We offer supervision for our PhD Experimental Linguistics in all areas of staff expertise.
Many of our former PhD students work in higher education institutions around the world, as teachers and/or as academic researchers. Other career paths our former PhD students have taken include publishing, social work, administration, and retail.
We also offer an MPhil in this subject.
Please note, part-time research study is also available.
- We are 1st in UK for research impact in modern languages and linguistics (Grade Point Average, Research Excellence Framework 2021). We’re top 25 in the UK for linguistics in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024.
- Our students are taught, supported and supervised by staff with an international reputation for being at the forefront of research in their areas of expertise.
- We have a strong research group culture and run regular departmental seminars which feature invited external speakers.
Our expert staff
Within our Department of Language and Linguistics, you will be allocated 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.
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.
Twice a year, you will have a supervisory board meeting, which provides a more formal opportunity to discuss your progress and agree your plans for the next six months.
Specialist facilities
Within the Department of Language and Linguistics, we aim to provide our research students with work and storage space, including laboratory facilities and access to online bibliographies, corpora and other resources.
The University of Essex has excellent library holdings in all areas of linguistics, with online access to many periodicals and resources. We have open access computing labs running many software packages that our research students need in their work.
Your future
Given the breadth of our provision within the Department of Language and Linguistics, career prospects for our graduates vary depending on the study undertaken. Often the career destination of our PhD students is university lecturing or research. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the areas of linguistics we cover, this could be in departments of English, linguistics, education, sociology or cognitive science.
Entry requirements
UK entry requirements
You will need a 2.2 Honours Degree, or equivalent, in a related subject.
Our four year integrated PhD, allows you to spend your first year studying at Masters level in order to develop the necessary knowledge and skills and to start your independent research in year two.
International & EU entry requirements
We accept a wide range of qualifications from applicants studying in the EU and other countries. Get in touch with any questions you may have about the qualifications we accept. Remember to tell us about the qualifications you have already completed or are currently taking.
ALBANIA
ALGERIA
ANDORRA
ANGOLA
ANTIGUA AND BARBUADA
ARGENTINA
ARMENIA
ARUBA
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRIA
AZERBAIJAN
BAHAMAS
BAHRAIN
BANGLADESH
BARBADOS
BELARUS (BYELORUSSIA)
BELGIUM
BELIZE
BENIN
BERMUDA
BHUTAN
BOLIVIA
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
BOTSWANA
BRAZIL
BRUNEI
BULGARIA
BURKINA FASO
BURUNDI
CAMBODIA (KAMPUCHEA, KHMER R)
CAMEROON
CANADA
CAPE VERDE ISLANDS
CENTRAL AFRICAN REP
CHAD
CHILE
CHINA
COLOMBIA
COMOROS
CONGO
CONGO (DEM REB, ZAIRE)
COSTA RICA
CROATIA
CUBA
CYPRUS
CZECH REPUBLIC
DENMARK
DJIBOUTI
DOMINICA
DOMINICAN REP
EAST TIMOR
ECUADOR
EGYPT
EL SALVADOR
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
ERITREA
ESTONIA
ETHIOPIA (ABYSSINIA)
FIJI
FINLAND
FRANCE
GABON
GAMBIA
GEORGIA
GERMANY
GHANA
GIBRALTAR
GILBERT ISLANDS (KIRIBATI)
GREECE
GRENADA
GUATEMALA
GUIANA, FRENCH
GUINEA
GUINEA BISSAU
GUYANA
HAITI
HONDURAS
HONG KONG
HUNGARY
ICELAND
INDIA
INDONESIA
IRAN (ISLAMIC REP)
IRAQ
IRELAND, REP
ISRAEL
ITALY
IVORY COAST
JAMAICA
JAPAN
JORDAN
KAZAKHSTAN
KENYA
KOREA SOUTH
KOSOVO
KUWAIT
KYRGYZSTAN (KIRGIZIA)
LAOS
LATVIA
LEBANON
LESOTHO
LIBERIA
LIBYA
LIECHTENSTEIN
LITHUANIA
LUXEMBOURG
MACEDONIA. ALSO SKOPJE
MADAGASCAR (MALAGASY REP)
MALAWI
MALAYSIA
MALDIVE ISLANDS
MALI
MALTA
MARSHALL ISLANDS
MAURITANIA
MAURITIUS
MEXICO
MOLDOVA
MONACO
MONGOLIA, OUTER
MONTENEGRO
MONTSERRAT
MOROCCO
MOZAMBIQUE
MYANMAR (formerly Burma)
NAMIBIA
NAURU
NEPAL
NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND)
NEW ZEALAND
NICARAGUA
NIGER
NIGERIA
NORWAY
OMAN (MUSCAT AND OMAN)
PAKISTAN
PALESTINE
PANAMA
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
PARAGUAY
PERU
PHILIPPINES
POLAND
PORTUGAL (MADEIRA, AZORES)
QATAR
ROMANIA
RUSSIA
RWANDA
SAMOA (WESTERN)
SAN MARINO
SAUDI ARABIA
SENEGAL
SERBIA
SEYCHELLES
SIERRA LEONE
SINGAPORE
SLOVAKIA
SLOVENIA
SOLOMON ISLANDS
SOMALI REPUBLIC
SOUTH AFRICA
SOUTH GEORGE & STH SANDWICH IS
SOUTH SUDAN
SPAIN
SRI LANKA (CEYLON)
ST. KITTS AND NEVIS
ST. LUCIA
ST. VINCENT
SUDAN
SURINAM
SWAZILAND
SWEDEN
SWITZERLAND
SYRIA
TAIWAN
TAJIKISTAN
TANZANIA
THAILAND
TOGO
TONGA
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
TUNISIA
TURKEY
TURKMENISTAN
TUVALU, ALSO ELLICE ISLANDS
UGANDA
UKRAINE
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
UNITED STATES
URUGUAY
UZBEKISTAN
VANUATU
VENEZUELA
VIETNAM, SOC REP
YEMEN (PDR,ADEN,SOCOTRA)
ZAMBIA
ZIMBABWE
Sorry, the entry requirements for the country that you have selected are not available here. Please contact our Graduate Admissions team at pgquery@essex.ac.uk to request the entry requirements for this country.
English language requirements
If English is not your first language, then we will require you to have IELTS 7.0 or equivalent
Structure
Course structure
A research 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.
COMPONENT 01: COMPULSORY
Assessment
On our three-year supervised research route, if you already have a solid knowledge of existing research in your field and a good understanding of research methods, plus a suitable research proposal, you immediately begin your independent research, under the guidance of your supervisor.
Within the Department of Language and Linguistics, throughout your research studies, your training needs will be regularly assessed. Every six months your progress is formally checked by a supervisory panel consisting of your supervisor, an adviser, and a chairperson. At least once a year this meeting takes place face to face to discuss how you are getting on. You report on your progress in writing by completing a form twice a year.
Your thesis has a maximum length of 80,000 words.
Dissertation
Within our Department of Language and Linguistics, throughout your research studies, your training needs will be regularly assessed. Every six months your progress is formally checked by a supervisory board consisting of your supervisor, an adviser, and a chairperson. You fill in a form answering questions about your progress, and there may be a face to face meeting to discuss how you are getting on.
Your thesis has a maximum length of 80,000 words. No minimum is stated, and examiners could well be happy with 60,000 words of write up of good quality research.
Fees and funding
Home/UK fee
£4,786 per year
International fee
£18,750 per year
Fees will increase for each academic year of study.
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.
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.
