As a UEA postgraduate student, you’ll be joining an institution that offers students an inspiring and engaging research environment to thrive in.

Our relationships with our partner institutes as part of the internationally renowned Norwich Research Park also gives students a whole breadth of research they can get involved in including food, health and environment.

To take a look at the full list of research areas that UEA offers, choose an option below.

American Studies

  • American history
  • American literature
  • Area Studies
  • Popular and Avant-Garde cultures
  • Race, Gender, and Civil Liberties
  • Space, Place, and Environment

Find out more on the American Studies web pages.

Art

  • Art, climate change and the non-human
  • Critical Heritage Studies
  • Materiality and Material Culture
  • Medieval art and architecture
  • Modern and contemporary art
  • Museums and Galleries Studies

Find out more on the Art web pages.

Film, Television and Media Studies

  • British Film and Television
  • Film and Television Studies
  • Feminist Media Studies
  • Genre Studies
  • Media and Cultural Consumption
  • World and National Cinemas

Find out more on the Film, Television and Media web pages.

History

  • British history
  • European history (in particular France, Italy, Germany, Russia, the Balkans and Central Europe, including Russia and the former Soviet space)
  • Histories of migration and race
  • History of the Atlantic world(s)
  • History of the Middle East
  • Imperial, diplomatic, and military history 
  • Indian/South Asian History (especially histories of medicine and religion)
  • Intellectual history and the history of political thought
  • Japanese History
  • Landscape and environmental history
  • Local and regional history
  • Medieval and early modern history

Find out more on the History web pages.

Language and Communication Studies

  • (Critical) discourse analysis
  • Cross-cultural cognitive linguistics
  • Intercultural communication
  • Theoretical and applied pragmatics
  • Translation and interpreting

Find out more on the Language and Communications Studies web pages.

Literature, Drama and Creative Writing

  • Creative writing
  • Life writing and creative non-fiction
  • Literary translation and translation theory
  • Medieval and early modern writing
  • Modern and contemporary literature, including poetry

Find out more on the Literature, Drama and Creative Writing web pages.

Philosophy

  • Application and interpretations of Wittgenstein
  • Environmental philosophy
  • Experimental philosophy
  • Phenomenology and Existentialism
  • Philosophy of language
  • Philosophy of science

Find out more on the Philosophy web pages.

Politics

  • Critical global politics and international relations
  • Cultural politics, political communication, and media
  • Politics, public policy and political theory

Find out more on the Politics web pages.

Clinical Psychology

  • Behavioural Sleep Medicine
  • Child and Youth Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Dementia and older people
  • Neuropsychology of Acquired Brain Injury and Stroke
  • Psychologyical approaches to understanding and treating Psychosis

Find out more on the Clinical Psychology webpages.

Health Sciences

  • Acquired brain injury recovery
  • Care in later life
  • Communication and cognition
  • Diagnostic testing
  • Inclusion
  • Management of neurodegenerative conditions
  • Musculoskeletal rehabilitation
  • Sleep and brain health
  • Supportive, palliative and end of life care
  • Understanding and changing behaviour
  • Workforce wellbeing

Find out more on the Health Sciences webpages.

Medicine

  • Cancer studies
  • Cardiovascular and metabolic health
  • Clinical trials
  • Diabetes
  • Epidemiology, public health and preventative medicine
  • Gastroenterology and gut biology
  • Health economics
  • Health services research and primary care
  • Mental health, including dementia
  • Microbiology, infection and immunity
  • Musculoskeletal medicine
  • Nutrition

Find out more on the Norwich Medical School webpages.

Biological Sciences

  • Cells and tissues: biomedicine, cancer biology, cardiovascular biology, molecular genetics, musculoskeletal biology, molecular pharmacology, developmental epigenetics, developmental and stem cell biology
  • Molecular microbiology: biochemistry, physiology, ecology, cell and developmental biology, elemental cycle, environmental microbiology, discovery of novel antimicrobial agents, synthetic biology
  • Organisms and the environment: biodiversity, conservation, behavioural ecology, evolutionary ecology, evolutionary biology, macroecology, molecular ecology, population biology, genetics, biogerontology
  • Plant sciences: molecular genetics, RNA biology, stress biology and signalling, biochemistry and metabolism, synthetic biolog

Find out more on the Biological Sciences webpages.

Chemistry

  • Chemistry of Materials and Catalysis: Organic and inorganic synthesis; organic mechanisms; medicinal chemistry; novel catalyst development; chemical analysis; organometallics and coordination complexes; liquid crystals, supramolecular assemblies; nanomaterials; Polymer synthesis and characterisation; microplastics.
  • Chemistry of Light and Energy: Theory of light matter interactions; lasers and optical spectroscopy; photobiology; light harvesting; light emitting diodes; photochemistry; molecular dynamics; energy conversion materials; colorimetric nanosensors.
  • Chemistry of Life Processes: biophysical chemistry; metalloproteins; protein structure and dynamics; theoretical simulation; protein engineering and genetic programming; nitrogen cycle enzymes; extracellular electron transfer mechanisms; membrane transporters; protein-protein interactions; nanoscience for drug delivery and intercellular sensing.

Find out more on the Chemistry webpages.

Computing Sciences

  • Actuarial Sciences
  • Colour and Vision
  • Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
  • Cyber security
  • Data Analytics for Improved Decision Making
  • Data mining and Knowledge Discovery
  • Graphics
  • Internet of Things and Edge Computing
  • Machine Learning, Statistics and Data Science
  • Speech and Audio
  • Telecommunications and Connected Society

Find out more on the Computing Sciences webpages.

Engineering

  • Design, modelling and optimisation of the electrical machines and drives
  • Energy storage
  • Functional materials
  • Graphene and nanostructured materials
  • High-resolution drop-on demand printing technology
  • Intelligent energy buildings
  • Multiscale fluid mechanics and heat transfer
  • Optical fibre sensors based on nanostructured coatings
  • Optimization driven design and computational mechanics
  • Self-cleaning surfaces
  • Solar Energy and photovoltaics

Find out more on the Engineering webpages.

Environmental Sciences

  • Atmospheric and ocean sciences, polar sciences, autonomous vehicles
  • Biological oceanography, marine biology, biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, sediment ecology
  • Climate science and climate change science
  • Climate solutions: decarbonisation and net zero, adaptation and resilience
  • Ecological economics and ecosystem services 
  • Ecology, conservation ecology, tropical ecology, movement ecology, host-parasite co-evolution, land-use change 
  • Environmental biology, conservation biology, genomics 
  • Geology, geophysics, hydrogeology, catchment science, natural hazards and resources
  • Green economy, low carbon energy transitions
  • Hazard risk communication, adaptation and disaster risk management
  • Human and physical geography of the environment 
  • Science, society and sustainability

Find out more on the Environmental Sciences webpages.

Mathematics

  • Algebra and Combinatorics
  • Mathematical Biology
  • Environmental Mathematics
  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid-Structure Interaction
  • Industrial Mathematics
  • Logic
  • Number Theory
  • Quantum Fluids

Find out more on the Mathematics webpages.

Pharmacy

  • Agrochemicals
  • Antimicrobial resistance
  • Cancer research
  • Cell and molecular biology
  • Drug formulation and delivery
  • Epigenetics
  • Medicinal chemistry and chemical biology
  • Natural product discovery and synthesis
  • NMR spectroscopy
  • Nutrition, inflammation and age-related diseases
  • Pharmaceutical characterisation
  • Soft matter 

Find out more on the Pharmacy webpages.

Physics

  • Matter, Light and Quantum Theories: Non-linear and quantum optics; quantum fluids; Bose-Einstein condensates; topological defects and phenomena.
  • Astrophysics, Planetary Systems and The Environment: relativistic astrophysics; neutron stars; molecular astrophysics; magnetohydrodynamics; terrestrial and planetary geophysics; geophysical fluids; oceanography; meteorology; planetary atmospheres; seismology; geodesy.
  • Chemical, Biological and Materials Physics: Photophysics and laser spectroscopy; biophysics; excited state dynamics; photoswitchable molecules.

Find out more on the Physics webpages.

Biological Sciences and Medicine: Norwich Bioscience Institutes

John Innes Centre, the Quadram Institute Bioscience (formerly the Institute of Food Research), the Earlham Institute and The Sainsbury Laboratory cover the following themes:

  • Evolutionary biology and population genomics
  • Food, nutrition and health
  • Food safety: microbes in the food chain and food authenticity
  • Genomics, computational and systems biology
  • Guts: biology, health, microbiome
  • Micronutrient biofortification and bioavailability
  • Molecular microbiology and metagenomics of complex microbial communities
  • Plant and crop growth, development and yield
  • Plant and microbial metabolism and biological chemistry
  • Plant bioactives and foods for health
  • Plant pathogens and innate immunity
  • Synthetic biology and biotechnology

Find out more on the Norwich Bioscience Institutes webpages.

Business and Management

  • Accounting: Disclosures and capital markets, Accountability and ESG disclosures, Accounting and digital technologies, Public sector accounting, Performance management, Tax, Data analytics, Emerging markets, Earnings quality, Large Language Models in business research, Management control and innovation, Management accounting and sustainability, Healthcare management
  • Employment systems and institutions: Human resource management, organisational change, sustainability, Affect and well-being; work-life balance; motivation and job design, Diversity and equality; ethics in organisations
  • Entrepreneurship and strategy: Entrepreneurship, strategy, and international business  
  • Finance: Asset Pricing, Banking, Corporate Finance, Environmental Finance, Financial Technology, Investment Management, Market Microstructure
  • Information technology, innovation, and Operations Management: Operations, supply chain management and innovation, Technology management, Information systems, Digital Business, Business Analytics, and social media
  • Responsible business and regulation: Corporate Governance, Shareholder Activism, Environmental and Social Governance; Digital Policy, Digital Services, Markets and Regulation; European Union Governance and Policy, Energy, Water, and Environment and Sustainability; Industrial Organisation, Markets, Consumers and Consumer Protection, and Competition Policy and Regulation

Find out more on the Norwich Business School webpages.

Economics

  • Behavioural approaches to decision theory, collective decision making and group formation, heuristics and biases in decision making.
  • Economics and econometrics of digitization, networks, online markets, crowdfunding, and cryptocurrencies.
  • Environmental and resource economics - energy economics, natural resource management, behavioural environmental economics, sustainable growth and development, climate change economics, environmental policy and optimal resource taxation.
  • Industrial organization, competition in digital markets, empirical evaluation of competition outcomes and competition policy.
  • Modern macroeconometrics, including Bayesian methods, structural VAR modelling, financial econometrics.
  • Origins and consequences of social tension and conflict – violent and non-violent conflict and human behaviour, inequality, migration.

Find out more on the Economics webpages.

Education and Lifelong Learning

  • International education and social change: adult literacy and international development; community learning; decolonisation; internationalism and higher education policy; lifelong and informal learning; minority groups and mobility; widening participation, inclusion and equity of access in HE
  • Lifelong learning cultures: digital technology, social media and digital resilience; gender and sexuality
  • Pedagogy, curriculum and  professional learning: Childhood/youth cultures and identities; English, curriculum and pedagogy; futures education; Mathematics education; public pedagogies, popular culture; sport, health, physical education and wellbeing; teacher education; TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages); speculative and digital research methodologies

Find out more on the Education and Lifelong Learning webpages

Global Development

  • Agriculture, nutrition and health
  • Behavioural and experimental economics
  • Climate change, adaptation and disaster risk management
  • Development aid and practice
  • Education, childhood and youth
  • Environmental justice/indigenous rights
  • Gender and inequality
  • Impact evaluation
  • Media and humanitarian communication
  • Migration
  • The state, governance and conflict
  • Water security

Find out more on the Global Development webpages.

Law

  • Company and commercial law including dispute resolution/arbitration; international commercial litigation; insurance and carriage of goods; business and human rights; corporate governance; theory of the firm.
  • Competition law, and economic regulation
  • Criminal law and criminology, including policing and criminal justice; prisons; punishments, rehabilitation and desistance.
  • EU law and Brexit/secession and devolution
  • Gender inequality and caring responsibilities
  • International and comparative law including international economic law (WTO law & investment law), and sustainable development/international environmental law
  • Jurisprudence and legal theory, including Law and Economics; Law and Globalisation.
  • Media, intellectual property (IP), information technology (IT), and data protection law
  • Medical law
  • Private law: including contract, tort, property law and land use; comparative private law; European private law; economic approach to private law issues.
  • Public law, human rights, and public protest
  • Refugee law and displacement, including climate-induced displacements.

Find out more on the Law webpages.

Psychology

  • Cognitive neuroscience
  • Developmental science
  • Social psychology

Find out more on the Psychology webpages.

Social Work

  • Child protection
  • Children and families in adoption
  • Children in care
  • Social work decision making
  • Social work with people with mental health problems
  • Support for vulnerable families
  • Young people and crime

Find out more on the Social Work webpages.

Sociology

  • Experiences of Health and Illness
  • Aging and Disability
  • Social Policy
  • Environmental Sociology
  • Gender Offending and Victimisation

Find out more on the Sociology webpages.