SCF Community launches global student challenge with EUR 20,000 prizes

A cash prize of EUR 20,000 and internships at major corporations are among the rewards for successful competitors.

The winning team of the first edition of the Global Student Challenge was crowned after a thrilling final in April 2015 and turned out to be IIM Bangalore from India. Fudan University from China and University of Dhaka from Bangladesh took second and third place.

The Global Student Challenge addresses the need for knowledge and product development in the area of supply chain finance (SCF) and attempts to bridge the gap between the academic world and the corporate sector. The Challenge is aimed at stimulating interaction between corporates, banks and knowledge institutions.

Starting today, participating student teams can join in three ‘qualifying rounds’ in a web-based version of the business simulation game The Cool Connection at www.globalstudentchallenge.org. Qualification is open until mid-October 2015. From November 2015, teams who qualify will, for a six week period, take part in three additional rounds of the simulation as they compete to become their nation’s winning team.

The Top 20 national winners will progress to the Supply Chain Finance Community Global Student Final in April 2016, where they will compete against the world’s best teams.

The Supply Chain Finance Community is liaising with the Knowledge Distribution Centres (KDC) and the Dutch institute for Advanced Logistics (Dinalog) in The Netherlands to enhance the knowledge and applications of Supply Chain Finance. Dinalog and KDC play a crucial role in linking large research projects to the corporate and education sector.

The Global Student Challenge is organized by the SCF Community, a not-for profit organisation dedicated to sharing experience, best practice and new research on supply chain finance. This interdisciplinary community bridges finance, treasury, supply chain operations, logistics and procurement functions. The SCF Community was founded by universities and business schools from more than 25 countries and supported by a range of companies and banks. Its mission is to share the opportunities, challenges, benefits, costs, methodologies, tools and instruments of supply chain finance.

Windesheim University of Applied Sciences is hosting the grand final of the student competition in April 2016. Supply Chain Finance is one of the focus areas of the Strategic Entrepreneurship Research Centre and headed by Michiel Steeman, Professor of Supply Chain Finance.