Graduate opportunities

From the earliest months of life, children are surrounded by screens, sparking widespread concern about their potential harms. Yet surprisingly little research has tested whether infants experience educational media as socially engaging and whether they can effectively learn from it.

This project addresses that gap by combining neuroscience, psychology, and educational technology to examine how infants respond to screen-based interactions and how parental co-use shapes these outcomes.

Department: Department of Psychology

Closing date: 7 January 2026 at 09:00 GMT.

In this conservation science PhD, the candidate will explore the role of land use and its management, climate, weather on the spatial distribution of protected waterbirds.

The project will explore and scrutinise alternative approaches to assessing the ecological status of protected areas in providing effective conservation.

Based in: School of Life Sciences

Deadline: 13 April 2026

The Essex Autonomy Project invites applications for a fully funded Collaborative Doctoral Award to contribute to a research collaboration with the National Mental Capacity Forum.

One objective of the research will be to examine the application of MCA sec. 1(3) in the context of decisions to request medical assistance in dying, but the scope of the research will extend to all decisions covered by the Mental Capacity Act.

Department: School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies

Closing date: 9 February 2026.