SA0 - Research dissertation
As a candidate for Fellowship, you may undertake some original research as an alternative to one of the specialist applications subjects.
You will have to nominate to us a possible topic for research, indicating how this will fit into current actuarial knowledge on the topic. On completion of the work, you will need to submit a dissertation which will be assessed by two supervisors and by a third independent person, approved by the Board of Examiners.
For more information please see the relevant documents at the right of this page.
Process
The candidate will need two supervisors for the research from the start. One will be nominated by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries to take an overview of the work and to ensure a practical orientation towards actuarial work. One will be nominated by the university or company with which the candidate has links. This second supervisor will be the director of studies. At least one of the supervisors must have experience of research work and supervision of candidates for research work.
A plan of work for the research, which will be expected to be of the level of an MPhil or research degree, must be agreed with the supervisors and the Board of Examiners. The research is likely to require work over two years of part-time study.
The candidate will not be formally accepted for SA0 until both supervisors are in place and the plan of work has been submitted.
The fee for SA0 is £1,000, and once the student has been formally accepted for SA0 they must pay 50% of this fee. The remainder fo the fee is payable when the work is completed.
On completion of the work the candidate will submit a dissertation which will be assessed by both supervisors and by a third independent person approved by the Board of Examiners. A viva may be held at which the candidate, the examiner and at least one of the supervisors are present and the candidate will be expected to defend the work. Each supervisor will be required to sign a statement that the dissertation is the original work of the student.
The examiner must be an expert in the field of the dissertation and must have previous experience of examining research work. Approval for the examiner must be sought at least six months before the proposed examination date.
The outcome of the assessment may be:
- Pass
- Pass with minor modifications
- Resubmit after further work
- Fail.
We will also encourage the successful candidate to submit a paper(s) to an actuarial conference, the British Actuarial Journal or other appropriate journal on the work that she/he has completed or while the work is progressing. A copy of the project report must be given to the Institute and Faculty. The British Actuarial Journal will publish abstracts of dissertations which are published in other forums.