T. Baswell Donaldson Memorial Lecture and the 50th Anniversary Research Competition Rules
The T. Baswell Donaldson Research Competition and Prize takes on added significance in 2024, as the Central Bank of The Bahamas celebrates the 50th Anniversary of its establishment. The competition continues the legacy of the Central Bank’s first Governor in striving to identify and inspire young scholars destined to stand out in their future contributions to Bahamian scholarship and national development, in the areas of economics, finance and business. In the tradition established by Mr. Donaldson, it also recognizes the value of higher education and technical skills in supporting progressive development of both regulators and other participants in the domestic economy. Through the Central Bank, Mr. Donaldson was instrumental in establishing the Bahamas Institute of Bankers (now the Bahamas Institute for Financial Services), and contributed as a past Chairman of the College of The Bahamas (now the University of The Bahamas); both important capacity building institutions for the country.
The 2024 Research Competition will feature prominently in the schedule of events celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Central Bank of The Bahamas. Hence, it is co-branded as the 50th Anniversary Research Competition. It will feature an increase in the monetary value of the prizes granted, and allow selected finalists to participate in a research seminar sponsored by the Central Bank, aimed at refining their entries. From this selected group, the Research Prize will be awarded, along with second place and honourable mentions.
Students are invited to submit a completed, unpublished research paper on a policy, applied or theoretical treatment of a topic in business, economics or finance of direct relevance to The Bahamas. The submission must be of academic quality and adhere to academic standards of formatting and presentation. Judging of submissions will be done by an independent panel of academic and professional experts.
The deadline for submissions is 11:59 p.m. on the 30th of April 2024.
The Research Prize is $30,000, with the second place submission receiving $10,000 and two honourable mentions that will receive $5,000 each.
RULES:
Eligible Researchers
- Bahamian student currently matriculating
- Part-time or Full-time
- Locally or abroad
- Undergraduate or graduate
Eligible Subject Areas
A policy-focused, applied or theoretical research paper in economics, business or finance. This could include a concentration on [1]:
- Business or Finance
- Monetary Policy
- Fiscal Policy
- Development Economics
Paper Submission Requirements: Completed papers must be uploaded via the competition website https://centralbankbahamas.submittable.com/submit. Students will be asked to create a username and password, and provide contact details for subsequent communications. All submissions must be in portable document format (.pdf). Entries will NOT be accepted in any editable word-processing format.
- APA (American Psychological Association) formatted, unpublished work not currently submitted for consideration for any other open competition or the recipient of another open prize[2]
- Sole authorship
- All references to the identity of the author should be removed from the text. The paper should include a cover page and abstract of no more than 300 words, with all references to the identity of the author also removed
- A separate cover page submission with the identity and contact details (email, telephone, educational institution) of the author revealed
- No more than 30 pages not including graphs, charts, references and cover pages, double-spaced, 12 point sized font
PRIZE
- $30,000 cash prize for first place
- $10,000 cash prize for second place
- $5,000 cash prize for (2) honourable mentions
Deadline: 11:59 p.m, 30 April 2024
The upload deadline is 30 April 2024. Students are advised to give themselves enough time for the upload, by creating their usernames in advance. For more information please write to EXR@Centralbankbahamas.com. The submissions site will not allow uploads after the deadline.
[1] Political or Political Science (poli-sci) papers will not be considered.
[2] Papers that received a recognition or award as part of a recognition or awards process that is internal to the school or university at which the student is enrolled may still qualify for submission