Calls for papers, scholarships, awards and funding for anyone who wants to do actuarial research, verified on their official websites and sorted by deadline. Includes where to publish, where to find Mexican actuarial theses and how to turn a thesis into a paper a journal will accept.
The research programs of the SOA and the CAS offer four routes. The first is calls for essays and papers from the major bodies, such as those of the SOA Research Institute or the annual programs of the Casualty Actuarial Society: they ask for short, practical texts on a specific topic and usually pay a prize to the best ones. The second is requests for proposals, contracted projects with a budget and deliverables. The third is individual grants, such as the annual CKER and CAS competition, which fund your own idea on condition that you present and publish it. The fourth is awards for published work, which require no application.
In Mexico the ecosystem is smaller, but it exists. The AMA (Asociación Mexicana de Actuarios) and CONAC (Colegio Nacional de Actuarios) award actuarial papers through recurring calls, Secihti (the federal science ministry) funds graduate study in Mexico and abroad, and foundations such as Fundación MAPFRE accept projects in Spanish on insurance and social welfare. On top of that is the body of undergraduate and graduate theses in university repositories, a natural starting point for a first paper.
This page brings together what could be verified as of the cutoff date. For the calendar of conferences where this work is presented, see actuarial events; for a profile of the academic career, see the academia and research page.
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Calls, scholarships and awards
Open calls appear first, from the nearest deadline to the furthest; then recurring ones, which open every year or accept submissions on a rolling basis; and finally recently closed editions, useful for preparing the next one. The status is recalculated using your device's date.
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2026
OpenResearch fundingInternational
2027 CKER/CAS Individual Grant Competition
Organizer: Casualty Actuarial Society and the SOA Committee on Knowledge Extension ResearchDate: Letter of intent: October 21, 2026. Full application by invitation: January 14, 2027. Results: March 18, 2027.Amount: Median funding of about 15,000 USD
Who can apply: Academics, practitioners or mixed teams; students may take part only as members of a team. One letter of intent per researcher.
The only annual individual research grant competition of the CAS and the SOA. Grantees are expected to present their work at the Actuarial Research Conference and submit it to the North American Actuarial Journal or Variance, unless another journal is approved.
Organizer: Fundación MAPFREDate: October 22, 2026, 14:00 mainland Spain timeAmount: Up to 15,000 euros gross per insurance and social welfare project; up to 30,000 for health promotion
Who can apply: Individual researchers or teams, independent or affiliated with universities, hospitals, companies or research centers; documents in Spanish, English or Portuguese.
The insurance and social welfare lines include emerging risks, new insurance technologies, pensions, savings, home equity release and the economics of longevity. Applications are accepted in Spanish, which makes it easier to apply using a Mexican thesis as the starting point.
2026 CAS Risk Call Paper Program on Operational and Tail Risks
Organizer: Casualty Actuarial Society, Risk Working GroupDate: Proposals: October 30, 2026
Who can apply: Authors of practical, accessible papers on operational risk or tail risks, preferably with applied cases.
Among other topics, the group is looking for a methodological handbook that brings quantitative rigor to operational risk beyond standardized formulas. It fits well with the new operational risk loss event database that the CUSF has required since 2026.
JoCo 2027: call for abstracts for the Joint Colloquium of the IAA sections
Organizer: IAA and Institut Luxembourgeois des Actuaires (ILAC)Date: Abstracts: November 6, 2026. Colloquium: May 19 to 21, 2027, Luxembourg
Who can apply: Actuaries, data scientists and academics from any section: AFIR-ERM, ASTIN, IAAHS, IAALS, IACA and PBSS.
The central theme is "Actuarial Intelligence: Where Ethics Meets Expertise". It is the main academic forum of the IAA sections in 2027; the CAS considers papers presented at ASTIN and AFIR colloquia eligible for its Hachemeister Prize.
Request for Proposals: The Policyholder Behavior in the Artificial Intelligence Era
Organizer: SOA Research InstituteDate: November 13, 2026Amount: SOA historical guidance: 25,000 to 50,000 USD per contracted project (33rd to 66th percentiles)
Who can apply: Researchers, academics and practicing actuaries.
A study of how policyholders who use AI might change their behavior over the life of the policy: lapses, loans, withdrawals, benefit utilization and new forms of antiselection, with a focus on life and annuity products. There is little data on this phenomenon in Mexico, which would give a proposal based on local experience comparative value.
Request for Proposals: Explainable AI and Regulatory Compliance
Organizer: SOA Research InstituteDate: November 13, 2026Amount: SOA historical guidance: 25,000 to 50,000 USD per contracted project (33rd to 66th percentiles)
Who can apply: Researchers, academics and practicing actuaries; the SOA generally does not cover university overhead.
The SOA's innovation and technology committee seeks a report on the current state and potential of explainable AI for using AI models in regulated actuarial work, with an emphasis on regulatory reporting: useful techniques, their limits, use cases in insurance or banking and barriers to adoption.
Call for Essays: Incorporation of Catastrophic Risks into Actuarial Practice
Organizer: SOA Research InstituteDate: November 17, 2026Amount: Up to 4,000 USD in prizes, shared among the selected essays
Who can apply: Anyone with knowledge of the subject; essays in English of 500 to 2,500 words.
Seeks proposals for bringing tail risks, acute or chronic, into everyday pricing, reserving and planning practice: sovereign debt, pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, compound climate events and cyberwarfare, among others. Applied case studies are valued.
Call for Essays: AI and the Potential for Antiselection in Life Insurance Distribution
Organizer: SOA Research InstituteDate: December 1, 2026Amount: Up to 10,000 USD in prizes, shared among the selected essays
Who can apply: Anyone with knowledge of the subject; essays in English of 500 to 2,500 words.
The SOA's mortality and longevity strategic research program seeks essays on how artificial intelligence tools outside underwriting could anticipate selection outcomes and produce a less favorable portfolio than expected. The main focus is individual life insurance in the United States, but comparisons with other markets are welcome.
Organizer: Asociación Mexicana de Actuarios (AMA)Date: The fourth edition closed in August 2025 and its winners presented in June 2026; the fifth edition has not yet been announcedAmount: In the fourth edition, per category: 60,000, 30,000 and 15,000 MXN
Who can apply: Actuaries, professionals and students who submit original papers with practical applications in insurance and surety.
It specifically targets original papers with practical applications in insurance and surety. The winning papers of the fourth edition were presented at Universidad Anáhuac México and on Zoom; the call asks for documents to be sent by email and publishes results on a set date.
Organizer: Secretaría de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación (Secihti)Date: Recurring calls; deadlines depend on each call and on the graduate program
Who can apply: Mexican or foreign nationals enrolled in graduate programs registered in the Sistema Nacional de Posgrados (National Graduate Programs System).
It is the main way to fund a master's or doctorate in Mexico with a thesis in actuarial science, statistics or finance. Amounts and eligible items are set in the Scholarship Regulations and in each call.
Becas al Extranjero (scholarships for study abroad)
Organizer: Secretaría de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación (Secihti)Date: Recurring calls; the page was being updated at the close of this edition
Who can apply: Mexican nationals admitted to or enrolled in in-person graduate programs outside Mexico.
Useful for doctorates in actuarial science abroad; it can be combined with scholarships such as the SOA Hickman program if the rules of both allow it.
Organizer: SOA and The Actuarial FoundationDate: Annual
Who can apply: Authors of papers published in the leading English-language actuarial journals; no application required.
A committee of the SOA Education and Research Section reviews the journals, nominates and votes on the best paper of the year; the result is ratified by The Actuarial Foundation.
Organizer: IAA sections (ASTIN, AFIR-ERM, IAALS and PBSS) with the CASDate: AnnualAmount: The Charles A. Hachemeister Prize, sponsored by the CAS, is 2,500 USD
Who can apply: Authors of any paper published in ASTIN Bulletin; no application required.
The prizes are the Charles A. Hachemeister Prize (general insurance), the Bob Alting von Geusau Memorial Prize (financial risk and ERM), the Ragnar Norberg Memorial Prize (life) and the Chris Daykin Prize (pensions and social security). Winners are invited to present at their section's colloquium.
Organizer: Casualty Actuarial SocietyDate: Recurring, per published paperAmount: 5,000 USD
Who can apply: Authors of papers published in Variance, the CAS scientific journal.
Recognizes the best papers in Variance. The CAS also awards the Ratemaking Prize, the Ronald Bornhuetter Loss Reserve Prize and the Ferguson Reinsurance Prize, linked to its calls for papers.
Organizer: Casualty Actuarial SocietyDate: Annual. The 2026 to 2027 cycle closed on January 31, 2026Amount: Scholarships of 5,000 and 2,500 USD
Who can apply: Full-time university students who have sat at least one actuarial exam and are members of CAS Student Central.
It aims to spark interest in a property and casualty career and in CAS credentials. Requires an essay, two letters of recommendation and an academic transcript.
Organizer: Society of Actuaries (SOA)Date: Annual. The 2026 cycle closed on March 2, 2026, with notifications on May 15Amount: Up to 20,000 USD per academic year, renewable once
Who can apply: Full-time doctoral students, including international students, who have passed at least two actuarial exams, are working toward a credential from the AI, CAS, CIA, IFoA or SOA, and are pursuing an academic career.
It seeks to increase the number of academics with a doctorate and an actuarial credential. Candidates can apply while applying to doctoral programs; the scholarship is conditional on enrollment.
CAS Call Paper Programs: ratemaking, reserving and reinsurance
Organizer: Casualty Actuarial SocietyDate: Annual. In 2026 they closed on January 20 (reserving), February 9 (reinsurance) and May 4 (ratemaking).Amount: Accepted papers that meet the standards compete for a cash prize
Who can apply: Property and casualty actuaries and researchers; several calls require code in open-source software.
Each working group announces a topic, receives one- or two-page proposals, assigns a review team and publishes the papers in the E-Forum. They are a realistic path to a first peer-reviewed technical paper.
Organizer: Casualty Actuarial SocietyDate: Rolling submissions; the CAS aims to decide within about six weeksAmount: Up to 50,000 USD; for monographs, up to 5,000 USD for development and travel expenses
Who can apply: Researchers with timely property and casualty projects.
A fast-track approval program: the project goes through CAS peer review and is published in Variance, the E-Forum or as a monograph. The CAS offers data with about four million earned exposures for confidential use.
SOA Research Institute Student Research Case Study Challenge
Organizer: SOA Research InstituteDate: Annual. The 2026 edition has concluded; it received 100 submissions from 65 universities in 19 countriesAmount: In 2026: 5,000, 3,000 and 2,000 USD for the top three places
Who can apply: Teams of two to five university students, preferably with a faculty advisor.
Teams analyze a business case over several weeks, build models and deliver an executive report; finalists present to SOA judges. The Latin America region competes in the same group as South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Premio Nacional de Actuaría: Visión Actuarial (National Actuarial Award)
Organizer: Colegio Nacional de Actuarios (CONAC)Date: 2026 edition: submissions until August 1, results on September 11 and winners' presentations on October 7 and 8
Who can apply: Authors of actuarial papers, under the rules CONAC publishes through its official channels.
The winning papers are presented at CASA CONAC. It is worth following CONAC's website for the next edition.
How this list is maintained. We review the research opportunity pages of the SOA and the CAS, announcements from the IAA and its sections, and the websites of the AMA, CONAC, Secihti and the foundations. Last review: October 16, 2026. As of the cutoff, we found no current research award calls from AMIS (the Mexican insurers' association), the CNSF (National Insurance and Surety Commission) or CONSAR (National Retirement Savings Commission) in official sources; if one is published, we will add it. Open data: convocatorias.json.
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Application planner
Lab
Do I have enough time?
Choose a call with a deadline and your start date. The planner splits the available time into four milestones using a rule proposed by this page: 40% for research and drafting, 25% for review with your advisor or a colleague, 20% for rewriting and 15% as a buffer for formatting, letters and submission.
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Assessment
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How to publish actuarial research: journals and their profile
Choosing a journal is the first methodological decision, not the last. A quantitative journal such as ASTIN Bulletin expects a new theoretical or methodological result; a practice journal expects readers to be able to apply the work the following Monday. Read three or four recent issues before writing the introduction. For a broader catalog, see actuarial journals and publications.
ASTIN Bulletin: The Journal of the IAA
IAACambridgeSingle-blind review
Publishes quantitative and scientific work in any branch of actuarial science and insurance mathematics. It appears three times a year, the editors aim to complete peer review in about three months, and papers accepted from July 31, 2026 are published open access. Its papers compete automatically for the IAA section prizes.
The journal of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, published with Cambridge University Press. It accepts original research papers, review papers and actuarial software, provided their relevance to the insurance industry is clear; book reviews are not peer-reviewed.
The academic journal of the Society of Actuaries. The CKER and CAS grants expect funded projects to be submitted to NAAJ or Variance, and the SOA has run calls for essays that translate NAAJ papers into practical applications, an entry point for practitioners.
The peer-reviewed journal of the Casualty Actuarial Society, focused on property and casualty insurance. The CAS awards the 5,000 USD Variance Prize to its best papers and publishes there part of the research it funds through its grant programs.
A quarterly peer-reviewed journal of the IMEF Research Foundation, diamond open access. It publishes finance and economics papers in Spanish and English, a natural outlet for Mexican theses on financial risk, pensions or ALM with an empirical approach.
The journal of the Colegio Nacional de Actuarios, with twenty volumes and one special volume in its archive. It is a venue for applied work by the Mexican profession; check the current submission rules with CONAC.
Before submitting: check whether the journal publishes open access and who pays, its policy on the use of artificial intelligence in writing, whether it requires sharing code and data, and its policy on work that has already circulated as a thesis or preprint. In any case, disclose it in your cover letter.
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Actuarial thesis repositories in Mexico
Searching earlier theses serves three purposes: avoiding an exhausted topic, finding data and models already built, and identifying potential advisors. These are the official repositories of universities that offer the actuarial science degree (see universities) and Secihti's national repository.
UNAM
TESIUNAM
UNAM's thesis catalog, run by the Dirección General de Bibliotecas y Servicios Digitales de Información (its library and digital information services directorate). You can search by title, author, advisor, subject, degree option, school and program, which makes it easy to filter actuarial science theses from the Facultad de Ciencias and FES Acatlán.
Brings together the university's academic content, with more than half a million bachelor's, master's and doctoral theses on record. Useful for finding the full text when it is available.
The repository of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, which offers the actuarial science degree in Toluca. Its collection is organized by subject communities and document type.
The open access repository of the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, with about twenty thousand records in its thesis collection. BUAP teaches actuarial science in its Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas.
The institutional repository of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, browsable by document type, program, author and year. UANL offers actuarial science in its Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas.
Secihti's open science aggregator repository, which provides free full-text access to papers, theses and other resources from Mexican institutions, with no subscription or fee. It lets you search several universities at once.
A thesis shows that you know; a paper shows that you found something. A thesis is long because it must explain everything from basic theory; a paper is short because its reader already knows it. The job is to remove almost everything that is not yours and sharpen what is.
State the contribution in one sentence. Write down what your work adds that was not there before: a method, new data, a calibration for Mexico or a comparison nobody had made. If it does not fit in one sentence, the paper does not exist yet.
Choose the journal before rewriting. Read four recent papers in the target journal and copy their structure, length and citation style. A methodological contribution goes to ASTIN Bulletin or Annals; an application with Mexican data can go to REMEF or to a call for essays.
Cut the theoretical framework to the minimum. Anything found in a textbook gets cited, not explained. The thesis chapter on mortality tables or generalized linear models becomes one paragraph with references.
Rewrite the introduction. The first page must state the problem, why it matters, what was done, what was found and how it differs from the literature. Referees decide based on that page.
Make the results reproducible. Clean up the code, document the data and check that someone else can reproduce the figures. Some programs, such as the CAS calls, require code and open-source software for review.
Ask for a cold read. Before submitting, give the text to someone who does not know your thesis. If they cannot grasp the contribution in ten minutes, neither will the editor.
Respond to referee reports methodically. Rejection with comments is normal. Answer each comment in a table, indicate where you changed the text and resubmit; if the journal rejects the paper, use the comments for the next one.
A realistic shortcut: SOA calls for essays ask for 500 to 2,500 words on a given topic. A well-trimmed thesis chapter can become a published essay within weeks, and that publication later helps place the full-length paper.
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Open research topics relevant to Mexico
These topics share three features: there has been a recent regulatory or market change, published data or methods for Mexico are lacking, and the result would have immediate users. Each one links to an item in the regulatory monitor.
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Operational risk with loss data
Since the September 2026 reporting cutoff, insurers have recorded operational risk loss events using a common catalog. Frequency and severity models, handling of truncation and data scarcity, and calibration proposals for the general formula are lines of work with direct application. The CAS has an open call on the subject.
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Longevity and Ley 97 life annuities
The 2026 correction to the technical note for the monto constitutivo (the annuity purchase amount) shows how sensitive the boundary between programmed withdrawal and life annuity is. There is room to study pensioner mortality, longevity risk and the design of decumulation. See longevity risk.
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Social security for platform workers
The IMSS (Mexican Social Security Institute) pilot program launched in July 2025 brings in a population with variable income and high turnover. Contribution density, occupational risk claims and the effects on future pensions are questions with no published answer.
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The gap between the minimum wage and the UMA
Between 2025 and 2026, the general minimum wage grew much faster than the UMA (the reference unit used for caps and fines). Quantifying the effect on caps, defined benefits, seniority premiums and guaranteed pensions is a high-value actuarial and public policy study. See public policy.
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Catastrophes and climate in everyday practice
The SOA is seeking essays on how to integrate tail risks into pricing and reserving, and the IAA adopted ISAP 8 for climate-related disclosures. Hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts and extreme heat in Mexico offer case studies with public data. See climate and catastrophe risk.
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Artificial intelligence, underwriting and antiselection
Two SOA calls closing in late 2026 ask whether AI tools in the hands of policyholders and intermediaries can alter selection and behavior. A study using Mexican lapse or digital underwriting experience would have comparative value. See actuarial science and AI.
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Decumulation and the Siefores investment regime
The CONSAR amendments of November 2025 mention the decumulation phase for the first time when adjusting foreign currency limits. Replacement rate models with realistic investment paths and programmed withdrawals are almost uncharted territory in the Mexican literature. See pensions.
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IFRS 17 implementation experience
In the second half of 2026, the IASB will discuss when to begin the post-implementation review of IFRS 17. Documenting with case studies how the risk adjustment, the contractual service margin and cohorts were calculated at groups operating in Mexico can feed into that discussion. See IFRS 17.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I take part in SOA and CAS calls from Mexico?
Yes, in most of them. The SOA states that its calls for essays and requests for proposals are open to anyone with knowledge of the subject, and that the Hickman program accepts international candidates. The CKER and CAS grant competition accepts letters of intent from academics, practitioners or mixed teams. The practical requirement is to write in English and to check, in each case, the rules on payment, assignment of rights and eligibility.
What is the difference between a call for essays and a request for proposals?
In an SOA call for essays you submit a finished text, in English and 500 to 2,500 words long, which competes for a prize pool; in exchange for the prize, selected authors assign their copyright to the SOA Research Institute. In a request for proposals you submit a research plan with the team's résumés, a budget and a timeline; if approved, a contract is signed. As budget guidance, the SOA reports that between the 33rd and 66th percentiles its contracted projects cost 25,000 to 50,000 USD, and notes that it generally does not cover university overhead.
How do I find UNAM actuarial theses?
In the TESIUNAM catalog of the Dirección General de Bibliotecas y Servicios Digitales de Información, you can search by title, author, advisor, subject, degree option, school and program; filtering by the actuarial science program and by the Facultad de Ciencias or FES Acatlán narrows the results considerably. The UNAM Institutional Repository offers the full text when it is available.
Which Mexican award recognizes insurance and surety papers?
The AMA's Premio Fundadores is aimed at actuaries, professionals and students who submit original papers with practical applications in insurance and surety. In its fourth edition, which closed in August 2025, it awarded 60,000, 30,000 and 15,000 pesos per category. CONAC also organizes the Premio Nacional de Actuaría, whose 2026 edition accepted submissions until August 1.
Are there scholarships for a doctorate in actuarial science?
The SOA Hickman scholarship awards up to 20,000 USD per academic year, renewable once, to doctoral students pursuing an academic career and working toward an actuarial credential; the 2026 cycle closed on March 2. In Mexico, Secihti offers national scholarships for graduate programs registered in the Sistema Nacional de Posgrados and scholarships abroad for Mexican nationals admitted to in-person programs outside the country.
How early should I start an application?
It depends on the type. A short essay on a topic you have already worked on can be prepared in a few weeks; a funding proposal requires a literature review, a budget and letters, and is best started months in advance. The planner on this page splits the available time into milestones and tells you whether the hours you can commit are enough.