Postgraduate Research Degrees at Essex Business School

My name is Louise Nash and I am a Senior Lecturer in Management and Organisation Studies, and the Director of Postgraduate Research at Essex Business School.

Director of Postgraduate Research at Essex Business School

I oversee and lead on the provision of our graduate research programmes offered by Essex Business School (EBS). Our teaching and research spans a number of broad subject areas: (Accounting; Finance; Management and Marketing; Organisation Studies and Human Resource Management, and Strategy, Operations and Entrepreneurship) and within each of the subject groups our PhD students' study either on a standard three-year PhD programme, or on an integrated PhD programme; for the latter, students either follow our integrated (standard) PhD where they complete a one-year Master’s programme which then allows them to progress seamlessly to a PhD, or our Integrated PhD (with research and Communication Skills) where student meets the PhD academic criteria but needs additional skills training in the first year. 
At EBS we aim for our postgraduate research (PGR) provision to provide cutting-edge research that helps organisations innovate and economies flourish, urging applicants to join us to help champion a more responsible approach to management for the benefit of organisations and society.

We see the PGR environment as a fundamental part of our overall research environment, with a particular focus on the unique transition for PhD students from learners to researchers, and helping you to feel included and essential to the EBS research community. 

Research is at the heart of our current activities and our vision for the future, and excellence in research is at the heart of our institutional strategy. Our School provides a supportive, developmental environment in which doctoral research can flourish, for example through research centres, our Insite research student training workshops, the annual subject group PhD conferences and the attendance of PhD students at seminar series. EBS is part of many cross-institutional research collaborations and research students are encouraged, where appropriate, to contribute to collaborative research so they to develop the skills required for involvement in research of international excellence. We offer research training in line with student needs. Engaging with the public and awareness of research impact are embedded into our supervision and our research centres. 

Overall, at EBS we offer an inclusive and collaborative research environment that enables our students to quickly grow into confident world class researchers, innovating, forging and leading a responsible and robust response to challenges and issues facing business and society. 

Inclusion and belonging

We place a strong focus on communicating the range of support and wellbeing services for PhD students:

• We have developed regular opportunities to hear student voices to ensuring that any issues are speedily addressed

• We hold regular PGR/staff coffee mornings, and more informal events to build the student and staff community

• We offer a dedicated student services team based within Essex Business School, and liaise regularly with the University wellbeing and support teams who are here to help and assist you through your studies.

Our PhD community

At the moment, we have about 120 active PhD students in the School. We have a wide variety of backgrounds and nationalities within our PhD community. I would like to praise and comment on how our PhD students are such a mutually supportive PhD community. Our PhD students all have different histories. Some are very fresh from their undergraduate or postgraduate taught studies and some have families and have already had careers before. We have a truly diverse community in terms of nationalities, backgrounds, work and how people mix that with their lives.
We look forward to welcoming you and discussing your postgraduate research ideas and ambitions. We encourage you to contact our academics directly to discuss your ideas, or our Postgraduate Research Academic Services Administrator can put you in touch with staff in your proposed research area.