Professor Maria Fasli

Our mission is simple, based on an equal commitment to education and research.

We are strongly committed to social mobility and making a difference to the lives of individuals and communities regionally, nationally and internationally.

We aim to provide our students with a transformative education experience enabling them to become global citizens who can help shape a better future and society for all.

We take pride in putting our students at the centre of everything we do. This goes far beyond supporting them in achieving their full academic potential. It is about ensuring that the whole student experience we offer at Essex plays its part in enabling each and every student, whatever their background, to succeed and to be equipped to step out into the world and into their future with confidence.

Working in partnership with our Students’ Union helps us to understand the lived experience of students and challenges us every day to remember to listen, be responsive to their needs and always act in their interests. We are ranked 20th for student positivity (National Student Survey 2025), 46th in the Times Good University Guide 2025, 23rd in the Guardian University Guide 2025, and 58th in the global Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024.

We are pioneering research that can help transform lives regionally and globally. One of our unique strengths lies in our interdisciplinary approach to fostering collaboration across diverse fields to tackle complex global challenges. From groundbreaking work in our Human Rights Centre (HRC) and the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) to innovations in health through the Institute for Public Health and Wellbeing (IPHW), advances in agriculture at the Essex Plant Innovation Centre (EPIC), and responsible AI development at the Institute for Analytics and Data Science (IADS), our research strives to have a tangible societal impact.

In the Government’s most recent Research Excellence Framework (2021), Essex was ranked in the UK top ten for research quality in four subjects and in the UK top ten for research power in five subjects. We work in partnership with business and public sector organisations, and I am particularly proud that Essex is ranked first for the number of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships we hold, and 11th in the sector and 2nd in the benchmark group in the Knowledge Exchange Framework (2024).

Our achievements are driven by dedicated staff who are passionate about education and are pushing the boundaries of research across disciplines. We celebrate and take pride in each other’s successes and are committed to creating an inclusive and supportive environment, where colleagues can contribute, feel supported, develop themselves and thrive.

I have been at Essex for many years and consider this place “home”. During that time I am proud to say that I have seen the University grow and flourish. As we celebrate the University’s 60th anniversary we can step back and reflect on six decades of achievements. From a first intake of 122 students in October 1964, we have grown to 17,000 students and 980 academic researchers.

Part of the vision for our university when it was first established was to be truly international. This is something that has remained constant and is visible in all that we do today. We are proud to be able to say that at Essex you really do experience “the world in one place”. At the same time, the University was founded in, by and for the people of Essex and as a ‘Civic University’ we remain committed to working with stakeholders and having a positive impact in our communities.

Despite the challenges currently facing the UK Higher Education sector, our university continues to thrive. Our ambition is to continue to grow, not just in size but in relation to the quality of education that our students experience and the impactful world-class research being undertaken at Essex. Our diverse, inspiring, and fantastic community is capable of so much. I see my role as enabling it to succeed.