Inside UNC Research: Assembling a team of insurance and risk experts

The Institute for Risk Management and Insurance Innovation (IRMII) is bringing together investigators from multiple disciplines to address the financial risks arising from a growing number of threats to our state and beyond, ranging from extreme weather to cybersecurity.

The mission of IRMII is to accelerate research on evaluating and managing financial risk and to create a pipeline of uniquely trained students ready to enter the risk management and insurance sector. In Spring 2025, the institute will launch a new undergraduate minor in risk management in partnership with the School of Data Science and Society.

UNC Research spoke to IRMII Director Greg Characklis to learn more about the institute’s future.

IRMII absorbed the Center on Financial Risk in Environmental Systems. How will this unification ready the institute for an efficient and effective launch?

The Center on Financial Risk in Environmental Systems (CoFiRES) established our research group’s reputation for creatively evaluating the financial risks of natural hazards and developing novel tools for better managing them. While IRMII will move into a broader range of risks, like those related to cybersecurity and pandemics, the CoFiRES staff, students, and research portfolio gives us a wonderful platform on which to rapidly build and expand.

How will the institute’s many industry partnerships drive its real-world impact?

The support of our roughly 40 industry partners will be invaluable in several respects. Their financial commitments will allow us to attract talented students and staff, while their identification of  the most consequential risk management challenges will be equally important to IRMII’s success. These partnerships will also provide access to data and private-sector expertise that will allow us to use cutting-edge risk modeling and analytical techniques to develop solutions that are both innovative and practical.

What will students gain from the undergraduate minor in risk management?

Foundational knowledge in risk management and an understanding of how the industry operates. They will also develop quantitative and analytical skills for evaluating complex risks via high-level tools, including data science, machine learning, and AI. Finally, they will apply both their knowledge and newly developed skills to formulate creative strategies for managing risk.

What other opportunities will the institute provide students?

The institute will host a wide range of enrichment activities with individuals from industry, academia, and government to provide students with broad exposure to all facets of risk management and insurance. These will include seminars, guest lectures, workshops, and other events to connect students with experts “in the trenches” who are trying to improve society’s resilience in the face of challenging financial risks.

We will also have an active internship program that places students with a wide range of firms in the risk management and insurance sector, and we already have a long list of companies that are in the market for interns as early as summer 2025.

What else do you want people to know about IRMII?

Through our research and educational activities, we are focused on developing novel and creative solutions to some of the world’s most vexing risk-related challenges. There is a multi-trillion-dollar industry and a range of public-sector organizations that are desperate for individuals with the knowledge, analytical skills, and creativity needed to solve these problems. Our goal is to train students so that they are prepared to contribute to developing new solutions as soon as they graduate.