Our PhD Actuarial Science is a research degree within our Department of Mathematical Sciences. 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 department to discuss other potential research areas.

Our staff are strongly committed to research and teaching. They have published several well-regarded textbooks and are world leaders in their individual 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 Department of Mathematical Sciences is genuinely innovative, and student focused. Our research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues.

Your future

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.