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Are you an experienced design practitioner? Are you motivated to contribute to a field of design knowledge and demonstrate impact in a professional and academic context? This unique programme will develop your design-led professional practice and enhance your employability in both academic and industrial enterprises.

The Doctorate of Design provides both practical and theoretical content that reflects the professional requirements of your field, making you stand out to employers. During the Professional Practice Design Research module teaching will take place on a weekly basis and you will also engage in independent study, with online and/or face-to-face tutor support. We will cover a range of theoretical principles, such as: redirective practices, a reflective and transformative approach to design practices and subjects, responsible innovation and design development, and the understanding / practice of distinctive processes of design ethics. In addition, you will cover core practical research methods that will help you to effectively frame your design practice as research.

Research contribution is a key focus on this course. You will be expected to identify, appraise, and analyse the potential impact research can make to professional design practice - culminating in a thesis or practical portfolio that will inform your own practice and the wider practice in the field of design.

You will be supported academically on the programme through a combination of module tutor and supervisor guidance and assistance. All teaching and assessment materials will be available electronically on our E-Learning system, including recorded teaching materials and/or streamed material for distance-learning.

The course has been designed for professionally qualified individuals based in the UK and internationally - covering a range of design disciplines, including but not limited to industrial, graphic, digital, interior, multisensory and fashion. This programme will substantially benefit you if you wish to pursue an academic career in the field of design and develop both conceptual and practice-led research outputs and projects.

There may also be the opportunity for students to engage with professional industries and design studios as part of their thesis research, given the practice-led nature of the programme.

Course Information

Level of Study
Postgraduate

Mode of Study
3 years Part Time
1 other options available

Department
Northumbria School of Design

Location
City Campus, Northumbria University

City
Newcastle

Start
October 2024 or January 2025

Fees
Fee Information

Modules
Module Information

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Entry Requirements 2024/25

Standard Entry

Candidates joining the Doctorate of Design should have one of the following:

  • A Masters qualification and a minimum of 3 years’ experience of professional experience and/or evidence of appropriate continuous design professional development. 
  • Substantial professional experience (5 years or more).

Where English is not the applicant's first language, either an IELTS score of 6.5 (with no component below 6.0), or an equivalent as recognised in the University English Language Admissions Guidelines for the current academic year is the minimum requirement for consideration. 

Candidates will be assessed on these criteria and utilising the University’s APEL, APL and AWBL policy for entry, 150 credits of advanced standing will be recognised against the existing Masters qualification. Where a candidate holds a UK Masters award that satisfies the learning outcomes at Masters level, advanced entry to the DDes programme is permitted. 

Evidence of qualifications and professional work experience must be provided, with detailed documentation of the content of Postgraduate awards provided for an assessment of eligibility to be made. 

Fees and Funding 2024/25 Entry

UK Fee in Year 1: £5,313

International Fee in Year 1: £14,984



Scholarships and Discounts

Discover More about Fees, Scholarships and other Funding options for UK and International applicants.

ADDITIONAL COSTS

There are no Additional Costs

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Modules

Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.

DE7027 -

Professional Practice Design Research (Core,30 Credits)

Through a combination of lectures and seminar discussions you will engage with academics and other practitioners to examine how professional knowledge can be constructed and defended. These activities will help you define a research problem, formulate a research statement, and form the clear and critical research question that will guide and inform your doctoral project. You will examine the nature of practice-led research from the perspective of design and consider how to effectively develop concepts, use theoretical frameworks and apply reflective approaches to support the development, undertaking, and successful completion of a practice-led and practice-based design research project. You will appraise how the development of evidence enables an analysis of the saliency or usefulness of emerging practices and how a practice context can develop evidence about how design integrates with other change agents to build intelligence for strategic decision making and systemic change.

The core of the module will enable you to learn key contemporary design theoretical approaches that will be applied to your professionally related thesis subject. In this regard, you will cover key and distinctive theoretical and conceptual subjects and approaches such as redirective practice, a body of thought which cultivates and inspires a self-reflective and ultimately transformative design attitude and practice. You will also learn socially and environmentally responsible innovation, design for strategy and social development and design ethics. These topics and knowledge forms will enable you to conceptualise your practical experience in a contemporary manner that stresses the transformative role that designers have and therefore facilitates a viable and relevant research topic and research process strategy. Furthermore, you will learn the principles of key research methods such as key qualitative approaches (unstructured and semi-structured interviews, textual and material analysis, focus groups, and key ethnographic approaches) and quantitative methods and data analysis principles (surveys, for example). You will also engage with the ethics of research, which are a fundamental component of research and engagement with the social world.

Finally, you will be taught effective research proposal design, an essential aspect of the programme that will assist you in formulating a clear and original design-based doctoral subject, which will be the basis of your subsequent study for the duration of the doctoral programme and which will result in the production of an original research project that enhances professional design practice and produces fresh design-oriented critical knowledge.

More information

Modules

Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.

DE7027 -

Professional Practice Design Research (Core,30 Credits)

Through a combination of lectures and seminar discussions you will engage with academics and other practitioners to examine how professional knowledge can be constructed and defended. These activities will help you define a research problem, formulate a research statement, and form the clear and critical research question that will guide and inform your doctoral project. You will examine the nature of practice-led research from the perspective of design and consider how to effectively develop concepts, use theoretical frameworks and apply reflective approaches to support the development, undertaking, and successful completion of a practice-led and practice-based design research project. You will appraise how the development of evidence enables an analysis of the saliency or usefulness of emerging practices and how a practice context can develop evidence about how design integrates with other change agents to build intelligence for strategic decision making and systemic change.

The core of the module will enable you to learn key contemporary design theoretical approaches that will be applied to your professionally related thesis subject. In this regard, you will cover key and distinctive theoretical and conceptual subjects and approaches such as redirective practice, a body of thought which cultivates and inspires a self-reflective and ultimately transformative design attitude and practice. You will also learn socially and environmentally responsible innovation, design for strategy and social development and design ethics. These topics and knowledge forms will enable you to conceptualise your practical experience in a contemporary manner that stresses the transformative role that designers have and therefore facilitates a viable and relevant research topic and research process strategy. Furthermore, you will learn the principles of key research methods such as key qualitative approaches (unstructured and semi-structured interviews, textual and material analysis, focus groups, and key ethnographic approaches) and quantitative methods and data analysis principles (surveys, for example). You will also engage with the ethics of research, which are a fundamental component of research and engagement with the social world.

Finally, you will be taught effective research proposal design, an essential aspect of the programme that will assist you in formulating a clear and original design-based doctoral subject, which will be the basis of your subsequent study for the duration of the doctoral programme and which will result in the production of an original research project that enhances professional design practice and produces fresh design-oriented critical knowledge.

More information

Study Options

The following alternative study options are available for this course:

To start your application, simply select the month you would like to start your course.

Doctorate of Design

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Any Questions?

Our Applicant Services team will be happy to help.  They can be contacted on 0191 406 0901 or by using our Contact Form.

 

All information is accurate at the time of sharing. 

Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.  

Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.

 

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