The theme for this 2025 edition is:
Listed assets, Sustainability consensus and real-world Transition
Participants are expected to embrace the broad scope of this theme, leveraging the freedom it provides to pursue innovative ideas and original approaches within sustainable finance.
Notably, the grant not only offers financial assistance to selected laureates (€5,000 per laureate) but also offers access to valuable data provided by ValueCo, as described in Appendix 1.
Several researchers may choose to apply jointly as a consortium, in which case the “laureate” would be the members of the team hence formed.
Categories
Candidates should apply to one of the following categories:
General Academic Research
Young Researchers (for PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers)
White Papers or Case Studies
By white paper or case study, we mean a document that addresses complex issues, explains problems, presents solutions, and often advocates for particular approaches or methodologies in an accessible format for practitioners.
One laureate will be selected from each category.
Selection criteria:
Through a multi-year partnership, the Sustainable Investing Research Initiative (SIRI) and Mirova aim to promote the emergence of blended finance as a lever for financing projects with a positive environmental and social impact through the progressive development of a dedicated global market. Under the leadership of Caroline Flammer—SIPA Vice Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, Director of SIRI, and A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics at Columbia University with joint appointments at SIPA and the Columbia Climate School--the partnership aims to:
For the two first categories — general academic research and young researchers — the primary selection criterion will be the contribution of the proposed research to the academic literature on sustainable finance, with particular emphasis on the provision of actionable insights for investors and the effective utilization of data supplied by ValueCo.
For the final category — white papers or case studies — selection primarily depends on the work's contribution to improving asset managers' or listed firms' practical approaches to sustainability and transition, particularly through the effective use of data provided by ValueCo.
Laureates will be chosen by a jury comprising members from both MRC and ValueCo and validated by MRC’s scientific committee.
The announcement and awarding of grants will take place at the MRC annual conference, scheduled in December 2025.