PhD in Architecture & Design Research
Program Overview
The PhD in Architecture & Design Research fosters transdisciplinary inquiry and cultivates innovators who anticipate and shape the future of architectural practice. Through diverse focus areas and collaborations with other disciplines, students conduct original research that contributes to the advancement of knowledge in architecture and the built environment.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The PhD in Architecture & Design Research is a program focused on anticipating and shaping the future of architectural practice. It aims to create new avenues of investigation, expand knowledge bases, solve contemporary issues across architectural disciplines, and yield new insights into the past, present, and future of the field.
Objectives:
- To develop new modes of design research.
- To conduct original research on timely, discipline-specific topics.
- To shape a research question and pursue transdisciplinary inquiry.
- To make a significant contribution to the body of knowledge in a specific focus area.
Program Description:
The program encourages interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, building on the expertise of faculty within the College of Architecture & the Built Environment and across Jefferson University. Students choose a focus area and conduct original research, drawing upon the broad array of professional expertise available throughout the University. The final dissertation phase is an individualized, self-driven process.
Focus Areas:
Students can choose from a wide array of topics supported by faculty expertise, including:
- Sustainable architecture
- High performance buildings
- Urban design
- Smart cities
- Geospatial technologies
- Historic preservation
- Public interest design
- Design for health
- Sustainable development
- Real estate development
- Innovative construction
Collaboration:
Students collaborate with other disciplines relevant to their topic, including engineering, business, and health sciences, in consultation with an academic advisor.
Tracks:
The program is offered through three different online/hybrid tracks:
- Architecture & Design Research, PhD – in person/hybrid
- Architecture & Design Research, Practice-Based PhD – online/hybrid
- Architecture & Design Research, SMARTlab Practice-Based PhD – online/hybrid (Offers a concentration in Inclusive Design & Creative Technology Innovation with SMARTlab)
National and International Partnerships:
Faculty have formed partnerships with several international institutions, including:
- Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China
- TU Delft
- Politecnico di Milano
- Anhalt University and Hochschule Ostwestfalen Lippe – School of Architecture, Germany The program fosters student and faculty exchange and research with a growing list of top-tier domestic and international partner institutions. CABE also has a network with leading architectural firms around the world, such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Gensler, Stantec, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), and AECOM.
Collaborative, Transdisciplinary Research:
The program benefits from the transdisciplinary nature of Jefferson, fostering the intersection of architecture and design with business, engineering, and the health sciences. It builds upon Jefferson’s institutional strengths to educate the next generation of innovators who understand how to think critically and creatively and collaborate effectively.
Labs and Centers:
- Institute for Smart and Healthy Cities
- Synesthetic Research & Design Lab
- Lab for Urban & Social Innovation
- Center for the Preservation of Modernism
- Fashion & Textiles Futures Center
- IDEA Lab
STEM Designation:
The PhD in Architecture & Design Research is a STEM designated program (04.0902 Architecture and Building Science/Technology).
Careers:
- Specialized practice
- Consulting
- University teaching
- Architectural research
Other:
- The program is designed to prepare students for a career in specialized practice, consulting, university teaching, and architectural research.
- Students benefit from synergies among the wide-ranging portfolio of graduate programs within CABE as well as other disciplines throughout the University.
