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Postgraduate Research Course

PhD Sociology

PhD Sociology
The details
Sociology
October 2025
Full-time
4 - 5 years
Colchester Campus

Our four-year integrated PhD Sociology follows the MA Sociology or MA Sociological Research Methods programme for year 1 before beginning the PhD study programme within the department in year 2. By opting for our four-year Integrated course, you will benefit from guidance and training to develop the research mind set needed for your PhD studies.

If you have a strong background in sociology, its cognate disciplines or interdisciplinary areas, and a well-formulated research proposal, then our PhD could be appropriate. We offer supervision that covers topics pertaining to Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Asian sub-continent, with strengths in: criminology and social justice; culture and media; economic sociology; ethnicity, migration and human rights; intimacy and gender, social theory and methodology; and survey methodology. Reflecting this, we are home to four major research centres: the Migration Studies Centre, the Centre for Research in Economic Sociology and Innovation (CRESI), the Centre for Intimate and Sexual Citizenship (CISC) and the Centre for Criminology.

Why we're great.
  • We’re ranked 73rd globally and top 15 in the UK for sociology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024
  • We have a dedicated Student Resource Centre offering academic and personal support
  • We are 2nd in UK for research power in sociology (Times Higher Education research power measure, Research Excellence Framework 2021)

Our expert staff

Within our Department of Sociology and Criminology, you will work with a supervisor whose role it is to guide you through the different stages of your research degree. In some cases, you may have joint supervision by two members of our staff and where appropriate with staff from other departments.

The support provided by your supervisor is a key feature of your research student experience and you will have regular one-to-one meetings to discuss progress on your research. Initially, your supervisor will help you develop your research topic and plan.

Specialist facilities

At Essex, our library holdings in sociology and related disciplines like history, philosophy, politics and anthropology are strong and there are also relevant archives, including the Peter Townsend archive, as well as an extensive collection of papers relating to the work of Sigmund Freud.

Within our department, we have an ever-increasing range of open-access computing facilities available for your use and, to further assist you with your research, we have bibliographic and qualitative analysis packages available on some of these machines.

We have our own Student Resource Centre which provides a range of support for all our sociology students, including help with study skills.

Your future

Many of our postgraduates go on to successful academic careers, both in the UK and overseas. Others have established careers in non-governmental organisations, local authorities, specialist think tanks, government departments, charities, media production, and market research.

Our University is strong across the social sciences so, by studying with us, you gain the opportunity to work with and be taught by well known international scholars. We have strong interdisciplinary links which mean your research and studies can be informed by a variety of perspectives.

At Essex we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive student community. We offer a wide range of support to individuals and groups of student members who may have specific requirements, interests or responsibilities.

Find out more

The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its programme specification is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include, but are not limited to: strikes, other industrial action, staff illness, severe weather, fire, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack (whether declared or not), natural disaster, restrictions imposed by government or public authorities, epidemic or pandemic disease, failure of public utilities or transport systems or the withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications. The University would inform and engage with you if your course was to be discontinued, and would provide you with options, where appropriate, in line with our Compensation and Refund Policy.

The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.

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