Excellence in Research
At the University of Essex, we pride ourselves on the breadth of research areas that we focus on. As a dual-intensive University, our research tackles a range of subjects and areas across multiple disciplines and breaks the boundaries of what we currently know. We impact globally the way people think and behave and pride ourselves on interdisciplinary study and activism.
Within our three faculties we have some of the most highly-rated research centres in the country with scholars asking critical questions and challenging conventions with their research.
Our groups and areas of study
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Our Faculty is home to some of the most highly-rated research centres in the country. At Essex we believe in research that allows people to take informed action. Our University was founded on interdisciplinarity and activism. We draw on a broad range of perspectives to investigate - from what it means to be human, how best to govern ourselves, understand society, how we acquire language, to how we conduct business and interact with each other.
We have a powerful group of scholars asking critical questions and challenging convention through their world-leading research (REF 2021).
Our areas, clusters, groups, hubs, labs and networks
Science and Health
Our departments host a range of research groups and areas of focus, in which our academics work together on their specialist interests. Postgraduate research students are encouraged to join a group related to their area of interest, so they can benefit from the support of multiple experts beyond their supervisor.
Our areas, groups and labs
| Areas, groups and labs | Department, Faculty or Institute |
| Ecology and Environmental Microbiology (Group) | Life Sciences |
| Genomics and Computational Biology (Group) | Life Sciences |
| Plant Productivity (Group) | Life Sciences |
| Protein Structure and Mechanisms of Disease (Group) | Life Sciences |
| Data Science (Group) | Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science |
| Mathematics (Group) | Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science |
| Thinking about the World (Area) | Psychology |
| Interacting with the World (Area) | Psychology |
| Experiencing the World (Area) | Psychology |
| Babylab (Lab) | Psychology |
| Centre for Brain Science | Psychology |
| Psychological Research Unit for Behaviour, Health and Wellbeing (EEPRU) | Psychology |
| Artificial Intelligence (Group) | Computer Science and Electronic Engineering |
| Brain-computer interfaces and neural engineering (Group) | Computer Science and Electronic Engineering |
| Communications and Networks (Group) | Computer Science and Electronic Engineering |
| Robotics and Embedded Systems (Group) | Computer Science and Electronic Engineering |
| Intelligent Connected Societies (Group) | Centre for Computational Intelligence |
| Smart Health Technologies (Group) | Centre for Computational Intelligence |
| Mental health and psychological wellbeing (Area) | Health and Social Care |
| Research for public and patient benefit (Area) | Health and Social Care |
| Social policy and social care (Area) | Health and Social Care |
| Health professions education (HPE) and workforce development research (Area) | Health and Social Care |
| Health Exercise and Active Lifestyle (Cluster) | Sport Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences |
| Human Performance (Cluster) | Sport Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences |
| Clinical Exercise and Rehabilitation (Cluster) | Sport Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences |
| Professional Practice (Cluster) | Sport Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences |
