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  • Undergraduate courses
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Course options

  • Qualification

    PhD/DPhil - Doctor of Philosophy

  • Location

    Colchester Campus

  • Study mode

    Full time

  • Start date

    JAN-25, APR-25

  • Duration

    4 years

Course summary

Our PhD Mathematical Biology uses novel mathematical and computational techniques to solve problems in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. At Essex, we have supervised projects in the areas of animal movement and behaviour, population dynamics, plankton ecology, fisheries and natural resource management, and bioinformatics techniques. You are invited to contact our department to discuss other potential research areas in this field.

Holders of a such a PhD are ideally placed to continue a scientific research career as there is currently a shortage of mathematical expertise in biological, ecological, and environmental research.

Our staff are strongly committed to research and teaching. They have published several well-regarded textbooks and are world leaders in their individual specialisms, with their papers appearing in learned journals such as American Naturalist, Ecology, Journal of Mathematical Biology, Journal of Theoretical Biology, and Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

Our Department of Mathematical Sciences is genuinely innovative, and student focused. Our research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues. Here are a few examples:

  • Our data scientists carefully consider how not to lie, and how not to get lied to with data. Interpreting data correctly is especially important because much of our data science research is applied directly or indirectly to social policies, including health, care, and education.
  • We do practical research with financial data (for example, assessing the risk of collapse of the UK’s banking system) as well as theoretical research in financial instruments such as insurance policies or asset portfolios.
  • We also research how physical processes develop in time and space. Applications of this range from modelling epilepsy to modelling electronic cables.
  • Our optimisation experts work out how to do the same job with less resource, or how to do more with the same resource.
  • Our pure maths group are currently working on two new funded projects entitled ‘Machine learning for recognising tangled 3D objects’ and ‘Searching for gems in the landscape of cyclically presented groups’.
  • We also do research into mathematical education and use exciting technologies such as electroencephalography or eye tracking to measure exactly what a learner is feeling. Our research aims to encourage the implementation of ‘the four Cs’ of modern education, which are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

Your future

Many of our former PhD students have gone on to work as academics in prominent institutions across the world, such as the University of Cambridge, University of Nottingham, and many other international universities. Some have also remained at the University of Essex, working as postdoctoral research fellows, research impact officers, or lecturers.

Other graduates have joined organisations like the Met Office, the Ministry of Defence, and companies based in the City of London. There is a high demand for those with a numerate background in all sectors of the economy, so our graduates are sought after in the UK and abroad.

Tuition fees

Students living in United States
(International fees)

£ 18,750per year

Tuition fees shown are for indicative purposes and may vary. Please check with the institution for most up to date details.

University information

University of Essex

  • University League Table

    30th

  • Campus address

    University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex, CO4 3SQ, England

The careers team offer dedicated international careers advice and support throughout studies and after graduation.
Central London is easily accessible from all of the university's campuses.
Gain access to the curriculum from nine European universities through the YUFE (Young Universities for the Future of Europe) virtual campus.

Subject rankings

  • Subject ranking

    45th out of 94 7

    42nd out of 65 1

  • Entry standards

    / Max 228
    126 55%

    57th

  • Graduate prospects

    / Max 100
    77.0 77%

    42nd

    8
  • Student satisfaction

    / Max 4
    3.21 80%

    11th

    30
  • Entry standards

    / Max 234
    132 56%

    46th

  • Graduate prospects

    / Max 100
    85.0 85%

    17th

    9
  • Student satisfaction

    / Max 4
    3.00 75%

    48th

    11

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