PhD in Actuarial Science

In the first year you will attend a number of taught courses aiming to provide training in your research field and exposure to wider research areas. You will be able to take PhD-level courses in Finance, as well as, if appropriate, drawn from Bayes MSc programmes. These courses are academically rigorous and you will need to be examined in them.

In parallel, you will commence your academic research, under the supervision of Bayes academics. At the end of the first academic year, you will submit a research dissertation, demonstrating a clear formulation of a suitable research topic and substantial progress towards your first academic paper.

Throughout your time as a Bayes MPhil/ PhD student, you will be attending research seminars held by the Faculty of Actuarial Science and Insurance.

In order to progress to the following year students will need to pass a minimum of three or a maximum of five modules and complete a dissertation in the third term.

Your research training continues in the second year with workshops and seminars focused on further developing your research skills further and courses introducing you to the practice of learning, teaching and assessment.

Alongside this, you will continue your academic research in your chosen topics. The year culminates with the defence of your first research paper before a transfer panel committee, towards the end of term 2.

After the successful defence of your transfer panel paper you will move onto the final two years of the PhD programme.

You complete your remaining research papers in years three and four and defend your work at the viva voce examination soon after completion of your thesis. The focus of training in the final two years shifts towards preparing you for an academic career.

You will be supported by Bayes academics to prepare for the viva voce and the academic job market, with the aim of you successfully defending your thesis and taking up an academic position at a leading academic institution or a research-oriented job at a financial institution.

To be eligible to apply for next academic year, you must hold a first degree (a first or equivalent) in a subject related to your proposed research topic.

The following qualifications are highly desirable and would enhance your likelihood of being accepted:

• A masters degree from a leading institution with a distinction or equivalent
• A GRE or GMAT score is highly recommended for applicants

Our students have a variety of academic backgrounds ranging from Accounting, Actuarial Science and Economics to Engineering, Finance, Management and Mathematics.

We are looking for mature, highly-motivated individuals with excellent analytical, problem-solving and verbal skills.

The following items (in electronic format) are compulsory for your application:

• Research proposal with a 400 word non-technical summary (please include with the proposal)
• Statement of Purpose 300 words
• Your CV/resume including a passport photograph
• Names and e-mails of two academic referees
• Your personal details, including a contact email
• Official transcripts for your Bachelor and or Master's Degree
• Official transcript of proficiency in English, if English is not your first language.
• A GRE or GMAT score is highly recommended for applicants, please upload this in the relevant section.

The following items should be supplied if available:

• Transcripts or provisional results of your Master's degree(s)
• Professional qualifications
• Employment history.

Please provide details of your intended research proposal in support of your application. This is an important part of your application in which you outline up to two research directions you would like to pursue in your PhD.

Before preparing your proposal you should familiarise yourself with the research interests of Bayes academics to make sure that your research is aligned with their expertise.

The research proposal should include

• an abstract
• the research objectives
• the proposed research methodology
• a summary review of the relevant literature and current understanding or knowledge
• an indication of how the proposed research will contribute to the discipline.

You should also provide an outline work plan for the period of research including consideration of approval of any research ethics implications. You are also asked to comment on why you wish to pursue this research and what you feel you will bring to it. The research proposal should be a maximum of three sides of A4.

In addition, if you wish to be considered for a Bayes Studentship, you should provide a non-technical summary of your proposed research. This summary should be no more than 400 words.

You will need to provide names and emails of two referees who know your work well and can comment on your aptitude for critical thinking and original research within a well-defined framework. We will contact the referees once you have submitted your application.

Please note: the email account of referees are required to be a professional email account.

We cannot accept references emailed from web-based email accounts such as @gmail.com, @hotmail.com or @126.com because we cannot confirm the provenance of these. Please bear this in mind when you fill in their email address on the application.

For students whose first language is not English, the following qualifications will normally meet the English language requirement for entry to a postgraduate course of study and to apply for a Student Route visa:

• A first degree from a UK university or from the CNAA
• A first degree from an overseas institution recognised by the institution as providing adequate evidence of proficiency in the English language for example, from institutions in Australia, Canada or the USA
• GCE O-level/GCSE English language or English literature, grade C minimum
• Cambridge ESOL CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English) at grade C or above
• An overall minimum score of 7.0 in the English Language Testing System (IELTS *Academic) with a 6.5 minimum in all 4 areas (IELTS scores are only valid if they are less than two years old on the programme start date)
• We accept TOEFL iBT score of 100 or higher overall.
  TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition
  City’s institution code for TOEFL is 0870
  Please note we do not accept My Best Scores

In addition to the above, we will also monitor your English language skills throughout the admissions process.

Please note, at the initial stage of your application we will accept electronic copies of your official transcripts. If your application is successful we will require you to send us the original hard copies before a final offer of place is made.