PhD Human Resource Management and Organisation Studies

Our four-year PhD Human Resource Management and Organisation Studies (with research and communication skills) course has been designed to support students who do not have English as a first language.

We recognise and understand the importance of continuing professional development for students and have designed this course for students who do not have English as a first language and may have been studying in a different country, or out of a traditional academic environment for some time.

This is a tailor-made course that seeks to combine skills and enhanced subject-specific research proposals to give you the best underpinning for your doctoral studies. A core aim of the course is for students to refine English language for scholarly communication, enhance academic skills for postgraduate study, hone higher-level research skills, and master how to study and manage academic work in the UK.

The course is comprised of the following elements:

• English language for postgraduate research studies
• Academic skills for postgraduate research studies
• Research skills for human resource and organisation studies
• Research proposal
• Studying and researching in the UK

This four-year PhD does not include a Masters degree in its first year, like other existing Integrated PhDs offered at Essex. On this course, you will enrol for a PhD in Human Resource Management and Organisation Studies (with research and communication skills) for a PhD final award, with only a PG Dip or PG Certificate available as exit awards after the first year. You will take a number of core and compulsory modules in your first year, and the next three years will be conducting your individual research project.

This course is available to start in either October or January.

You will study at Essex Business School, at our Colchester Campus. We are a business school with an international outlook. Our doctoral students join us from all over the world and we are committed to the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).

The University of Essex is home to a number of cutting-edge research centres and institutes, where academics across disciplines and departments come together to collaborate around a common theme, often engaging with external partners at a national and international level. Our Organisation Studies and Human Resource Management Group research centre, organises seminars throughout the year, giving you access to the latest academic thinking and the opportunity to network with colleagues and visiting scholars from across the world.

Essex Business School provides a highly flexible and supportive PhD experience, where your supervisors develop your professional skills and research expertise in your chosen area. We are the largest department at the University of Essex, with more than 100 doctoral students from more than 40 different nationalities.

Our expert staff

You benefit from world-class supervision and research training. Essex Business School is home to several leading journal editors and eight research centres across our two campuses. Our researchers are highly regarded for their work on:

• gender equality and inclusion in the workplace
• organisational behaviour
• the relationship between work, organisation and society
• employee relations and human resource management

Essex is home to world renowned academics in the field of organisation studies and leadership, like Professor Elisabeth Kelan whose research explores the future of work, digitalisation, and gender. Her research is regularly featured in the media such as the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Telegraph and HR Magazine. The Times featured her as one of the management thinkers to watch.

Dr Louise Nash and Director of Postgraduate Research at Essex Business School oversees and leads the provision of our graduate research programmes and ensures that we create an environment where our doctoral students can flourish as researchers in a thriving and mutually supportive PhD community.

Louise is a lecturer in Management and Marketing and completed her PhD Management at Essex. She has extensive management and marketing experience which has influenced her research interests – these focus on interpretative, qualitative studies of the lived experience of work, including: the spatial and temporal rhythms of everyday life; the culture, aesthetics and symbolism of organisational life; gender in the workplace and exploring and developing sensory and embodied methods for researching organisations.

You are allocated two supervisors during your studies. They provide you with guidance and support to help you achieve your individual research goals and produce a high quality piece of doctoral work.

Your supervisors help you to develop your research topic and create your personalised training plan. You meet with them at least once a month and are usually required to submit work beforehand to gain feedback in these meetings. Twice a year, you have a supervisory board meeting when you discuss your progress and agree your plans for the next six months.

We recommend that you make contact with potential supervisors before making your application. You can find supervisors who are open to supporting supervision in your area of research by searching for your research terms in the Research Finder search function on the University of Essex website.

As well as supporting you to complete your thesis, your supervisors can help you to plan your career development. Our academics often co-author publications with doctoral students and can help you to develop the transferable skills needed for the jobs market.

Specialist facilities

PhD Human Resource Management and Organisation Studies is based at our Colchester Campus, in the UK's first zero carbon business school building This reflects our commitment to sustainability and business ethics and we are proud to be a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).

You have access to excellent research facilities, such as:

• a dedicated PhD study area with computer stations
• Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) pods to meet with students, should you decide to become a GTA
• a Bloomberg trading floor
• access to databases such as Bloomberg, Compustat, Passport GMID, Bankscope and Datastream
• e-book finance and business packages to support part-time and distance learning (including Ebrary, NetLibrary, Oxford Scholarship Online, Palgrave Connect and SpringerLink)
• final-year students are provided with office space to encourage successful thesis completion
• group-working space in our stunning winter garden
• study skills support for postgraduate students
• Bonds café with adjacent sun terrace

Our PhD community offers opportunities for mutually beneficial collaborations as well as being a strong social group for our students to engage with.

Your future

Essex Business School fosters the business leaders and researchers of the future. Our PhD graduates use their creativity, innovation and ethical awareness to meet the many challenges facing the international business world.

Many of our graduates enjoy careers in academia and organisations in the public and private sectors, including at some of the world's most well-known organisations and exciting SMEs, such as:

• Groupon
• KPMG Group
• Right Freight Pvt Ltc
• Copal Partners
• Capital Markets Intelligence, a financial publisher
• Credit Data Research, a business funder
• Many now also run their own growing businesses, including international business incubator 0100Ventures and entrepreneurship website SlovakSTARTUP.

PhD Human Resource Management and Organisation Studies students can also take advantage of the services offered by the Careers Service, including careers advice; work experience; internships; placements; and voluntary opportunities.

UK entry requirements

You will need a good Masters degree, or equivalent, in a related subject. A well developed research proposal is also essential.

You will normally be required to attend an interview/Skype interview for acceptance, and acceptance is subject to research expertise in the department.

English language requirements

Course structure

Most of our taught courses combine compulsory and optional modules, giving you freedom to pursue your own interests. All of the modules listed below provide an example of what is on offer from the current academic year. Our Programme Specification provides further details of the course structure for the current academic year.

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The course content is therefore reviewed on an annual basis to ensure our courses remain up-to-date so modules listed are subject to change.

The research element of your degree doesn't have a taught structure, giving you the chance to investigate your chosen topic in real depth and reach a profound understanding. In communicating that understanding, through a thesis or other means, you have a rare opportunity to generate knowledge. A research degree allows you to develop new high-level skills, enhance your professional development and build new networks. It can open doors to many careers.

We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We'll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website and in line with your contract with us. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, we'll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.