Postgraduate prospectus

Why choose Essex: the University and its academic excellence

Academically outstanding

In the most recent national Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), Essex was ranked ninth out of 159 universities in the UK for the quality of its research, with most departments and schools rated as 'internationally excellent’. The RAE results were announced in December 2008.

The RAE is a peer review exercise to evaluate the quality of research in UK higher education institutions undertaken by the four UK higher education funding bodies. The ratings are a strong indicator of the number and quality of research-active staff at Essex and the extent to which the University creates a supportive infrastructure for research.

The RAE provided quality profiles for research in each submission of research activity made by institutions. Profiles indicate the proportion of research activity within a submission in each of the five quality levels:

4* = 'world-leading’
3* = 'internationally excellent’
2* = 'internationally recognised’
1* = 'nationally recognised’ and
unclassified = 'below nationally recognised work’

Staff from schools, departments and centres at Essex were submitted either within a departmental submission or within a cross-departmental submission. The results of the RAE showed that of the research activity undertaken at Essex:

• 22 per cent is rated as 'world-leading’
• 63 per cent is rated as at least 'internationally excellent’
• 93 per cent is rated as at least 'internationally recognised’

More detailed information about our RAE results can be found at: Research excellence at the University of Essexand further information about the RAE process is available at: Research Assessment Exercise website

Teaching quality

Essex is also a top ten UK university for the quality of its teaching, being ranked eighth in the 2008 Sunday Times 'Best Marks for Teaching’ league table.

In 2010 we took part in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey. Of all our taught postgraduates who responded to the survey, 86 per cent said their teaching and learning at Essex has exceeded their expectations, while 89 per cent said that their overall experience as a postgraduate at Essex had exceeded their expectations. We also took part in the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey which revealed that over 75 per cent of the Essex research students who took part were satisfied with the level of supervision they received. For more information on both surveys, please visit the Higher Education Academy’s website.

Academic diversity

The University has the following academic departments and schools, which belong to one of the following faculties: Humanities and Comparative Studies; Law and Management; Science and Engineering; Social Sciences.

• Art History and Theory
• Biological Sciences
• Computer Science and Electronic Engineering
• East 15 Acting School
• Economics
• Essex Business School
• Government
• Health and Human Sciences
• History
• International Academy
• Language and Linguistics
• Law
• Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies
• Mathematical Sciences
• Philosophy
• Psychology
• Sociology

In addition, we have a number of centres and institutes to bring together those with a common interest in a particular subject area and to provide a focus for cross-cutting research. As a postgraduate student you may be associated with one of the following:

• Centre for Audio Research and Engineering
• Centre for Brain Science
• Centre for Computational Finance and Economic Agents
• Centre for Computational Intelligence
• Centre for Cultural and Social History
• Centre for Curatorial Studies
• Centre for Democratic Governance
• Centre for Entrepreneurship Research
• Centre for Film Studies
• Centre for Global Accountancy
• Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities
• Centre for Local and Regional History
• Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies
• Centre for Radicals and Oxidative Stress
• Centre for Remote Sensing and Environmetrics
• Centre for Sports and Exercise Science
• Centre for Systems Biology
• Centre for Trauma, Asylum and Refugees
• Centre for Theatre Studies
• Centre for Theoretical Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences
• Children’s Legal Centre
• Digital Lifestyles Centre
• Essex Biomedical Sciences Institute
• Essex Finance Centre
• Essex Management Centre
• Human Rights Centre
• Institute for Electoral Research
• Institute for Social and Economic Research
• Interdisciplinary Centre for Environment and Society
• Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence
• Latin American Centre
• Physics Centre
• UK Data Archive

Active research links at the University

Our research is mainly funded by UK research councils (eg Economic and Social Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council), Medical Research Council, Science and Technology Facilities Council, government agencies (eg Department of Health, Department of Work and Pensions, Technology Strategy Board, Joint Information Systems Committee), Ofcom and the European Commission.

We also receive research funding from a range of UK charitable bodies including

• Cancer Research
• Deafness Research
• Leverhulme Trust, Wellcome Trust
• Nuffield Foundation
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation
• Royal Society and
• British Academy

Research and knowledge transfer projects have involved partnerships with many organisations including:

• BT Group
• Vodafone
• UNESCO
• Nokia
• Fujitsu
• Alcatel
• GlaxoSmithKline
• London Aquarium
• the Victoria and Albert Museum and
• the National Trust

Leading lights

Renowned academic staff with international reputations include:

• Professor Dawn Ades OBE FBA (leading expert in surrealist art and a trustee of the Tate Gallery)
• Professor Huosheng Hu (leads the research team developing ground-breaking robotic fish that will analyse and monitor pollution in a port)
• Professor Stephen Jenkins (sits on the National Equality Panel)
• Professor Anthony King (one of the UK’s foremost commentators on British politics)
• Professor Sir Nigel Rodley (re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Committee for a third four-year term)
• Professor Jules Pretty OBE (regularly advises the Government on social and environmental decisions) and
• Professor Marina Warner CBE (prize winning writer who has been appointed to the British Academy)

Rising stars

Younger members of academic staff who have been hitting the headlines include:

• Dr Aaron Balick from the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, who offers advice to thousands of young listeners on BBC Radio 1’s Sunday Surgery;
• Essex Business School’s Dr Steffen Böhm and Siddhartha Dabhi who have written a book that questions green initiatives on cutting our carbon footprint;
• Professor Andrea Galeotti from the Department of Economics, who received a £100,000 grant from the ESRC to undertake research on networks;
• Dr Neil Kad of the Department of Biological Sciences, whose research has given an insight into how the human body uses DNA code to repair itself and
• Dr Clara Sandoval from the School of Law and Human Rights Centre, who intervened in a legal case calling for an investigation into whether banks financed human rights violations during dictatorship in Argentina.