Our research
UNSW School of Risk and Actuarial Studies is one of the largest actuarial groups in the world.
It is home to leading researchers in a wide range of areas, focusing on three primary areas: Risk (quantitative risk management, mortality, longevity and health risks, insurance risk modelling, climate change, AI/ML enhanced actuarial analytics, uncertainty); Insurance (general insurance, life insurance, insurance pricing, capital and reserving); and Superannuation (pension economics, retirement products, behavioural insights). The School has won high international recognition for its research excellence in these primary areas. In the UNL Global Research Rankings, opens in a new window, the School is consistently ranked number 1 on the list of the top 50 business schools worldwide, based on research in actuarial science, risk management, and insurance.
The School is renowned for its interdisciplinarity. With key research strengths in these primary areas, the School has also made significant contributions to other related disciplines such as quantitative finance, data analytics, economics, operations research, probability, and statistics. This is evident from the School’s research publications in recent years.
The School has strong connections with the Australian insurance and superannuation industries, regulators, and government. It implements various strategies to develop and strengthen external relationships with industry partners, influence industry practices, and provide advice for regulators and government. The School has been extremely successful in obtaining external research funding through ARC discovery and linkage projects, as well as from professional actuarial bodies.
Associated with the School is the Innovations in Risk, Insurance, and Superannuation (IRIS) Knowledge Hub. The Hub is dedicated to industry-linked research and currently focuses on the following themes: Climate Change and Insurance; Financing Retirement; and AI and Digital Transformation for Insurance.
The School actively engages with the research community at both national and international levels by organising conferences and serving on the editorial boards of leading journals in the discipline. A few academic members from the School hold affiliations with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing and Research, opens in a new window (CEPAR) as leaders and chief/associate investigators.
In our ongoing commitment to innovation and research reproducibility, the School has created an Actuarial Software Directory, opens in a new window. This comprehensive online repository brings together statistical software packages and research code developed by our academics, providing free access to advanced analytical tools that support scholarly inquiry and industry practice.
The School sets its ambition to become the world’s leading institution in risk and actuarial studies. This ambition aligns with the strategies of the Faculty and the University by producing world-leading research (Academic Excellence), establishing partnership with the financial and insurance industries (Social Engagement), and engaging with global knowledge networks (Global Impact).
Successful grants
Staff within our school are regularly active in conducting research in a wide range of areas of insurance and actuarial science with a focus on modelling, measuring, and managing risks. The risk management and actuarial studies programs are also active at an international level in its research excellence.
