Art and Design (PhD)

There are several research topics available for this degree. See below examples of research areas including an outline of the topics, the supervisor, funding information and eligibility criteria:

• Additive Manufacturing (Rapid Prototyping & 3D Printing) & Design Visualisation using VR and AR
• All aspects of art and design
• Art & Design applications in the medical environment
• Blood And Glitter: Contemporary Performance Practice, Bodily Display and Entertainment
• Contemporary Photography and Magic Realism
• Contemporary photography as art practice, materiality and aesthetics
• Creative Community engagement through the generation of temporal exhibition curation
• Cultural Ecologies and Regional Change
• Design-Driven Innovation for Sustainability - Design for sustainable change - Circular economy
• Fundamental and Applied Research on Medical Textiles
• Glamour and Modernity, Architectural Forms, Changes in Clothing, and New Female Visibility in the Twenties
• MATERIAL ENTANGLEMENTS - Projects that engage with the “phenomena” of new materialisms and Science and Technology Studies (STS
• Modes of repetition identified through contemporary visual art practice; implications and outcomes
• New materialist crossings between material, aesthetic and scientific cultures
• Playing with art - exploring the artistic encounter in the context of work and play.
• Positive deviance for innovation and design
• Reimagining Device and Interaction Design
• Tapestry as metaphor for collective memory project
• The Art Director As Producer: The Expanding Role of the Art Director in Shaping and Styling Discourse in Art, Design and Architecture
• The Therapeutic Cloth: Examining the Impact of Textiles as Art in Healthcare Environments
• The art of encounter - investigating artwork-audience relationships in a digital age
• The limits of thermal comfort and impacts of air movement and/or radiant heat exchange
• User Experience Design
• Walking and Narrative in Physical, Virtual and Psychological Space

The School of Art, Design and Architecture, home to award-winning staff members at the University of Huddersfield, fosters the next generation of creative researchers as part of a dynamic and interactive learning community. The School has approximately 100+ research students, from a growing number of different nationalities. We particularly welcome inter, cross, multi and transdisciplinary research.

Applications are welcome in, but not limited to, the following research areas:

• Art History and Cultural Theory
• Artistic Research and Curation
• Graphics and Publishing
• Photography History, Theory and Practice
• Sculptural Thinking and Practice
• Practice-led Research in Creative Practice

• Costume Studies
• Creative Pattern Cutting and Technologies
• Fashion Ecology, Economics and Business Engagement
• Fashion Retail and Social Media
• Materials Science and Textile Technologies
• Textile Crafts and Textile Futures

• Cultural Leadership and Public Engagement in Art and Design
• Design Pedagogy
• Digital Design, Digital Media Arts and 3D Animation
• Transdisciplinary Design
• Design Fiction/Design Futures

We provide a supportive and vibrant research environment for postgraduate researchers (PGRs). Researchers at all levels are encouraged to contribute and collaborate. The Graduate School ensures that postgraduate research is of the highest quality and equips you with the resources that you need to become a successful researcher.

We have an exciting and comprehensive Researcher Skills Development Programme available to all postgraduate researchers. This enables you to broaden your knowledge and access tools and skills which can significantly improve employability. The programme is also mapped onto Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework (RDF), allowing you to benefit from Vitae support as well as our own Programme.

We offer skills training through a programme designed to take advantage of technology platforms as well as face-to-face workshops and courses. The University has subscribed to Epigeum, a programme of on-line research training support designed and managed by staff at Imperial College London which will be accessed via Brightspace, the University’s Virtual Learning Environment. We also subscribe to the University of East Anglia webinar series and The Good Doctorate video training series. We are part of the North West and Yorkshire PGR Training Group that allows PGRs to attend relevant training opportunities at other nearby universities.