Research Degrees

The Master of Science by Dissertation (MSD) involves a minimum of one year of full-time research or two years part time followed by production of a dissertation. Students enrolled on an MSD programme can upgrade to an MPhil or PhD subject to satisfactory progress.

An MPhil involves a minimum of two years of full-time research or four years part-time followed by the production of a thesis. If you are progressing satisfactorily you can choose to change to a PhD in your second year.

A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree consists of a three year (full-time) or six year (part-time) programme followed by the production of a doctoral thesis. You will defend your thesis during an oral exam known as a viva. Following the first submission of the thesis for examination, the viva will take place within 2 months. Depending on the examination outcome, correction period time can vary between 2 to 6 months.

All PhD students are initially registered as MPhil/PhD students and are transferred to a PhD degree in the first half of the second year, subject to satisfactory progress.

A research degree can be a significant commitment, particularly if you are thinking of a PhD. For many this can be a significant barrier to undertaking further study.

All of our research degrees can be undertaken on a part-time basis, in which the standard time for study is doubled. An MSD is two years, an MPhil is four years, and a PhD is six years.

While this may seem like a greater commitment than a full-time course, it means that you have greater scope to fit your research around other life commitments, such as caring responsibilities or employment.

• "Dissecting the role of cell polarity regulation in breast cancer" - Dr Metodi Metodiev
• "Understanding the molecular defects arising from mutations in human rhodopsin responsible for Retinitis Pigmentosa" - Dr Phil Reeves
• "Structure and Function of Human Androglobin, a unique multi-domain hemoglobin associated with ciliogenesis and spermatogenesis" - Dr Brandon Reeder
• "Globin-induced cell toxicity: Investigating what makes globins such as cytoglobin, neuroglobin, myoglobin and hemoglobin cytotoxic or cytoprotective as a response to cell stress.” - Dr Brandon Reeder
• "Using electron flow pathways in model globins to better understand and control cellular oxidative damage." - Dr Brandon Reeder
• "A metagenomic analysis for new Lassa-fever related viruses in wild animal samples" - Dr Stathis Giotis
• "Dissecting the role of interferon stimulated genes in SARS-CoV-2 cell entry" - Dr Stathis Giotis
• "Understanding the interaction of ACE-2, cytokines and SARS-2 virus" - Prof Nelson Fernandez
• "Comparative study of trophoblast phenotypes and invasion in pregnancy: a model for cancer?" - Prof Nelson Fernandez
• "Generation of a novel cell therapy vector to treat pancreatic cancer" - Dr Andrea Mohr
• "Cytokine mediated tumour progression" - Dr Andrea Mohr
• "The role of DNA-damage response factors in apoptosis induction in cancer cells" - Dr Ralf Zwacka, Dr Andrea Mohr
• "Targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis heme peroxidases for drug discovery" - Dr Jonathan Worrall
• "Copper storage in infectious diseases" - Dr Jonathan Worrall
• "Using serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography to investigate enzyme mechanism" - Dr Jonathan Worrall
• "Back to the future - Ancestral reconstruction of enzymes for biofuel production" - Dr Jonathan Worrall
• "Targeting antibiotic resistance provided by efflux pumps in Gram-negative bacteria" - Prof Vassiliy Bavro
• "Exploring the structural membrane proteome in Mycobacteria and Salmonella" - Prof Vassiliy Bavro
• "Live Wires: Resolving the mechanisms of bacterial extracellular electron transfer" - Dr Marcus Edwards
• "Crossing the bilayer: Exploiting bacterial secretion systems for biotechnology" - Dr Marcus Edwards
• "Eating Electrons - Engineering bacterial electron transfer pathways for microbial electrosynthesis" - Dr Marcus Edwards
• "Design and production of barnacle-inspired biological adhesives" - Dr Nick Aldred and Dr Phil Reeves

• "Modelling epigenetic regulation in cell differentiation and cancer" - Dr Vladimir Teif
• "Nucleosome repositioning in cancer" - Dr Vladimir Teif
• "Liquid biopsy: developing new diagnostic medical assays based on cell-free DNA" - Dr Vladimir Teif
• "Chromatin as a metabolite storage device" - Dr Patrick Varga-Weisz
• "How cellular metabolism coordinates gene expression" - Dr Patrick Varga-Weisz
• "How does the microbiome communicate with the host genome in the gut?" - Dr Patrick Varga-Weisz
• "Animal models of Eph/ephrin signalling in human pancreatic cancer for drug screening" - Dr Joaquín de Navascués
• "Modelling radiotherapy chronic injury in Drosophila" - Dr Joaquín de Navascués
• "Transcriptional control of Intestinal Stem Cell regulation" - Dr Joaquín de Navascués
• "Epigenetic modifiers and microbiome regulation in the intestine of Drosophila" - Dr Joaquín de Navascués and Dr Patrick Varga-Weisz
• "Transcriptional networks in ageing and neurodegeneration" - Dr Charalampos (Babis) Rallis
• "The impact of cytoarchitecture in cellular physiology and ageing" - Dr Charalampos (Babis) Rallis
• "Investigating long-term transgenerational memory of environmental stress in fission yeast" - Dr Charalampos (Babis) Rallis
• "Comparative sequence analysis of the pig sex chromosomes" - Dr Ben Skinner
• "Use of morphometrics in diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST)" - Dr Ben Skinner
• "BioPROTAC-based gene therapies for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and motor neuron diseases" - Dr Gareth Wright

• "Improving photosynthesis by manipulating stomatal conductance" - Prof Tracy Lawson
• "The role of the endoplasmic reticulum as a communication bridge between chloroplasts and the nucleus" - Prof Phil Mullineaux and Dr Philippe Laissue.
• "Decoupling physiological and biochemical limitations of photosynthesis using synthetic biology" - Dr Amanda Cavanagh, Prof Tracy Lawson
• "Does increased photosynthesis alter the plant microbiome?" - Dr Amanda Cavanagh, Prof Tracy Lawson
• "Mining variation in photosynthetic enzymes for crop enhancement" - Dr Amanda Cavanagh
• "Using chlorophyll fluorescence imaging to detect plant stress" - Prof Tracy Lawson
• "CO2 sequestration by indoor house plants" - Prof Tracy Lawson

"Impacts of thermal adaptation and warming on predator-prey interactions" - Dr Eoin O'Gorman

"Impacts of conventional and biodegradable plastics on community structure and biogeochemical cycling" - Dr Eoin O'Gorman, Dr Boyd McKew, Prof Corinne Whitby, Prof Terry McGenity.

"Long-term impacts of oil rigs on benthic food web structure in the North Sea" - Dr Eoin O'Gorman, Dr Natalie Hicks, Dr Gareth Thomas

"Metabolic drivers of life history choices in salmonid fish" - Dr Eoin O'Gorman, Dr Tom Cameron, Dr Anna Sturrock

"The role of bacterial biofilms in promoting and deterring larval settlement of marine invertebrates" - Dr Nick Aldred

"Recombinant production of a barnacle lysyl oxidase for development of bio-inspired adhesives" - Dr Nick Aldred and Dr Phil Reeves

"Functional traits,ecosystem services and economic benefits of and non-native shellfish in UK estuaries" - Dr Tom Cameron, Prof Corinne Whitby, Prof Alex Dumbrell (Field and lab based – driving licence required)

"Demographics and behaviour in wild birds, e.g. hirundines, corn buntings, nightingale or waterfowl" - Dr Tom Cameron, Dr Kim Wallis (Essex & Suffolk Water) & Dr Chas Holt (Abberton Reservoir Ringing Group / BTO) – Field project and/or desk based data project

"Shifting ecological and trophic status in managed freshwater reservoirs in SE England" - Dr Tom Cameron, and Dr Kim Wallis (Essex & Suffolk Water) (Field and lab based – driving licence required)

"Icefish nest ecology in the deep waters of the Weddell Sea" - Dr Michelle Taylor, Dr Lucy Woodall (Univ. Oxford/Nekton)

"Ecology of the world’s most southerly seeps (sedimented hydrothermal vents)" - Dr Michelle Taylor, Dr Lucy Woodall (Univ. Oxford/Nekton)

"Anthropogenic influences on salmon phenotype and genotype in California" - Dr Anna Sturrock and Mariah Meek (Michigan State University)

"Modeling the New Zealand strontium isoscape to track fish migrations and responses to environmental change" - Dr Anna Sturrock

"Anthropogenic influences on salmon phenotype and genotype in California" - Dr Anna Sturrock

"Quantifying biodiversity recovery potential in UK headwater landscapes using citizen science data" - Dr Martin Wilkes, Prof Alex Dumbrell, Dr Chris Mainstone (Natural England), Dr Joe Cooper (British Trust for Ornithology)

“Effective biodiversity data retrieval and visualisation for environmental researchers and managers” - Dr Martin Wilkes, Dr Jon Chamberlain (CSEE), Dr Judy England (Environment Agency)

"Understanding long-term survival of microbes in salt" - Prof Terry McGenity

"Characterizing new species of extremophiles" - Prof Terry McGenity

"Bioremediation of coastal oil pollution" - Prof Terry McGenity, Dr Boyd McKew

"Release of harmful gases from seaweed beachings (green and golden tides)" - Dr Michael Steinke

"Biogenic gases from extremely saline environments – how can they inform us about life elsewhere in the Solar System" - Dr Michael Steinke, Prof Terry McGenity

"Effect of microplastics on zooplankton" - Dr Michael Steinke

"Investigating if natural drinking water biofilms (DWB) have the potential to degrade unwanted organic micro-pollutants (e.g. plasticizers, phenols, pesticides) from our drinking water" - Prof Corinne Whitby, with Dr Torben Lund Skovhus, and Dr Ditte Andreasen Søborg (VIA University College and Aarhus Water, Denmark).

"Effect of microplastics on microbial communities and their processes in the environment" - Prof Corinne Whitby and Dr Philippe Laissue

"Carbon decomposition across natural and man-made habitats" - Prof Alex Dumbrell

"Does body-size regulate microbial community assembly?" - Prof Alex Dumbrell

"Are results of microbial biodiversity studies determined by choice of data analytics?" - Prof Alex Dumbrell

"Modelling the global peaks of microbial biodiversity" - Prof Alex Dumbrell and Dr Dave Clark

"Mining microbial metagenomes to understand environmental change" - Prof Alex Dumbrell and Dr Rob Ferguson

"Revealing the  environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance hidden in metagenome data" - Dr Rob Ferguson and Prof Alex Dumbrell

"Geodiversity-biodiversity relationships in microbial communities" - Dr Dave Clark and Prof Alex Dumbrell

"Exploring the potential for community-driven science projects to reveal long-term trends in flower phenology" - Dr Dave Clark

"Quantifying the dynamics of biomedically relevant Candida albicans biofilms using high-resolution bio-imaging and image analysis" - Dr Philippe Laissue

"Structure and evolution of desmocytes and the dynamics of tissue attachment in stony corals" - Dr Philippe Laissue, Dr Ben Skinner

"High-resolution imaging of biofilms and hot-spots in riverbed sediments" - Dr Philippe Laissue, Prof Corinne Whitby, and Dr Boyd McKew

"Exploring the effects of endocrine disrupters on freshwater microbiomes" - Dr Greg Brooke, Prof Alex Dumbrell, Dr Martin Wilkes

As one of the largest schools at our University, we offer a lively, friendly and supportive environment. A dedicated study room allows all our postgraduate students to have access to a desk and a computer outside of the research laboratories.

This provides a focal point for our postgraduates, facilitating reading and writing as well as good communication and a sense of community. As a postgraduate research student, you’re expected to attend and contribute to School and research group seminars.

A Graduate Forum, organised by our graduate students, is held each September where students present their research to the School. All of our students are encouraged, and funded, to attend national and international conferences. During the later stages of your PhD, you are expected to present your work at such conferences.

Our School is committed to promoting a positive and inclusive environment for our community of students and staff and holds an Athena Swan Bronze Departmental Award in recognition of this.

In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014), two-thirds of our research was rated as being of 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent' quality.

We receive funding for research from the UK government, medical charities and the European Union (EU).

Our strong focus on research means you are taught by some of the best academics in your chosen subject. They are passionate about what they do and are driven to help you succeed.

A comprehensive training programme is offered to all our postgraduate research students.

The University offers Proficio, an innovative professional development scheme for postgraduate research students, unique to the University of Essex. Proficio provides funding to spend on a variety of courses, from research skills to personal development and career management, with a portion set aside for conference attendance costs.

This is supplemented with tailored training, delivered by the School of Life Sciences. All new PhD research students have the opportunity to teach on our undergraduate courses as paid Graduate Laboratory Assistants to gain teaching and supervisory skills.