The Architecture and Design Research, PhD program is offered through three different online/hybrid tracks:

The Architecture & Design Research, PhD track is intended for candidates seeking doctoral level research which adopts well-defined models of scholarly inquiry, using research methods accepted by the academic communities in architecture and design research.

The Architecture and Design Research, Practice-Based PhD track is intended for established mid- or later career practitioners who are interested in conducting doctoral level research on their practice or projects that are built or in progress, to develop new knowledge and understanding to support sustained development of the future of practice.

The Architecture & Design Research, SMARTlab Practice-Based PhD concentration is offered in collaboration with SMARTlab. Students work together live and online, with contributors from around the world, to co-create and debate the nature of ‘practice-based research.’ Students in this track take 9 credits of coursework at SMARTlab’s main center at University College Dublin, which requires in-person participation three times during the first or second year (in February, July and October) for intensive seminars.