Course summary

Contribute to the advancement of your profession and develop your own academic skills through an in-depth research project in a unique area that interests you. We are dedicated to PaR (Practice as Research) and Design Thinking principles that move the work of the designer from the 20th Century artisan who responds to stimulus into the 21st Century design creative where your actions are at the centre of cultural change. The academic rigour required of you offers time and space to make research connections that allow you to explore new concepts and meanings in design. The need for design to offer experimentation within environmental, social and sustainable futures in the subject and your discipline are the key to doctoral study. We understand that your research may change as you make new connections and as relevant modes of thought and action become important to you throughout the course of your research. We work with you as you find the appropriate practice for pursuing your research and related form for consolidating and disseminating your findings. You will be encouraged to take your work outside the immediate context of the School and University. To travel to interview or meet with key figures from the sector you wish to find employment in or attend networking events relevant to your career aspirations. It is hoped that during your studies you will dedicate time and effort to developing your network of contacts and aim to present your work in public and academic spaces as your work evolves. Research Areas Staff specialisms include:

• Practice as Research

• Sustainable technology

• Professional practice and landscape urbanism

• The relationship between music and landscape; alternative methods of representation, sound as a component of landscape, augmented aurality and digital tools for sound representation

• Biophilic Design for improving health and well-being

• Illustration; digital and traditional

• The theory and practice of illustration in advertising and design

• Representational drawing and painting techniques

• The Atelier system

• Colour Theory