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Welcome to AEFE 2026! Participants’ Guide
Congratulations! You have been selected to participate in the third edition of the Academy of Economics, Finance, and Entrepreneurship (AEFE) by the “For Intelligent Growth” Foundation. Over the next two weeks, you will attend lectures by professors from leading universities, work on your own research project, have a personal mentor, and present your results to an international jury live in Sofia. This guide contains everything you need to know β program, rules, deadlines, and contacts.
First Important Date
June 14, 2026 (Saturday), 12:00 PM (Bulgarian Time) β Online Onboarding Webinar. During this meeting, we will explain how to make the most of AEFE, review the program structure, and answer your questions. Attendance is highly recommended.
Program
| Date | Activity | Lecturer | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 14 (Sat) | Webinar β Introduction to AEFE | Yordan Tsanev | 12:00 PM |
| June 20 (Sat) | Lecture: Microeconomics and Finance | Veselin Marinov | 09:00β13:00 |
| June 21 (Sun) | Lecture: Behavioral Economics | Boyan Ivanchev | 09:00β13:00 |
| June 22β23 | Free days | β | β |
| June 24 (Wed) | Seminar: Presentation & Topic Selection | Yordan Tsanev | TBA |
| June 25β26 | Mentor Meetings | As scheduled | By agreement |
| June 27 (Sat) | Lecture: Macroeconomics | Nataliya Borisova | 09:00β13:00 |
| June 28 (Sun) | Lecture: Marketing | Georgi Malchev | 09:00β13:00 |
| June 29 (Mon) | Seminar: Major Selection + Mentor Meetings | Yordan Tsanev + Mentors | TBA |
| June 30 (Tue) | Mentor Meetings | As scheduled | By agreement |
| July 1 (Wed) | Seminar: AI in Economics and Education | Terry Kramer | 20:00 (BG) |
| July 2 (Thu) | Lecture: Entrepreneurship | CK Leung | TBA |
| July 3 (Fri) | Rest day | β | β |
| July 4 (Sat) | Final Day 1 β Live Lecture + Networking | Prof. Feng Vince | 13:00β18:30 |
| July 5 (Sun) | Final Day 2 β Presentations and Awards | All | 09:00β15:15 |
*All lectures are recorded and will be published in the #resources channel on the Discord server.
Research Project
The central part of AEFE is your individual research project. You choose a topic in the field of economics, finance, or entrepreneurship, develop it with the help of a mentor, and present your results to an international jury.
- June 26, 2026 β Topic Selection (Email your topic to foundation.intelligent.growth@gmail.com)
- July 4, 2026, 08:00 AM BG Time β Project Deadline (Presentation + optional supplementary file)
- July 4, 2026, 11:59 PM β Announcement of the 12 Finalists
- July 5, 2026 β Final Presentations (Live in Sofia)
Project Format: The presentation and slides must be entirely in English. Presentation length is 7 minutes followed by 3 minutes of Q&A from the jury.
Mentors
Each participant is entitled to 2 mentor meetings (up to 1 hour each). Our mentors are students from leading European and American universities.
- Yordan Tsanev β UCLA Β· HKU (USA, Hong Kong)
- Alexander Georgiev β Columbia University, USA
- Eleonor Spasova β University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Martin Makelov β London School of Economics, UK
- Nataliya Borisova β Bocconi University Β· GWU (Italy, USA)
- Lilyana Kaneva β EDHEC Β· UCLA (France, USA)
- Boyan Georgiev β Bocconi University, Italy
- Veselin Marinov β University of Bologna, Italy
- Boyan Iliev β LMU Munich, Germany
- Velizar Chilikov β Stevens Institute of Technology, USA
Contacts
- Main channel: Discord server (#general)
- Pavel Stavrev (General questions): +359 878 149 894 | p.stavrev@intelligent-growth.com
- Stanimir Chilikov (Technical difficulties): +359 877 563 120 | s.chilikov@intelligent-growth.com
- Martin Makelov (General questions): m.makelov@intelligent-growth.com
Foundation βFor Intelligent Growthβ
