Faculty Advisors – faculty employed by the team's university; they provide guidance and direction to the team throughout all levels of competition.

Report Graders – selected by the competition host to evaluate the written reports.

Presentation Judges – selected by the competition host to evaluate the presentations.

Host – the CFA Institute Member Society, CFA Institute, or CFA Institute approved third-party responsible for sponsoring either the local level, regional level, or global level of the Research Challenge.

Industry Mentors – are industry professionals, preferably CFA charterholders, assigned to the team by the host to review the team’s written report and provide critique of the presentation.

Participants – faculty advisors, report graders, presentation judges, industry mentors, and team members involved in the Challenge.

Presentation – ten-minute oral and visual presentation prepared by the team.

Subject Company – a publicly traded company assigned by the host to the team as the basis for the written report and presentation.

Team – three to five undergraduate or graduate students that produce the written report and the presentation.

Team Member – one of the three to five students comprising the team.

Written Report – the written research report on the subject company prepared by the team.