Apply for the Robert L. Gould Scholastic Award
The Robert L. Gould Scholastic Award is an opportunity for students of all majors to submit a research paper for the chance to win up to $10,000.
The scholastic award is based on the evaluation of student research papers related to the current year’s topic. Truman is invited to submit up to three student papers for consideration of the award.
DST Systems, Inc., headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is sponsoring a $10,000 award for the first place student, $5,000 award for the second place student and $2,500 award for the third place student. Group projects are welcome.
The School of Business at Truman is also sponsoring awards for the three papers selected for submission to the DST Gould Award Office. The awards are: $500 for the first place paper, $350 for the second place paper and $200 for the third place paper.
To apply for the Gould Scholastic Award, students must be a University junior, senior or honors program student. Graduate students are not eligible to participate. Group projects are eligible and students of all majors are invited to submit a paper. Students must submit a research paper with appropriate citations and a works cited list. Winning papers have varied in length from seven to 20 pages.
In spring 2015, the Truman team of Tommy Ng, Julian Fung and Lasse Fuss was awarded the top prize of $10,000 for their paper “Transcending Traditional Service Models with Disruptive Technologies.” Examples of past winning papers are available for review in the School of Business Office in Violette Hall 2400.
Current year’s topic:
The concept is the future of financial product(s) and their impact on the financial services ecosystem. Consider the impact technology and innovation will have on the financial services industry over the next 10 years in products offered as well as in the service model expected of a marketplace. The paper should be a pitch and should include the perspective of the issuer of the product and the marketplace, which enabled the transaction and the investor.
Some examples are:
• Private equity is also being offered, purchased and traded on technology platforms at a scale and levels not seen in modern finance through platforms such as Angel List and Reality Mogul.
• Banks are seeing the transition in a number of ways, one of which is loan underwriting. Marketplace lending technology platforms like Lending Club and Prosper have attached bank underwriting with technology, which offers an experience and solution to both the borrower and investor.
Research papers are due by Dec. 14. Papers may be sent to the School of Business at sbdean@truman.edu.
