Program Overview

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MPhil/PhD Design

Why study MPhil/PhD Design at Goldsmiths

Goldsmiths’ Department of Design postgraduate research programmes offer you the opportunity to redefine design research in a community of design practice.

• It is aimed at practitioners and scholars of design, and those in related disciplines, who wish to develop a theoretically engaged, critically aware and empirically informed approach to design, design education, design research and design practice.
• The programme builds on and contributes to the Department’s internationally renowned approaches to inventive, experimental, and creative research where design’s relation to the social is placed centre stage.
• You can choose to do a practice-based or a thesis-based research degree.
• There is research funding available that you may be eligible for – see below for more information.

Length

• 2-4 years full-time or 4-8 years part-time

Fees

• Home - full-time: £TBC
• Home - part-time: £TBC
• International - full-time: £24350

Department

• Design

You'll research

We offer the following pathways for your research degree.

Practice-based MPhil/PhD

• The practice-based programme explores new approaches to, or applications of, existing knowledge by means of design practice.
• For PhD, the research will create new knowledge by means of practice research.
• Your thesis will integrate an original body of practice and a written component providing critical analysis of your practice, critical assessment of relevant literature and practice and describe the method of research.
• Assessment is by thesis and viva voce.
• The word count will be as follows:
  • MPhil includes a written component of between 20,000 and 30,000 words
  • PhD includes a written component of between 30,000 and 60,000 words

Thesis-based MPhil/PhD

• The thesis-based programme provides a written account of your research and contribution to knowledge on a subject related to design.
• The MPhil thesis will provide a distinct contribution to the knowledge of a subject related to design and the PhD thesis will provide an original contribution to knowledge on a subject related to design.
• Both include a critical assessment of relevant literature and describe the method of research.
• Assessment is by thesis and viva voce.
• The word count will be as follows:
  • MPhil has a written thesis of between 30,000 and 60,000 words
  • PhD has a written thesis of between 60,000 and 100,000 words

Fees and funding

Annual tuition fees

• These are the PG fees for students starting their programme in the 2025/2026 academic year.
• Home - full-time: £TBC
• Home - part-time: £TBC
• International - full-time: £24350

Funding opportunities

CHASE (Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts Southeast England)

• Goldsmiths is one of nine leading research institutions that are part of CHASE.
• CHASE funds more than 56 studentships per year.
• These studentships cover:
  • Tuition fees each year (this is currently £4,327 per year for full-time study)
  • A maintenance grant each year (this is currently £17,009 per year for full-time study; including London weighting)
  • Funding for research training

ESRC/SENSS Doctoral Studentships

• Fully-funded ESRC studentships are available to research students via this Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP).

Goldsmiths scholarships and studentships

• Explore the Goldsmiths scholarships finder to find out what funding you may be eligible for.

Entry requirements

• You should normally have (or expect to be awarded) the following qualifications:
  • A good 2:1 or 1st class honours degree
  • A taught Masters in a relevant subject area
• You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

International qualifications

• We accept a wide range of international qualifications.

English language requirements

• If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 7.0 with a 7.0 in writing and no element lower than 6.5 to study this programme.

How to apply

Application process

• You apply directly to Goldsmiths using our online application system.
• Before submitting your application you'll need to have:
  • Details of your education history, including the dates of all exams/assessments
  • The email address of your referee who we can request a reference from, or alternatively an electronic copy of your academic reference
  • Contact details of a second referee
  • A personal statement – this can either be uploaded as a Word Document or PDF, or completed online
  • A visual portfolio if relevant – see below for details
  • Details of your research proposal
  • If available, an electronic copy of your educational transcript (this is particularly important if you have studied outside of the UK, but isn’t mandatory)

Visual portfolio

• For the purpose of the initial application it is recommended that you prepare a portfolio of material documenting your previous work.
• We typically ask for a 10-page annotated portfolio in the form of a PDF file.

Research proposal

• The proposal should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words in length (not including references).
• The key consideration in drafting the proposal should be clarity.
• Your research proposal should be organised using the following headings:
  • Title: be concise and explicit
  • Introduction: introduce the questions and issues central to your research / identify the field of study in broad terms / indicate how you expect your research to contribute to the field
  • Research background and questions: expand on your introduction – look at key sources, texts and approaches in the field / consider how your proposal differs from and contributes to existing work / consider how it extends our understanding of particular questions or topics / also briefly indicate how your previous studies, professional and/or other experience contributes to your understanding of the field and your preparedness for undertaking research training
  • Research design: outline the methodology you will employ / consider resources and facilities needed / forms of analysis
  • Schedule of work: outline how you plan to complete the project within the period of the award – this could include a timetable for researching and writing
  • References: a list of works cited in your proposal, such as: books, journal articles, websites and prior art and design

Supervisors

• An initial suggestion of who you think might be an appropriate supervisor for your research is useful both for directing your application to appropriate members of staff and in determining a good match between your research and the Department.

When to apply

• You can make an application to study for an MPhil or PhD with us at any time of the year, for the academic year starting the following October.

Selection process

• Admission to many programmes is by interview, unless you live outside the UK.
• Occasionally we'll make candidates an offer of a place on the basis of their application and qualifications alone.