Integrated PhD Actuarial Science

An Integrated PhD provides a route into research study if you do not have a Master’s degree, or have very little research training. It enables you to spend your first year completing a Masters-level qualification, followed by a full-time PhD studied over 3-4 years. We also offer a ‘standard’ PhD in this subject which can be studied either full-time (3-4 years) or part-time (6-7 years).

Actuaries provide assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms. Actuaries quantify the probability and manage the risk of future events in areas such as insurance, healthcare, pensions, investment, and banking and in non-financial areas.

The first year of our Integrated PhD Actuarial Science is based on the syllabus of most of the Core Technical subjects of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, so you’ll cover Core Technical subjects as part of your course (CT2 or CT3, depending on the optional module selected, CT4, CT5, CT6, and CT8). This focus on up-to-date research findings in actuarial methodologies and actuarial applications means that you gain a solid training in actuarial modelling and actuarial analysis.

In your second year you move into the PhD element of the course. We have staff members available to act as supervisors across a number of areas such as survival analysis, forensic economics, risk management, Islamic finance and takaful, asset-liability management for pension funds, predictability of financial time series, and performance evaluation of funds.

All University of Essex research students have access to our innovative and unique scheme, Proficio. Postgraduate research students are automatically enrolled on Proficio, which provides a variety of training courses, and a fund of up to £2,500 per student for conference attendance and relevant external training courses.

Your future

It has been predicted by the US Department of Labour that the employment of actuaries is expected to grow faster than any other occupation, making it a great prospect for a graduate job.

Aside from a rewarding career as an actuary (actuaries are in the top ten jobs for 2016, ), clear thinkers are required in every profession, so the successful mathematician has an extensive choice of potential careers. The Council for Mathematical Sciences offers further information on careers in mathematics.

Many of our former PhD students have gone on to work as academics in prominent institutions across the world, such as the University of Cambridge, University of Nottingham, and many other international universities. Some have also remained at the University of Essex, working as postdoctoral research fellows, research impact officers, or lecturers.

Other graduates have joined organisations like the Met Office, the Ministry of Defence, and companies based in the City of London. There is a high demand for those with a numerate background in all sectors of the economy, so our graduates are sought after in the UK and abroad.

You need a good honours degree in one of the following subjects: Mathematics, Actuarial Science, Statistics, Operational Research, Computer Science, Finance, Economics, Business Engineering. Our four year integrated PhD, allows you to spend your first year studying at Masters level in order to develop the necessary knowledge and skills and to start your independent research in year two.