11th Research Summer School 2026

IIM Calcutta organizes
11th Research Summer School 2026
May 4-9, 2026

The Financial Research and Trading Laboratory (FRTL) of IIM Calcutta is hosting the 11th Research Summer School on Empirical Finance and Accounting Research, a prestigious residential program for young faculty and research scholars, focused on empirical research methods. The program is structured as follows:

• May 4-9, 2026: A 6-day programme featuring sessions from national/international scholars.
• July 25, 2026: Online presentation for participants to share their research insights and outcomes of the summer school.

Program Highlights

During this programme, participants will engage with cutting-edge research topics drawn from top-tier journals in Accounting, Finance, and Governance. The program is designed to help the participants in:

Guidance by Eminent Faculty

A distinguished team of faculty members will guide participants fostering an understanding of the art of writing high-quality research articles and, in the process, learn appropriate research methods.

In addition to research paper discussions, the program features specialized Econometrics tutorials. These tutorials are an integral part of the curriculum, providing participants with practical tools and techniques commonly used in research within Accounting, Finance, and Governance fields.

Key Takeaways

Each participant will have the following takeaways:

1. How to develop a research proposal?
2. Understand how to position a theme and identify valid research questions/research gaps
3. Learn several methodological issues and techniques to empirically test research questions
4. Learn the art of writing and publishing in a reputed journal

Structure of Research Summer School

The research summer school will comprise of five segments:

• Econometrics/research methodology
• Focus Areas
  • Finance (Corporate Finance, Market Microstructure, and Asset Pricing)
  • Accounting (Financial Reporting, Earnings Management, and Tax Research)
  • Corporate Governance (CEO Compensation, Business Groups, and Auditing)
• Project Work
• Project Presentation
• Paper Writing & Submission

Project Work

• Each participant will pursue a project in one of the three focus areas
• Each participant will communicate in advance his/her choice of one/two focus areas
• By May 5, participants will choose interesting research questions for their team project (under the guidance of their faculty mentor).
• Teams will be formed based on the research themes and do a project (Writing a research proposal/paper)
• After the completion of the summer school, by Saturday, July 25, 2026, teams will submit an interim draft of research paper and make an online presentation (over Zoom) to receive feedback/suggestions on their work.

Who Can Attend

The Research Summer School is open to:

• Faculty Members and Doctoral Students specializing in Finance, Accounting, and Corporate Governance.
• Motivated Candidates interested in pursuing doctoral studies or research in the future.

Note: Due to limited seats, priority will be given to candidates based on the order of applications received.

How to Apply

Eligible candidates must apply by April 05, 2026 (midnight) via email to:
asstmgr_finlab[at]iimcal[dot]ac[dot]in

Click Here to Apply

Application Requirements

1. Submission of a research proposal covering, objectives of the study, Literature review and research gaps, Research questions and hypotheses development, proposed methodology, data source/requirement.
2. Mention your research interests and select one or two focus areas for the research project.
3. CV (2-Page PDF): Submit a concise CV including:
   • Current affiliation, education, and past experience.
   • Details of scholarly papers published in peer reviewed journals, research papers presented/accepted at conferences (including name, venue, and year).
   • Scholarly publications and papers in the pipeline (completed but unpublished).

Application Fee

The non-refundable fee is ₹4,000 + 18% GST

Admission Process

• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
• Selected candidates will be notified within 7 days of their application.
• Registration: Selected candidates must register and pay the registration fee within 7 days of selection.
• Lodging & Boarding: Must be paid by April 15, 2026.

Key Notes

• A Discount of Rs. 10,000/- for acceptance of a research proposal may be given at the time of registration fee
• Early bird discounts are valid only till 15 March 2026.
• Registration Deadline: April 15, 2026.

Accommodation Details

Limited air-conditioned rooms available at the IIM Calcutta campus (executive guest house). The accommodation includes:

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and light refreshments.
• Check-in: May 4, 2026, from 2:00 PM.
• Check-out: May 9, 2026, by 2:00 PM.
• Visit https://www.iimcal.ac.in/mdp/management-development-centre/accommodation to see images of the MDC rooms

Off-Campus Accommodation

In exceptional cases, participants may opt their own accommodation and may stay off-campus and commute to the IIM Calcutta campus daily. Those choosing this option will pay Rs. 14,000/- Lodging, Boarding, & Other Charges.

Fee Payment Policy

• All fees and charges are payable online.
• Fees are non-refundable, except if the Research Summer School is cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances.

Important dates

Facilitators

Prof. Vivek Rajvanshi (IIM Calcutta) - Vivek Rajvanshi is a faculty member in the Finance and Control group at Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. He joined IIM Calcutta in April 2015. Prior to joining IIM Calcutta, he was faculty member at IIM Lucknow. He has done his masters in Statistics and is a fellow of IIM Calcutta. His teaching areas include Corporate Finance, Fixed Income Markets, Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management; and Computational Finance. His research interests lie in Commodity Futures Markets, Volatility Modelling, Portfolio Management, Fixed Income Markets and Market Microstructures. His Current Research Interests are Market Microstructure and Futures Markets and Current Consulting Interests is Commodity Futures Markets. He has also co-organized IIMC-NYU Stern ‘India Research Conference 2023’. His detailed profile is available at https://www.iimcal.ac.in/users/vivekr

Prof. Samit Paul (IIM Calcutta) - Prof. Samit Paul is a faculty member in the Finance and Control group at IIM Calcutta and Program Director of the FRTL’s 2026 Summer School. He has completed his Ph.D. from IIM Lucknow in the area of Finance and Accounting. Besides, he is professionally certified in management accounting. He teaches a doctoral course on Research Methods in Finance and Accounting.

Prof. Paul’s primary research interests are in market risk management, volatility modelling and portfolio management. He has presented papers at several prestigious conferences in India and abroad. He has published over a dozen scholarly research papers in prestigious journals including Economics Letters (ABDC A-category), Journal of Economic Surveys (ABDC A-category), International Journal of Forecasting (ABDC A-category), and International Review of Financial Analysis (ABDC A-category). He also has several scholarly research papers in the pipeline. His detailed profile is available at https://www.iimcal.ac.in/users/samit

Prof. Sudarshan Kumar (IIM Calcutta) - Prof. Sudarshan Kumar is a faculty member in the Finance and Control group at IIM Calcutta and Program Director of the FRTL’s 2026 Summer School. He is B.Tech. (Hons.) in Civil Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, and PhD in Finance from IIM Ahmedabad.

He primarily works in the area of quantitative finance and fixed income and has published in many prestigious journals including European Journal of Finance, Journal of Complex networks, and Journal of Computational Social Science. He also has several scholarly research papers in the pipeline. His detailed profile is available at https://www.iimcal.ac.in/users/sudarshan

List of reputed institutions whose doctoral students and faculty have attended the Summer School

Achievements of Summer School participants

• Daitri Tiwary of Birla Institute of Management Technology attended the Research Summer School 2021, organized by FRTL, IIM Calcutta. She received the CRISIL Doctoral Symposium Best Paper Award (first prize) at the India Finance Conference 2022.
• Geeti Mishra of IIM Indore attended the Research Summer School 2022, organized by FRTL, IIM Calcutta. She received the CRISIL Doctoral Symposium Best Paper Award (second prize) at the India Finance Conference 2022.
• Priya Malhotra of Delhi Technological University attended the Research Summer School 2018, organized by FRTL, IIM Calcutta. She presented a paper titled “Buoyancy in Indian Debt Markets - FII and its determinants” at the India Finance Conference 2018.
• Deepika Dhingra of Delhi Technological University attended the Research Summer School 2018, organized by FRTL, IIM Calcutta. She presented a paper titled “Buoyancy in Indian Debt Markets - FII and its determinants” at the India Finance Conference 2018 and a paper titled “Innovations in financial services: A quantitative review and scope for future research directions” at PAN IIT Conference in November 2018
• Sougata Ray of Amrita VIshwa Vidhyapeetham attended the Research Summer School 2018, organized by FRTL, IIM Calcutta. He published a paper titled “Over-indebtedness and its Drivers among Microfinance Borrowers in India” in Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 54, No. 7, pp. 47 – 53, 2019.
• Sanchita Ghosh Chowdhury of Xavier Institute for Tribal Education, Jamshedpur, attended the Research Summer School 2017, organized by FRTL, IIM Calcutta. She presented a paper titled “Determinants of firm cash holding: Evidence from the manufacturing sector in India” at the 3rd International Conference on Financial Markets and Corporate Finance, held at IIT Kanpur from 12th - 14th July, 2018. She also published a paper titled “Developing India through Automobile Industry Growth: Harbouring the Benefits of Financial Inclusionthe”, in the Research Journal of Social and Life Sciences (ISSN 0973-3914), Vol. XXII, June 2017.
• Sandhya Bhatia, Sangita Choudhary, Amish Dugar, and Smita Mazumdar attended Summer School 2017 and jointly published a paper titled "Stock Pledging and Earnings Management: An Empirical Analysis" in an international journal, Asian review of accounting (ABDC 'B' category) in March 2019.
• Kameshwar Rao Modekurti of XIMR, Mumbai, attended the Research Summer School 2016, organized by FRTL, IIM Calcutta. He published the following papers after attending Summer School in 2016: “Differences in Stock Price Sensitivity to Accounting Information: Implication for Creative Accounting” in the Indian Journal of Finance (SCOPUS listed) in November 2016.
• Abhay Kumar of NMIMS University attended the first Research Summer School in 2015, organized by FRTL, IIM Calcutta, and published the following papers after attending Summer School 2015: “IPO Grey Market and Its Impact on price discovery” in Indian Journal of Economics and Business February 2019 (special issue).
• Nisha Mary Thomas of IIT Delhi attended the first Summer School in 2015 organized by FRTL, IIM Calcutta and presented and published several papers after attending Summer School 2015.

Photo Gallery

Research Summer School 2025

Research Summer School 2023 and 2024

Research Summer School 2022

Research Summer School 2021 (online)

Prof. Prasanna Tantri, ISB Hyderabad

Prof. K V Subramanian, ISB Hyderabad

Prof. Neerav Nagar, IIM Ahmedabad

Prof. Joshy Jacob, IIM Ahmedabad

Prof. Sugata Ray, University of Florida

Prof. Vikas Agarwal, Georgia State University

Inauguration 2015 by Director, IIM Calcutta