Above: participants in discussion at the 11th June event, Royal Meteorological Society.
On 11th June, a group of insurance sector partners gathered at the Royal Meteorological Society to discuss research interests within the sector. The event was convened by UNRISK management team member Erica Thompson (based at UCL), and UNRISK PhD Conor Lamb (also based at UCL), through Conor’s internship at the Royal Meteorological Society.
Participants spent the day in discussions which have led to a series of proposals for research projects. These have been circulated to UNRISK supervisors. UNRISK supervisors are now in conversation with the partners to develop the projects to the point where they can be advertised to PhD applicants in autumn 2026. They will then form the basis of the PhD projects undertaken by the cohort of UNRISK students arriving in October 2027.
This is a great example of co-creation of PhD projects with benefits for both the academic and industry teams, and an important impact stemming from Conor’s PhD project and internship.
An article about the event was written up by Conor and published July 2026 in the Journal of Catastrophe Risk and Resilience:
Conor Lamb, Erica Thompson, Anna Hardisty, Steve Sperazza, Xumeng Andy Deng, Ralf Toumi, Gregor C. Leckebusch, and Dickie Whitaker, Event Report – Understanding Research Priorities in Natural Catastrophe Insurance, Journal of Catastrophe Risk and Resilience, 2026. 10.63024/0en7-8sj4
