PhD Architecture, Landscape, Interior and Urban Design

The programme is inherently interdisciplinary and fosters specialisms within and extending from key research clusters identified within the school. The programme addresses the critical role of the discipline in its different aspects, from theory, practice, representation, participation, technology, ecological, art to politics. It pursues advanced research in different forms: academic writings, creative practices, laboratory experiments, field works, live projects, design processes and participatory feedbacks.

The programme benefits from the cross-disciplinary research expertise and environment of both the School of Arts and the School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing. PhD candidates develop their individual research under the guidance of two supervisors and an external advisor where appropriate. The progress of doctoral studies and the development towards an academic career are supported by regular research seminars, presentations and discussions of their work both within and outside the schools, research clusters activities ranging from specialised seminars, symposia and collaborative publications, opportunities and financial support to produce research output for publications and exhibitions internal and external to the school, teaching activities ranging from offering lectures, workshops and critical reviews to student projects, as well as research training programme workshops organised centrally by the university research office.

A PhD fees only Scholarship (for part-time study for six years) is currently being offered on a competitive basis to applicants applying before 31st May 2021. Please contact Dr. Doreen Bernath (Director of Studies) or Sarah Mills (Head of Architecture) for further information. Past recipients of bursaries/scholarships include: George Themistokleous (2013), Braden Engel (2014) and Giorgio Ponzo (2015). Further research funding is available to all registered students on an annual basis to support research activities such as conference participations and fieldwork. 

It is advisable that applicants contact potential supervisors in relevant subject areas to discuss the preparation of the PhD proposal. And to refer to the Graduate School’s Research Degrees application webpage for assistance in completing the application process.

• Cluster 1: Agency and Live Project Pedagogy
• Cluster 2: Digital and Material Morphology
• Cluster 3: Scene, Sequence and Mediated Commons
• Cluster 4: New Ecologies and Territorial Architectonics
• Cluster 5: Displacement, Other-ness and Multiplicity