Dr Roszkowska specializes in researching and teaching finance, financial analysis and Fintech, as well as in combining financial decisions with the ethical dimension of running a business.

Paulina is currently affiliated with Hult International Business School and Cass Business School. During her professional career she worked as a Visiting Scholar and a Lecturer at UC Berkeley, Visiting Professor at the French universities ISC Paris, ICN Nancy, Faculté Libre des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion Lille, as well as a Visiting Scholar at IESE Barcelona. She is a member of the European Finance Association (EFA). In addition to her academic activity, Paulina worked in finance and investor relations both on the company side and as a consultant. She was also a member of the Supervisory Board in a large energy company.

The unique experience and fresh approach to the process of taking financial decisions in business practice enables her to share her applied knowledge with students, as well as to conduct research projects valuable for the industry. Her scientific research includes corporate finance, capital markets, asset valuation, Fintech, and ethics in finance. She published numerous articles in journals, book chapters and two independent books.

In 2018, she was on the list of "The 40 Best Business Professors Under 40" announced by Poets&Quants.

What inspires and/or motivates you?

The hope that what I do has a deeper meaning and brings positive change. Satisfaction, when it turns out that my actions really matter. A sense of accomplishment, when graduates come back to me and say that I have contributed to their development. And what motivates me every day is good music, meeting friends... and a round of golf from time to time!

How did your studies at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics help you develop leadership skills? How are they useful in your work?

Studying at SGH is an excellent mean to an end. I think I have to explain what I mean so that I do not get misunderstood. Sometimes young people treat higher education as a necessity, they come to the university only to get a diploma while they seek the actual fulfillment later on in business practice. Others, in turn, believe that studying at SGH is their final goa, and after its completion everything will sort itself out. For me it was a mean: studying at SGH gave me a unique opportunity to discover new areas of interest, and provided a solid foundation for further self-development. The time at a university can be used in a fantastic way: for learning how the economy and enterprise function, gaining leadership competences, meeting interesting people from the business environment, taking part in non-lecture projects (e.g. Google challenge), going on scholarships to foreign universities, etc. However, this is not the end of your life path! After graduation, we face a lot of choices and challenges. It is up to us, whether we choose the simplest way or we continue and pursue extraordinary things. Studying at SGH has taught me that being on the (life) road is satisfying in itself. Each step we take - two steps forward, one step back - enriches us internally, teaches us humbleness and patience. My path was winding and full of steps back, but the most beautiful thing about it is that the further I go, the more I notice that instead of its end, I see more and more interesting parts of my life-path and sceneries around.

What advice would you give to SGH students interested in developing an academic career?

There are different approaches to an academic career. My approach was strongly shaped by the experience gained at universities in the USA, France and Spain. That is why I am in favor of the view that an academic career is for those who want to discover and create. It is not an easy career, because it requires a lot of work (There is no free lunch!), opening many doors, and often confronting a dead end. It also requires being persistent - you need to be prepared for temporary going in circles, even rejections, for instance in the process of publishing research results. If you approach this process consciously, you can learn to treat such situations as lessons rather than failures. An academic career is a great way of living your life: it is associated with high flexibility of working time, opportunities to exchange views with extremely smart people, participating in conferences in the most interesting places in the world and with inspiring young minds through your work. However, the most important advice I would like to give to students is: no matter what career you choose, do what you love! Only then will you be good at what you do, and you will have a sense of true satisfaction.

A valuable lesson that you can share with SGH students (resulting from success, failure or other experience).

In life, we experience both successes and failures. Although we deal with the former much better, failures are important as long as we learn from them. Looking back, I think that I would not be where I am now, if it had not been for the failures and for my curiosity about the world and the desire to develop myself. For instance, at foreign universities, especially at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, I was observing the work of the highest-class professors with MBA students. I was fascinated by their interactions. Nobody was bored there during the lectures! Students were being inspired by the things they discussed in the classroom and by how instructors presented particular topics. They worked with excitement and a smile on their faces. I thought that I could be such an inspiring professor. I believe, I am on the right track, as my MBA students from Hult International Business School nominated me and, finally, I was announced one of the 40 best business school professors under 40 years old in the world. The road was full of turns and bumps. However, I have never forgotten that if one

wants to see a rainbow, one has to learn to see the rain (P. Coelho). Of course, you do not arrive at such conclusion immediately. When others tell you that your plan is unreal, the boss blocks your initiatives or maybe you even lose your job, treat this as the chance for something better coming to your life, something that awaits you out there. It is only up to you whether you reach for it!

Paulina shared her history as part of the "Graduate inspirations" in the Career Guide 2018/2019.