Brochure: 

Edition 2022/2023 of the PhD in Architecture 

The definition of 'architecture' changes over time. In view of the needs of the world and the innovations of art and technology, the contours of architecture are being reinvented: the use we give it, what we think about when we think about it, what we want it to be. We invent methodologies to intervene, we turn to other disciplines, we try to look at it from other points of view. It is bearing in mind this openness that the School of Architecture, Art and Design launches another edition of its Doctorate in Architecture.

The PhD in Architecture aims to train not only architects, but also candidates with different backgrounds for research in Architecture, an area that allows the integration of interdisciplinary research in an environment of continuous debate, research and sharing of knowledge and experience.

The Plan A of the course allows students to broaden their knowledge in the area of Architecture, as well as in the specific domains of the specialties it promotes, in an active and conscious way.

Applications are open during the week of 5 to 9 December 2022, and must be formalised through the student portal: https://alunos.uminho.pt. 

Programme

With an interdisciplinary vocation, the Doctorate in Architecture opens in a single area, transversal to its three specialty areas - City and Territory, Construction and Technology and Architectural Culture - which may thus become enriched according to the thematic specificity of the research that the students wish to carry out. It is assumed that architecture has thematic and methodological contours in permanent redefinition. The reflection on the conceptual and operative devices of architecture, as well as its potential disciplinary porosity, may lead freely to new perspectives on the world - on its objects and spaces.

The contemporary condition of the "urban" and of the "natural", new ruralities, building and dwelling as components of a biological / technological / social ecosystem, the fixation and the circulation of populations in the planet, the political and artistic dimensions of architecture, tourism, image, exhibitions and editions, fiction and its diverse media, are thematic territories that may exemplify the amplitude of the Programme.

The Plan A of the Doctorate in Architecture includes two initial semesters for attending training units (doctoral course; full time). Tutorial support for the thesis is provided by the Supervision Team in the following four semesters. From the 2^nd year it is possible to attend the course full time or part time.

The Lab2PT and the PhD students

The Doctorate in Architecture has the support of renowned researchers from several disciplinary areas. The students selected to attend the course will integrate the research centre "Landscape, Heritage and Territory Laboratory" (Lab2PT), an R&D unit classified as "Excellent" by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). (http://www.lab2pt.net/). In the framework of Lab2PT, students may have the opportunity to benefit from scholarships, integrating projects that are underway. It is worth mentioning that, in the last 7 years, the Lab2PT has granted 24 scholarships in the area of Architecture, under the scope of the different projects developed in the research centre, such as: The Sea and the Shore, Architecture and Marine Biology: The Impact of Sea Life on the Built Environment (Sardinha); Tecnoscientific Networks in the construction of the built environment in the Portuguese Empire (1647-1871) (TechNetEMPIRE); Visual Spaces of Change (VSC); Spaces and lifestyles from the Portuguese period in Northern Africa: cities and towns of the "Overseas Gharb" (15th to 17th centuries) (ESPANAFRI); Ruins and vacant lots in Portuguese cities: exploring the dark life of abandoned urban spaces and alternative planning proposals for the perforated city (NoVOID); Additive Manufacturing of Innovative and Multifunctional Ceramic Products for Architectural Systems (KERAMOS) and Codfish Architecture (Codfish).