On Friday 11 and Saturday 12 March 2022, 10 students of the European Economic Integration and Business and European Economic Studies Department participated in the Solvay Business Game. Bravo to our ECO students Victor BUS and Gaëtan DU PELOUX for winning the Negotiation Challenge by BDO Belgium. Below you can find some quotes from our participating students on their extraordinary experiences:  

Eugeniu TINTARI: "This was certainly the best business game I've attended so far. We had to compete in various challeges such as: negotiation, pitching, finanalytics and strategy with some of the brightest people from business, engineering, and IT backgrounds from all over the world. The amount of fun we had was simply over the roof, not to mention that some of us might be already hired in the nearest future by the companies present at the event. Great game!"

Gaëtan DU PELOUX: “The Solvay Business Game was for me a multi-faceted success! Preparing it deepened our friendship and sense of community between former and current students at the College. Participating in it was a great opportunity to intensely improve problem-solving skills and to meet new people who are passionate about what they do.”

David PAVLOVSKI: "The Solvay Business Game 2022 has been a great opportunity to take part in a competitive event, were we got to work on various strategical, financial and negotiation challenges. This was the perfect moment to meet and talk to representatives of companies that are leaders in their industries as well as meeting fellow young and goal-driven people, while also enjoying an event that was above all very fun! We also got a glimpse into how our communication and decision-making skills nurtured into the fast-paced environment at the heart of the European Affairs such as the College of Europe were useful in practice. I am also very proud that the College of Europe and its ECO department can boast the fact that one of the pairs won the negotiation challenge. I warmly recommend this experience for anyone in the ECO department, but also for students from other departments that would be interested into taking part in this experience."
 

Samir SALIMZADE: "Participation in SBG was one of the best experiences I had in Belgium. In just two days, we had to come up with an idea of a game platform in the European healthcare sector, negotiate a deal on the price of land, develop a strategy for a giant electricity producer, and create a competitor to Europe’s leading provider of financial market infrastructure services. Even though it was very intense, we also had time to meet amazing people from all over the world, talk to companies like McKinsey, BDO, Euroclear, and Luminus and have a lot of fun (thanks Duvel!)."

Victor BUS: "The Solvay Business Game exceeded my expectations! It was very intense as the cases were complex and collaborating with people from everywhere in world was sometimes challenging. But we met very inspiring students and professionals, learned a lot by presenting innovations in sometimes less than 5 minutes, and learned from working under pressure. Cherry on the cake, Gaetan and I won the Negotiation Challenge organized by BDO! We’re very glad to bring a victory back to the College!" 

Max KISSEL MALVA: "This weekend we had the opportunity to participate in the Solvay Business Game 2022. With Eren Soydal as a teammate and a brilliant delegation from the CoE, we had the chance to take part in 4 challenges organised by McKinsey & Company, Euroclear, BDO, and Luminus, as well as to network with other participants and recruiters. Having met many interesting people and honed our business and pitching skills it was truly a unique and enriching experience. Big thanks to the College of Europe and the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management for making this possible."

Nurana AHMADOVA: "I did not know what to expect from the Solvay Business Game as it was my first experience participating in the event of such kind. Common spirit and constant support from the College of Europe team were valuable during the game. Two days of vibrant and intense challenges, sleepless nights, networking, and fun were worth experiencing. I am grateful to have lived this experience with the CoE team. A shout-out to Victor and Gaetan for winning the negotiation challenge among more than 200 participants and making us immensely proud! And special thanks to Enrico, Lela, Samir, Jan, David, Eren, and the champions- Victor and Gaetan for making my SBG experience exceptional!"