PhD Architecture: The University of Manchester

Course description

Research entails a degree of maturity and self-determination and direction over and above that needed for postgraduate taught courses. This is not to say that research within the School is either undirected or of a solitary nature. Students participate in their graduate studies programme and benefit from involvement in research activities of the newly established Manchester Architecture Research Centre (MARC).

MARC’s research aims to critically understand the co-evolution of design and development strategies and socio-economic processes shaping architecture and cities. Their approach involves: the development and application of an interdisciplinary approach to researching architecture and its links to urban development, understanding technological innovation and urban change; analysing and integrating previously disconnected research fields – architecture, urban planning and place-making, the property sector, civil engineering and utilities industry, and stimulating collaborative, inter-disciplinary methodological approaches to understanding architecture and engaging with contemporary practice in a global context.

Entry requirements

Academic entry qualification overview: Applicants are expected to have a First or Upper Second Class degree (or its international equivalent).

Applicants for direct entry to the PhD are expected to have relevant postgraduate experience (generally a masters degree).

English language: Students whose first language (or language of instruction for at least 1 year) is not English require an IELTS score of 7.0 or a TOEFL score of 600 (paper-based) or 250 (computer-based).

Unit grade information: The University of Manchester welcomes the provision of unit grade information which, like all other available information, will inform the consideration of applications. Unit grades will not normally form part of offer conditions, except for Mathematics programmes.

Key Skills qualification: The University warmly welcomes applications from students studying the Key Skills qualification. However, as the opportunities to take these modules are not open to all applicants, currently this is not an essential requirement of the University.