Actuarial Science

Entry requirements

You will need a good honours degree and a Masters degree in a relevant subject. A well-developed research proposal is also essential. You may be required to attend an interview/Skype interview for acceptance, and acceptance is subject to research expertise in the department.

Months of entry

January, April, October

Course content

Our PhD Actuarial Science is a research degree within our School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science. 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

You are also invited to contact our School to discuss other potential research areas.

Our staff are strongly committed to research and teaching. They have published several well-regarded text books and are world leaders in their specialisms, with their papers appearing in learned journals such as Journal of the Operational Research Society, The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, Scandinavian Actuarial Journal, ASTIN Bulletin, North American Actuarial Journal, and Journal of Banking & Finance.

Our School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science is genuinely innovative and student-focused. Our research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues. We also do research into mathematical education and use exciting technologies such as electroencephalography or eye tracking to measure exactly what a learner is feeling. Our research aims to encourage the implementation of ‘the four Cs' of modern education, which are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

Information for international students

Entry requirements: You can find international entry requirements for most countries on our international students webpage. If your country is not listed, please contact Postgraduate Admissions at pgadmit@essex.ac.uk.

Fees and funding

There are a wide range of funding options for postgraduate study, including scholarships, bursaries and alumni discounts. You can check your eligibility on our fees and funding webpage.