Research subjects in Art and Design at Huddersfield
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Why study a Art and Design research degree at Huddersfield?
Undertaking a research degree in Art and Design at Huddersfield means joining a creative, collaborative research community. Our Art and Design research is situated within the Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture (CEADA), which connects researchers, practitioners, communities and organisations and supports research that responds to contemporary cultural challenges.
- As a postgraduate researcher, you will be encouraged to develop your work through making, experimentation and critical enquiry.
- You may have the opportunity alongside other practitioners, cultural organisations, creative businesses, community groups and public bodies, helping to ensure your research is grounded in real-world contexts.
- Our Art and Design research degrees are particularly suited to creative thinkers and practitioners who want to deepen their practice, explore new approaches to contemporary challenges and contribute new knowledge to creative and cultural life
What are the benefits of a research degree in Art and Design?
As an Art and Design research student at Huddersfield, you can benefit from:
- A collaborative research culture – become part of an active community of researchers, practitioners and academics that values co-creation, experimentation and public engagement.
- Practice-based research opportunities – develop research through making, experimentation and critical reflection, with creative practice recognised as an important way of generating new knowledge.
- Connections with the Creative and Cultural Industries – engage with cultural organisations, creative businesses, communities and public-sector partners through a research environment closely connected to the sector.
- Specialist creative facilities – access facilities supporting physical and digital making, including virtual reality and visualisation, 3D printing, laser cutting, rapid prototyping, textiles, print, photography and digital fabrication.
- Opportunities for interdisciplinary research – work across traditional subject boundaries and combine creative, digital, material, spatial and social approaches.
- Research grounded in real-world contexts – develop place-based, collaborative and socially engaged research that connects your work with people, communities and organisations.
- An internationally connected environment – engage with research spanning local and regional partnerships alongside international collaboration and cultural exchange.
- Opportunities to create research with public impact – contribute to exhibitions, publications, public programmes, creative outputs and collaborative projects as ways of generating and sharing new knowledge.
Research areas
Our postgraduate research spans the Creative and Cultural Industries, with opportunities to develop projects within and across areas including:
- Visual Arts
- Fashion and textiles
- Product and interior design
- Photography
- Film and broadcast studies
- Creative Health
- Creative Education
- Museums and Galleries Studies
- Curation
- Immersive and interactive media
- Writing and publishing within the Creative and Cultural Industries
- History, theory and contextual studies
- Cultural theory and policy
Interdisciplinary research is encouraged, and applicants can propose projects that move between established disciplines or combine creative practice with cultural, technological, social or place-based enquiry.
Research Disciplines in Art and Design
We also welcome proposals engaging with other aspects of the Creative and Cultural Industries where there is strong alignment with creative enquiry and CEADA's collaborative research ethos.
Explore how creative practice operates within wider cultural, economic and policy ecosystems, including creative labour, cultural value and production, creative careers, and the role of art and design in shaping contemporary cultural industries.
Develop practice-based research exploring new forms of creative production, including 3D scanning, AR and VR, immersive media, digital art practices and creative technologies. Research can combine experimentation with critical enquiry into the ways technology shapes creative practice, heritage, environments and cultural experiences.
Investigate the intersection of arts, culture, design and health. Research can explore wellbeing, prevention, participation and creative approaches to health and care, often working collaboratively with communities, cultural organisations and public services.
Rethink heritage through inclusive, creative and critical approaches. Potential research areas include architectural and digital heritage, contested histories, memory, conservation, reuse and reinterpretation.
Undertake practice research embedded within particular places and communities, exploring how art and design can contribute to local identity, regeneration, participation and cultural infrastructure.
Develop research in collaboration with external partners such as cultural organisations, public bodies, creative businesses and community organisations, connecting academic research with real-world creative and cultural contexts.
Explore creative practice through an ecological lens, considering systems of collaboration, production and lived experience across visual arts, design, architecture and related disciplines.
Research community and culture
The research environment in Art and Design at Huddersfield is collaborative, community-focused and creatively driven. We recognise the Creative and Cultural Industries as an interconnected ecosystem and support research that explores new ways of thinking and making across disciplines.
There are around 150 postgraduate research students across the School of Arts and Humanities, creating a diverse community spanning a wide range of research interests and disciplines. Within Art and Design, around 20 academic members of staff are involved in research supervision.
Our postgraduate researchers work alongside academics, fellow researchers, creative practitioners and external partners. This creates opportunities to exchange ideas across disciplines and develop research in dialogue with the people and organisations it has the potential to affect.
The research community is internationally connected, with activity spanning local and regional partnerships alongside transnational research and cultural exchange.
Research centres
Postgraduate research in Art and Design is based within the Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture (CEADA).
CEADA provides the intellectual, creative and collaborative environment through which research degrees are supported and developed.
The Centre considers the Creative and Cultural Industries as an interconnected ecosystem and explores the exchanges, collaborations and relationships that shape contemporary creative practice.
The Centre fosters collaboration between academics, postgraduate researchers, creative practitioners, communities and cultural organisations. Public programmes such as Cultures of _ demonstrate how postgraduate research can be embedded within live cultural contexts, contributing to knowledge exchange, creative innovation and the wider Creative and Cultural Industries.
Through CEADA, postgraduate researchers become part of an active research culture that values experimentation, collaboration and public engagement
Research projects
Post Office Cultures
Post Office Cultures is an AHRC-funded UK–India research project bringing together artists, designers, architects, researchers and communities.
Cultures of _
Cultures of _ is a long-running, place-based public realm research programme operating across the School of Arts and Humanities.
National Creative Health Hub
The National Creative Health Hub is a research and creative collaboration hub dedicated to advancing, embedding and sustaining creative health across West Yorkshire and beyond.
School of Arts and Humanities Imprint
The School of Arts and Humanities Imprint supports the dissemination of practice-based and public-facing research emerging from projects and collaborations.
It provides a platform for professionally designed, curated and experimental research outputs, recognising publishing, exhibition-making and design as important forms of research dissemination and knowledge production.
Specialist facilities
Barbara Hepworth Building
The £30 million Barbara Hepworth Building, home to Art, Design and Architecture at Huddersfield, provides an open, collaborative studio environment bringing together digital and physical making facilities under one roof.
Richard Steinitz Building
Researchers can also draw upon facilities elsewhere within the School of Arts and Humanities such as the Richard Steinitz Building.
Research strengths and impact
CEADA is home to research practitioners whose work is recognised for its quality, innovation and public value.
Our researchers lead and contribute to externally funded projects supported by organisations including the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Arts Council England, reflecting the strength of our practice-based and collaborative research culture.
Staff within the Centre have also received professional accolades, commissions and sector recognition for their research practice, creative outputs and civic impact.
Research at Huddersfield can extend beyond traditional academic outputs. Creative practice, exhibitions, publications, public programmes and collaborative projects provide opportunities to generate and share new knowledge, engage different audiences and contribute to cultural, social and economic life.
Industry links, partnerships and collaboration
Research in Art and Design is embedded within active networks of cultural, creative, community and public-sector partners.
Through initiatives including Cultures of _ and the National Creative Health Hub, researchers can engage with live projects, exhibitions, co-produced research and public engagement activity.
Our collaborative networks include organisations such as Kirklees Council Culture Team, Culture Collective, West Yorkshire Print Workshop, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Creative Wakefield, KLTV, Everybody Arts, Support 2 Recovery, TSL Kirklees, hoot Creative Arts, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, IOU Creation Centre, Huddersfield Literature Festival, Wilson's Republic, WOVEN in Kirklees and Thread Republic.
These relationships enable practice-based research to develop in dialogue with communities, practitioners and organisations, supporting socially engaged and place-based research that is directly connected to the Creative and Cultural Industries.
Useful links
Research fees and finance information
Find out more about tuition fees for research degrees, which cover your registration, tuition and supervision.
Research degrees homepage
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