Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education - Volume 1, Issue 3, 2003

Whilst the contribution to knowledge has long been understood as an outcome of doctoral research, in more recent times the spotlight has increasingly shifted to that other outcome of doctoral education: the trained researcher. The aim of this paper, similarly, is to set aside the epistemological and definitional issues that surround any notion of design knowledge and how one contributes to it, in favour of a focus on the process of studying for a research degree, the knowledge and skills one might reasonably expect research students to acquire, and the structuring of doctoral training programmes.

Drawing on recent papers and policy documents in this area, as well as personal experience of developing a formal postgraduate research training programme, the paper identifies three key areas for consideration in the development of new doctoral training programmes for design. First, preparation for research degree studies. Second, the development of competence in research skills and procedures, including associated research career skills. Third, the promotion of methodological reflexivity. The paper expands on the implications of each for the structure and content of research training programmes in design. The intention is not to develop a definitive programme for doctoral education; rather it is to set out a framework for the discussion of a diversity of practices.

This paper offers advice on how to organize doctoral programmes in design based on theory, generalization from the team organization project at the Norwegian School of Management (NSM) and the author's personal experience as a team leader.

A doctoral programme in design employs experts from conceptually separate disciplines and physically separated units. Teachers and students create the learning climate of creative and investigative processes. Knowledge managers convert from hierarchical organizations based on individual empowerment to teams. They motivate to accept team task responsibility. Members participate in team coordination and integration to create superior development and implement the production, distribution, and application of knowledge.

The author presents theories of conversion to teams. The paper discusses ideal leader and member values and behaviour during and after conversion. Experience from the conversion process at the Norwegian School of Management (NSM) illustrates effects of following and deviating from the ideal theory of team organization.

This article is intended as a reflection on the changing aims and intention of the Ph.D. programme in industrial design held at Politecnico di Milano. The Ph.D. programme started in 1990. A decade later, in 2000, the faculty faced the issue of partially maintaining the former curricula or radically changing the programme. Following the institutional changes derived from the restructuring of the national university system and stimulated by the critical and theoretical developments taking place within the international debate about the form and nature of the Ph.D. programmes in design, the faculty chose to encourage a radical reorientation in the intention and structure of the programme.

The article addresses the background context of the transition and the conceptual framework underpinning the activities of this Ph.D. programme.

Reflecting within a conceptual framework, an attempt is made to stress the relevance of the Ph.D. programmes in industrial design as strategic sites for research, where crucial efforts are concentrated to produce collective learning.

The article further proposes that Ph.D. programmes might best perform an incubator function, in terms of potential skills to capture key aspects of design research development and to manage the complexity of design issues deriving from the technology-society interaction.

This article does not intend to explore the results of the curriculum change (the revised programme being still in its pilot phase). Rather, it presents some elements of a progressive shift from searching in design to learning how to make research in design.

The initiation of a new Ph.D. programme in the twentyfirst-century university requires foresight, strategic planning and, often, a commitment to an interdisciplinary format which capitalizes on shared resources across related disciplines. This paper documents the challenges of initiating and starting an interdisciplinary doctoral programme in environmental planning and design. Differences exist between the classic US doctorate and the UK model. A case study example is presented, based on the author's experiences in launching an interdisciplinary doctorate at Arizona State University. This paper may be of value to multi-disciplinary, cross-disciplinary, or interdisciplinary colleges or schools that are developing, or considering developing, research-based interdisciplinary doctoral programmes in art and design.

Issues in Postgraduate Supervision, Teaching and Management A series of consultative guides produced by the Society for Research into Higher Education Postgraduate Issues Network:

1. Supervising International Research Students by Eunice Okorocha

2. Handling Common Dilemmas in Supervision by Pat Cryer

3. Developing Postgraduates' Key Skills edited by Pat Cryer

Issues in Postgraduate Supervision, Teaching and Management A series of consultative guides produced by the Society for Research into Higher Education Postgraduate Issues Network:

6. Setting up Peer Mentoring with Postgraduate Research Students by Emma Coe and Carole Keeling

Issues in Postgraduate Supervision, Teaching and Management A series of consultative guides produced by the Society for Research into Higher Education Postgraduate Issues Network:

7. Delivering Core Training for Postgraduate Research Students over the Web by Sue Clegg and Margaret Alexander

Studiospace: a virtual learning environment for teaching and learning in art and design January 2002 by Jenny Ure, Julian Malins and Lesley Cullan