Curious about studying Integrated PhD Psychologyat University of Essex? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD / DPhil
University of Essex
Full Time
Oct 2027
4 Year
An Integrated PhD provides you with a route into research study if you do not have a Masters degree or you have very little research training. It enables you to spend your first year completing a full-time Masters-level qualification, followed by a full-time PhD studied over three to four years or a part-time PhD studied over six to seven years. We also offer a ‘standard' PhD in this subject which can be studied either full-time (three to four years) or part-time (six to seven years). In your first year on our Integrated PhD Psychology, you develop your awareness of psychological science in relation to its philosophical and biological contexts, and in relation to research in the natural and social sciences. In addition to this research-focused training, you also study advanced topics in psychology that will extend your theoretical knowledge. Your first year gives you advanced research training to well prepare you for PhD element of this course. In your second year, you move into the PhD element, where research supervision is available in the fields of cognitive psychology, sensory and cognitive neuroscience, and social psychology. You study in a stimulating and vibrant research environment, and we provide excellent research facilities. In general, our PhD students enjoy the same access to neuroscience and other research equipment as our academic staff, and access to our research participant pool which is essential for your experimental research. You also benefit from the supportive supervision given by our staff, and the friendly and collegiate atmosphere provided by fellow students. This ensures that we have an exemplary record in supporting our PhD students to produce a high-quality thesis. Our Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs), offer you skills training and funding for your postgraduate research. We are supported by some of the most prestigious funding bodies, including the European Commission and the Leverhulme Trust.
This module is for PhD students who are completing the research portions of their theses.
In this module you complete a research dissertation with a maximum of 10,000 words, written up as a report. You have a lot of flexibility as there are a wide variety of topics that you can choose to research. You report on the results of an original psychological research study carried out under the supervision of a staff member. A good research report will look like a psychology study reported in a peer-reviewed journal (such as Cognitive Neuropsychology, or Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology).
This module provides you with a detailed overview of the most common statistical tests used by postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers in psychology.
Knowing how to manage your research effectively will be invaluable when producing quality work throughout your course. This module will teach you how to critically review existing literature, communicate effectively to a scientific audience and take into account ethical issues. You’ll then have the opportunity to put this into practice, preparing your own presentations and research proposal
This module is an empirical investigation into an area of Psychology, leading to the production of a written report resembling research reviews published in Psychology journals. You will gain first-hand experience of behavioural methods and/or research techniques chosen in agreement with your placement supervisor(s). The unique aspect of this module is the focus on obtaining an in-depth understanding of a placement-specific research method (e.g., a psychological paradigm or research technique) through reading, discussion and application. There is no specific requirement for data collection beyond that which may be necessary for comprehensive understanding of the application of a paradigm or technique.
What are the different approaches to qualitative data analysis? And when should qualitative interviews be used? Learn about the qualitative research process, including design, selection of interview subjects and analysis, so that you are equipped to tackle your own qualitative research in the future.
This module provides you with a detailed overview of the most common statistical tests used by postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers in psychology. The module will build upon the module 'Statistics I' and will provide opportunities to specialise in advanced concepts and statistical techniques, including mixed effects modelling (aka multilevel modelling), factor analysis, bootstrapping and Bayesian statistics.
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