
Hanfa selects the best scientific and expert student papers and awards the top three
At a ceremony held in Zagreb today, the Annual Award of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (Hanfa) for the best scientific and expert papers was presented to students. The awards were given to students whose expert and scientific papers were declared the best within the framework of the call launched by Hanfa at the beginning of last year. The papers, covering the area of economics, were reviewed by an expert committee, that chose the top three, and awarded their authors with both symbolic and financial prizes in the amounts of EUR 650, 1,300 and 2,000.
The winners of the Annual Hanfa Student Award for the best scientific and expert papers for 2024 are as follows:
- 1st prize (EUR 2000) is awarded for the paper "How demographic and macroeconomic impacts affect pension systems: an analysis of challenges and perspectives", by Mihael Brusan, student of the Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb
- 2nd prize (EUR 1300) is awarded for the paper "Transformation of financial management: the impact of artificial intelligence on investment decisions and strategies", by Roko Lukačević, student of the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism in Split
- 3rd prize (EUR 650 in total) is awarded for the paper "From Zombies to a Growing Market: How to Attract Long-Term Investors and Revive the Croatian Capital Market?", by three authors: Marin Lesić, Lovro Lesić and Luka Medvidović, students of the Zagreb School of Economics and Management.
On behalf of Hanfa, the students were congratulated by Ante Žigman, President of Hanfa Board, who pointed out the following: “The goal of our initiative was to encourage young people to research and development and to support students' academic and professional achievements and give them the opportunity to excel in the field of finance. As a regulator, Hanfa recognises the importance of involving young people in the debate on key topics such as digitalisation, crypto-assets, FinTech and the pension system. This year's winners come from private and public faculties of economics, from Zagreb and Split, which confirms the diversity and quality of the higher education system in Croatia."
Nikola Mrvac, State Secretary from the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth, greeted all the attendees and congratulated students on their success. He was joined by Ana Zorić, Head of Directorate for Economic Affairs and Financial System at the Ministry of Finance and representatives of the faculties attended by the winning students, namely: Jakša Krišto, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb, Željana Aljinović Barać, Vice Dean for Quality at the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism in Split, and Mato Njavro, Dean of the Zagreb School of Economics and Management.
In order to motivate students to produce scientific and expert papers in the field of economics in the future, Hanfa has already launched a new call for the best student expert and scientific papers. The topics and all the details of the call are published on Hanfa website.