Our research strengths

Essex is a research intensive university. We have established a global reputation for the quality of our work.

“Essex is... well aware that research is only half the job - the other half is getting it out to those who should be using it."

Polly Toynbee, journalist and honorary graduate, 1999

For our anniversary in 2014, we are raising money for five areas where our research across disciplines is at its strongest.

• The Ageing and Assisted Living Network is developing an intelligent wheelchair (‘RoboChair’); investigating the use of the Nintendo Wii to prevent elderly people falling; and developing drugs which can slow down or even prevent Alzheimer’s.
• The Essex Autonomy Project investigates the ideal of self-determination in human affairs. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, it works across such disciplines as Philosophy, Government and Law to understand individual autonomy and the ethics of legal constraint.
• The Essex Sustainability Institute is engaged in environmental research – across disciplines such as Biological Sciences, Economics, Business, Government, Law and Sociology – into our ecosystem and social responses to climate change.
• Our Human Rights Centre is one of the most internationally renowned academic centres of its kind. We want to invest more in its work, and in four innovative new units:
  
  
  1. The Institute for Democracy and Conflict Resolution
  2. The Essex Business and Human Rights project
  3. The Essex Centre for the Study of Integrity
  4. The Essex Transitional Justice Network
• Researchers from our Department of Government are investigating methods for evaluating policy, such as different types of survey, field and laboratory experiments and robust estimation.

Your support

If you can help to support our work, contact us or fill in an online donation form.