School of Art, Design and Architecture

ResM Art, Design and Architecture

This interdisciplinary course allows you to investigate the creative relationships between and within theories, methods and practices in the fields of art, design and architecture. Join a vibrant research-led practice School with a team established at International level through participation in conference committees, research networks and grants, juries and editorial boards.

By breaking through the traditional boundaries of media and digital art, spatial and environmental design, and architecture, the course teaches you to embed theory in critical practice and to build a research career with skills vital in academia and creative industries alike.

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No 1 overall Young University for Art, Design and Architecture in the UK

Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2018

Inside i-DAT's Tate Modern installation This Is Where We Are (TIWWA) - an immersive and interactive algorithmic sculpture fuelled by the data we collectively generate.

Key features

  • Become an independent and forward thinking researcher working among around 100 research students within the School of Art, Design and Architecture.
  • Work with interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary strategies and methodologies within/across supervisory teams based at one or more areas of our research excellence:
Artistic Research Cluster, Art + Sound, Architecture Research, Design Knowledge, Environmental Building, i-DAT, Land/Water, Transtechnology Research, PUMAr, Moving Image, Photography, and Message Research.

  • Specialise in one or across several fields including:

Photography, Media Arts, Film and Video, TV Art, Fine Art (including: painting, sculpture, video, sound and performance, printmaking, and site-based work), Digital Art and Technology, Design, Graphics and Communication, Illustration, Publishing,    Architecture, Urban Studies, Built Environment 

  • Benefit from a flexible approach to learning.
  • An opportunity for a transfer route into a PhD programme.
  • Access exclusive technological facilities including the Immersive Vision Theatre and IBM funded Smarter Planet lab.

Course details

  • Overview and taught modules

  • The ResM can be studied either full or part time. You will take two taught modules, one relating to your area of research and 'Research in the Arts and Humanities', and attend individual tutorials with your supervisor and regular research seminars, leading to either a written thesis or one combining critical writing with creative/professional practice. We may also agree together that you should take other or additional modules or engage in specific training opportunities.

    • MARE 700 (Faculty of Arts and Humanities Research Skills module)
    • ADA 700 (Research Skills and Methodologies in Art, Design and Architecture)

    Core modules

    • ADA700 Research Skills and Methodologies in Art, Design and Architecture

      This is a research-based module for ResM and Phil/PhD students is designed to develop critical and reflective tools and techniques used in the three fields to support students¿ research skills. The module will provide students with knowledge of current debates relating to approaches, theories, practices, skills and methodologies of research within the fields of Art, Design and Architecture.

    • MARE700 Research in the Arts and Humanities

      This module provides students with research skills training and a critical awareness of different methodological approaches in the arts, humanities, cultural industries and associated fields, to enable them to make appropriate choices in their own research. It is designed to complement and support individual research projects carried out by students.

  • Independent research

  • This research masters offers you the opportunity to engage critically with a research project by allowing you to work closely with a supervisory teams who are experts in your chosen field. Your supervisory team will be assigned to you at the start of the course and will continue to work closely with you for the entire duration of your study. Most of the research time spent during this course is based on dialogue with your supervisors to help you develop your project towards an accomplished thesis.

  • Thesis and assessment

  • Your thesis will be 25000 words in length (or the equivalent if it includes practice). It may be assessed entirely through written work, or through a substantial practical project that addresses particular research questions and is accompanied by an extended contextual essay.
    You will also participate in a viva voce, or oral examination. This will form part of your examination process and normally takes place between one and three months following submission of your thesis or its written elements.

The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry.

Entry requirements

A high 2.1 BA Hons or BSc degree (in any area related to the Arts, Design or Architecture) and 70 per cent or above in your final year BA/BSc dissertation.

International students: please also note that you will need to have achieved at least 6.5 in ILETS or equivalent exams.

English language requirements.

Fees, costs and funding

Please visit tuition fees for postgraduate research for information about fees. The ResM Art, Design and Architecture is in Band 2 for fees purposes.

If you are a full time student, you will pay full time fees for one year. If you have not submitted your thesis by the end of this period, then you may pay for an optional six month 'writing up' period (that is, half of the 'writing up' fee indicated on this page).

If you are a part time student, you will pay part time fees for two years. If you have not submitted your thesis by the end of this period, then you may pay for an optional one year 'writing up' period.

You are responsible for meeting all of the costs related to your own research project, beyond the resources available in the department.

This programme is eligible for a postgraduate loan.


How to apply

Proposal and application process

Application is by project proposal and evidence that you are prepared to successfully complete this project.

Your proposal must provide a suitable basis either for a written submission, or creative and/or professional practice plus a contextual thesis. Your proposal should be 1000 words maximum (addressing a clear research question with a defined field of research, proposed methodology of work, and a list of references) accompanied by a recent sample of critical writing (maximum 3000 words), which may be from a previous course.

Proposals for research that is practice-led must be accompanied by a DVD, portfolio of work or links to online documentation that indicate your readiness to pursue the project. It should take the admissions team no longer than 30 minutes to view all the visual material that you provide.

These will be used to determine both your aptitude for the programme and the suitability of your proposed project, as well as available supervisors. We will also consider the ability of the department to support your research project with resources appropriate to your needs.

Please attach your project proposal and sample of critical writing to your application form as separate documents. In the 'personal statement' section of the application form, please include a brief statement explaining why you have chosen this course and what you feel you can offer our postgraduate community.

Doctoral College is available to answer any queries about our ResM programmes and any other postgraduate research degrees (such as MPhil/PhD).

Make sure that you clearly indicate at the top of your application form you are applying for the ResM.

If you would like to discuss your application please contact the programme coordinator, Sana Murrani.

Postgraduate Research in the School of Art, Design and Architecture

Find out more about our specialist areas of research excellence and postgraduate research opportunities.

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Key staff to contact

Our specialist areas of research excellence: