The research activity and supervision for the standard three-year PhD in Computer Science at the University of Essex are concentrated in several principal research areas: artificial intelligence, biologically inspired architectures, educational technology, e-learning, natural and evolutionary computation, natural language engineering, software agents, and software engineering. The cross-disciplinary projects draw on the expertise of electronic engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, physicists, and psychologists.

This University of Essex is one of the largest and best-resourced schools in the UK. Its work is supported by extensive networked computer facilities and software aids, as well as a wide range of test and instrumentation equipment. The research covers various topics, including the theory of computation, the philosophy of computer science, computational intelligence, computer games, artificial intelligence, and robotics, with most research groups based around laboratories that offer world-class facilities. The impressive external research funding amounts to multi-million pounds per year, and the institution participates in several EU initiatives while undertaking projects under contract with various outside bodies, including government and industrial organizations.

Studying within this School provides both recent graduates and practicing engineers with opportunities to gain new skills or enhance existing ones. Graduates have progressed to a variety of senior positions in industry and academia. Some of the companies and organizations where former graduates are now employed include Alcatel Submarine, BT Group, QinetiQ, Dolby Laboratories, Fujitsu, Royal Air Forces, as well as within the University and Imperial College London.