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University of Essex homepage Departments Sociology Research degrees
Department of Sociology and Criminology

Research degrees

A sociology PhD student in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Essex.

Work with world-leading scholars

You work closely with our academics who have their finger on the pulse of modern society, in an exciting and active research environment.

We offer unique training and supervision that stretches across Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Asian sub-continent - all from a Department ranked top 15 in the UK for sociology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024.

Our courses give you research method skills and with rare first-hand access to national research data and resources in our Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) and UK Data Archive, you can analyse real data for your work.

We offer two routes to our research degrees in sociology and criminology:

  • PhD by research: If you have a strong background in sociology and a well-formulated research proposal.
  • Integrated PhD: In your first year, you follow one of our courses which provides Masters-level research training, followed by three years of supervised research.

 Explore our postgraduate research degrees 
Why choose us?
  • 1st in UK for research environment in Sociology (Grade Point Average, REF 2021)
  • We’re ranked 2nd in the UK for the United Nations Sustainable Development for gender equality (Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024)
  • Top 15 in the UK for sociology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024
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Sustainable Transitions scholarships

We are offering seven fully-funded PhD research scholarships for students to participate in one of our Sustainable Transitions DTP projects. Each project will be interdisciplinary in nature and supervised by expert academics drawn from two (and in certain instances three) of the following five disciplines at the university; Business, Government, Law, Life Sciences and Sociology.

View these projects
"The Department provides a wonderful, friendly environment for postgraduate study and research. I enjoyed the variety of activities such as attending insightful conferences."
Deniz Unan phd sociology

Expert supervision


Our research covers a range of areas:
  • criminology and social justice
  • culture and media
  • economic sociology
  • ethnicity and migration
  • citizenship and human rights
  • intimacy and gender
  • science in society
  • social theory and methodology
  • survey methodology.

If you'd like to carry out research in a different area, let us know.

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Looking for postgraduate opportunities?

Find out about the very latest studentships and scholarships available to postgraduate students at Essex by visiting our postgraduate opportunities page.

Discover more postgraduate research opportunities
How to apply
Applying to study your PhD at Essex is simple. Our online application takes about 20 minutes and our Graduate Admissions team offer advice on what you'll need and what happens after you apply.
Fees and funding
We have a range of scholarships and bursaries available to support talented students from all backgrounds achieve their doctoral study ambitions.
Doctoral training scheme
Proficio is our innovative doctoral training scheme. You get funding to spend on a variety of courses, from research skills to personal development and career management.
Also see
Subject area: Sociology
Subject area: Criminology
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