Master’s Thesis Competition

BNY Mellon Master’s Thesis Competition 2021 Winners Announced

BNY Mellon supports and promotes talent from universities across Poland through its annual BNY Mellon Science Master’s Thesis Competition. Established in 2018 in collaboration with Hugo Steinhaus Centre, the competition invites students to submit their theses in the field of applied mathematics.

The submitted theses topics ranged widely this year, including problem of regression, option pricing methods, machine learning algorithms and even models of visco-plasticity.

Barbara Domżał, 3rd prize winner, commented on the Competition: “I learned that the scope of the contest is very broad; you can submit any thesis in the field of applied mathematics. I think that's a huge advantage because it promotes originality and diversity of the subjects.”

The top three theses were chosen by a judging panel comprised of academics and BNY Mellon representatives:

• Prof.  Zbigniew Palmowski (Wroclaw University of Technology and Science),
• Prof. Rafał Weron (Wroclaw University of Technology and Science),
• Prof. Krzysztof Jajuga (University of Economics, Wroclaw),
• Prof. Urszula Foryś (University of Warsaw) ,
• Prof. Wojciech Matysiak (Warsaw University of Technology) 
• Michał Chrzanowski PhD (Principal, Model Development at BNY Mellon),
• Marek Czuba PhD (Group Manager, Model Development at BNY Mellon).

Senthil Kumar, BNY Mellon Chief Risk Officer, recognized the competitors at the award ceremony and spoke about the importance of intelligent risk taking for success in business and in one’s career. He also expressed his appreciation for the wide range of topics and quality of each thesis, which incorporated a variety of scientific methods and introduced fresh ways to tackle different challenges.

Marcin Zakrzewski, 1st prize winner, said: “BNY Mellon's Master's Thesis Competition promotes a noble idea that a master's thesis can be more than just a paper that one hands in to collect a diploma, and since I put a lot of effort into mine, I decided to apply. It provides a unique opportunity to have one's work judged not only by the thesis supervisor but also by an entire panel of top experts in the field.”

Marcin, as author of the 1st prize-winning thesis, presented his work at a dedicated virtual event within the BNY Mellon Seminar series. The series is organized by BNY Mellon for Master and PhD students, alumni and lecturers, and seminars are hosted by business professionals who present on topics connecting theory with practical applicability.

Winning Theses of 2021

• Marcin Zakrzewski  (Warsaw University of Technology, Mathematics and Information Science) received 1^st place and a 15,000 zł prize for his thesis, “Classification and regression using a network of partially transparent mirrors.”
• Paweł Stępniak (Wroclaw University of Technology¸ Mathematics) received 2^nd place and a 10,000 zł prize for his thesis, “Pricing of capped American option by least squares Monte Carlo approach.”
• Barbara Domżał (University of Warsaw, Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics) received 3^rd place a 5,000 zł prize for his thesis, “The problem of regression for molecular spectra in mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.”

If you wish to take part in the 2022 edition of the Master’s Thesis Competition, follow BNY Mellon on social media and visit our website regularly to stay informed.