Research at the Department of Architecture offers a laboratory for informing education, research and knowledge exchange in the fields of Architecture & Urban Design. We work through collaborations within the University and by engagement with practice and links with specialists in both the public and private sectors. Much of our research portfolio has been rated of an international standard in successive Research Assessment exercises.
Our key research themes are flexible enough to allow staff and ideas to migrate between areas that inevitably overlap. Central to this approach is our enthusiasm for more collaboration within and beyond the University. Our research programme aims to enhance architectural knowledge, while having a transformative impact on the built environment and on contemporary architectural culture.
Our staff have a wide range of interests from Urban Design to Management & Practice, Sustainability & Technology to Cultural Studies. This expertise parallels the aims and objectives of the Faculty and University, giving us a wide agenda for excellence. Our research is aligned with the needs of the profession, policy makers and strategic decision makers; therefore design innovation, linked with both practice and the construction industry, is an important focus, as reflected in our research themes.
Within these identified areas of expertise, the Department of Architecture is home to the following specialist research groups & clusters:
Centre for Research in Design and Sustainability (CRiDaS)
The Centre includes research work relating to cultural and historical studies, and sustainable design and technology and also hosts the Construction Dispute Resolution Interdisciplinary Research Cluster.
Cultural and Historical studies consider a wide range of interdisciplinary topics relating to the built environment. At the core lies the history and theory of buildings and cites. Research in the department explores how and why buildings and cites are produced and used, how they are represented and the meanings we attach to them. The conventional terrains of history, including recent history, are studied but also this research group also examines the relationships between architecture and fields as diverse as music, painting, literature, politics, economics, critical theory, media and visual culture.
Sustainable Design and Technology focuses on the application of technology to help deliver a more sustainable built environment in response to needs of society, government, and industry. Its research is closely linked with international and national targets for reducing social and environmental impacts (including carbon and pollution reduction, and waste minimization) and promoting energy and resource efficiencies in an attempt to improve the quality of life for all.
Urban Design Studies Unit (UDSU)
This Unit does research and consultancy on ecological, urban and economic sustainability, the history of urban design, minorities and the built environment. It is particularly interested in the interpretation of urban form and dynamics as layered manifestations of the complex relationships of mutual change and evolution.
POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
The Department of Architecture has an international reputation for excellence in research and research training and is a leading centre for built environment and urban design inquiry. The multi-disciplinary environment within the Department provides an exciting setting for exceptional students to undertake research.
The Department provides significant opportunities for international collaboration to support research that responds to global social, economic and environmental challenges, in addition to research that addresses fundamental challenges to the built environment within Scotland and the rest of the UK. The Department also provides postgraduate research students with research supervision, infrastructure and support of the highest quality. The Department welcomes opportunities to undertake practice-linked applied research that cuts across built environment disciplines, and provides opportunities for increased industry investment in research training, particularly through the University of Strathclyde Scholarships programme.
The Department has a thriving postgraduate research programme and welcomes applications from suitably qualified people to study in any of our research areas.
Doctoral programme: a PhD can be taken in any of our research areas. It is usually a 3 year full time programme or longer if taken part time.
Masters programmes: We currently offer the following research Masters programmes:
Master of Research (MRes) Architecture - Which involves the development of research methods and project work focusing on architecture. 12 months full time, including some taught classes and a dissertation.
Master of Philosophy (MPhil) – a 1-year postgraduate degree programme which is predominantly research-based.