Postgraduate research

Our research degrees offer you an opportunity to work and study alongside internationally recognised academics.

Our MPhil and PhD programme relates to the School’s established reputation in all aspects of sustainability, urbanism, architectural history and design-led approaches to research and offers you the opportunity to work closely with academics related to your chosen field of study.

Our postgraduate research community comprises around 70 research students. These students are all at different stages in their MPhil/PhD studies and are exploring a wide variety of topics and questions relating to the built environment. A selection of projects representing individual works-in-progress and providing a taster of the research interests and activities in the School can be found on the MPhil/PhD pages of our summer exhibition.

Research and Scholarship Groups

Our inclusive Research and Scholarship Groups (RSGs) sustain and support our research culture and help to mentor and nurture our research students and early career researchers. As a research student, you will have access to all of our RSGs to maximise exposure to your subject area and foster collaboration with other researchers. There are six available research groups:

• Computational Methods in Architecture
• Design research and professional practice
• Energy, Environments and People
• History, Heritage and Conservation
• Urbanism

Current supervisors and PhD students are listed on each individual RSG page under 'People.'

Careers

Research is key to our School’s activities. It leads to new knowledge in its own right, but also informs teaching and makes an impact on the world beyond academia. A research degree is is confirmation that its holder has gained expertise in developing and employing appropriate research methods and in drawing conclusions from their results, it is excellent training for those who wish to pursue a career in research, higher education, industry or professional consultancy.

Find out more about studying for a  PhD or MPhil in Architecture on our Course Finder page:

• Architecture (PhD/MPhil)

A full-time PhD registration is three years (or five years part-time) and a full-time MPhil is one year (or two years part-time).

Contact us

For more information about postgraduate research opportunities, please contact: architectureadmissions@cardiff.ac.uk.