for charging electronic devices.
What are the judging criteria?
The primary criterion is how well the solution addressed the points of the challenge. Additional criteria include originality, viability/practicality of approach, and realistic/unbiased methodology. This entails the judges’ personal assessment of the poster and responses to questions asked by the judges that explain the contestant’s work and reasoning. Judges are looking for thoroughness in the answer and the best rationale supporting the contestant’s answer. This should include a discussion of dead ends encountered during the research phase.
Who will be the judges?
Prior to the announcement of the awards, the judges are anonymous. Judges have previously included faculty and alumni from Rice University, the University of Houston, and various CFA/RIA/CTA/fund advisors in the Houston area.
Who will retain the intellectual property rights to the ideas presented at the Conference?
Prota Financial reserves the right to use the results in its business and to be able to discuss the details of the challenge with anyone either publicly or privately. The contestants retain all rights, and they will own their IP.