In September, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in partnership with the Scottish Financial Risk Academy (SFRA) launched The Actuarial Research Centre (ARC). Professor Andrew Cairns of Heriot Watt University, the first director of The ARC, talks to The Actuary about how it will contribute to the international development of actuarial science.
In September, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in partnership with the Scottish Financial Risk Academy (SFRA) launched The Actuarial Research Centre (ARC). Professor Andrew Cairns of Heriot Watt University, the first director of The ARC, talks to The Actuary about how it will contribute to the international development of actuarial science.
What is The ARC?
The ARC (www.actuaries.org.uk/arc) has been established to create a bridge between actuarial research and business and will become an international centre for the furthering of actuarial science.
This will be achieved by supporting PhD students, increasing the number of studentship opportunities and helping create the next generation of researchers for the profession.
Using funding from the Faculty Endowment Fund that was set up at the time of the merger between the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, The ARC has been established by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in partnership with the SFRA. Scotland has a long established history of actuarial research and excellence. The ARC will leverage this to create a centre of international excellence for the profession and the financial services industry.
What does The ARC aim to achieve?
The principal aim of The ARC is to be an international centre for the furthering of actuarial science, with students producing boundary-pushing research with practical applications for business, the public, governments and policy makers worldwide.
This will be achieved by supporting students from academia and the actuarial profession from around the world. The ARC will contribute valuable research and generate a stream of technically highly skilled researchers into the profession and the wider financial services industry. Research will focus on a range of topics that are of importance to the actuarial profession and the financial services industry and will be undertaken in partnership with business sponsors. Research will be published, making it widely accessible.
What is your role at The ARC?
As director, my role is to effectively coordinate day-to-day activities. This includes running the PhD recruitment process by ensuring that we have the best possible candidates applying for sponsorship and that we select the best candidates from that pool. I also choose the academic and commercial supervisors for students, ensuring that the right people are overseeing their research. I monitor what is going on within the PhD, ensuring that it is on track and help to identify the best places to publish the results of research.
I also work with private companies, which sponsor and co-sponsor research projects and ensure that projects are run effectively.
So how does The ARC work?
The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries has provided a substantial contribution to the establishment of The ARC, and from September two PhD students will begin research projects, with a third joining next year. The expectation is that by 2014 we will be sponsoring six PhD students. The ARC will seek to partner with businesses looking to access research that may otherwise be impractical for internal research teams to undertake because of the timescales required to produce relevant data or the cost. We already have two co-sponsors for our first two PhD students; Hymans Robertson and the insurer, Partnership.
Research will be published in a variety of sources, making it accessible to everyone within the profession and to other academics. Business sponsors will benefit from having early access to the research results. PhD students will also participate in knowledge exchange events, including those run by the Scottish Financial Risk Academy (SFRA) .
So why is 2012 the right time to launch The ARC?
There have been a lot of changes in the actuarial and financial world in the past 10 years - in terms of regulation, risk and markets. Cutbacks in the academic world have reduced the number of opportunities for aspiring researchers to obtain funding for a PhD. The ARC addresses this issue and will produce a steady stream of highly trained actuarial experts around the globe.
How can actuaries get involved in The ARC?
There are three ways to get involved.
1) You might be interested in taking three to four years out of your career to undertake a PhD research project and therefore consider applying for a scholarship. One of The ARC's first PhD students has done this.
2) You can volunteer as a supervisor of an individual project. We want experts from relevant fields who will join the academic supervisors to monitor and mentor students.
3) Your company may be interested in sponsoring or co-sponsoring research.
If you are interested in any of the above, please email [email protected] for more information.
