PhD – National College of Art and Design

Institution providing the doctoral degree

National College of Art and Design

Location

Dublin | Ireland

Name of PHD

PhD

Research Clusters

Fine Arts – Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking, Drawing, Decorative Art, Scenographic Art
Multimedia Arts, Audio-visual Techniques and Media Production
Design – Graphic Design; Industrial Design; Fashion Design; Textile Design…
History and Theory of Art + Cultural Heritage
Art Curating
Other fields

Duration

Full Time: PhD students will complete their work and present it for examination in a period of no less than nine trimesters and no more than twelve trimesters from the start of their registration.
Part Time: PhD students will complete their work and present it for examination in a period of no less than fifteen trimesters and no more than eighteen trimesters from the start of their registration.

Public / Private institution

Public University

Financial terms of the PHD position

PhD funded by the university but without a stipend
Self-funded PhD – you must provide both tuition and your own maintenance
PhD Fully or partially externally funded, with a stipend, through private or public foundations, scholarships, grants, one or more companies, or public institutions that you have to find on your own

It is important to know that many universities offer different funding options and public and private grants available to students who match the application criteria. Before applying, it is a good idea to check the institutions’ websites and inquire about the options available to you.

Many universities require applicants to pay fees such as matriculation or dissertation fees, even if they offer a fully funded programme with or without a stipend.

Fees:
https://www.ncad.ie/files/download/PG_Fee_Schedule_2024_25_Final_Draft_20240312.pdf?utm_

Funding resources:
https://www.ncad.ie/postgraduate/scholarships-and-funding-opportunities/?college=34&utm_

Final output

Research by practice and Research by thesis are two different ways of attending a PhD at NCAD
‘By practice’ describes a mode of research that is compatible with the kinds of creative practices undertaken at NCAD. Typically, an artist, designer, maker, curator, educator or a ‘practitioner’ of another kind will undertake to complete a body of work in their field of practice. This work will constitute research in the sense that it will be an investigation of a defined field or question identified at the outset of the studentship and, as such, aims to make ‘an original and scholarly contribution to knowledge.’ While this work will often have deep footings in the research student’s existing field of practice and many ‘by practice’ researchers will have already established significant careers, ‘by practice’ research is notsimply a restatement of their professional interests and contributions to date. It will be a new endeavour. As such, a clear research proposal must be made at the outset of study; an agreed number of interdependent research tasks will be undertaken during the studentship; and a clearly defined and resolved body of work be delivered for assessment at the end.

‘By practice’ students will also submit an accompanying text which will be assessed alongside the other evidence of practice submitted for the award. The nature of this text will be negotiated with the supervisors. That said, it should not take the form of a ‘simple’ narrative report outlining the development of the project alone, and needs to achieve the standards of originality, creativity, contextual or disciplinary understanding and criticality required of the award.

‘By thesis’ students should also consider their work to be ‘a practice’. This means critical self-awareness of research methods and writing practice. As an institution seeking to stimulate and support creativity, we welcome creative experiments in these, and other, aspects of research. It may also be the case that ‘by thesis’ students will stage events and conduct ‘experiments’ that will generate ‘findings’ which will play a key part in the thesis submitted for assessment.

For more specific info about thesis and assestment, you can read this pdf: https://www.ncad.ie/files/pg_files/Handbook_for_PhD_and_MLitt_Students.pdf?utm_

How to apply

First steps to be admitted to a PhD are described here: https://www.ncad.ie/research-and-innovation/research-reach-out/

Entry requirements

Most students who wish to undertake doctoral research at NCAD will have the commence their registration as MRes students and then have the opportunity to apply to transfer to the PhD register after a year of study at the MRes level. The details of the transfer process are outlined in the Handbook for MRes students. Direct entry to the PhD programme is possible, particularly for those students who have already undertaken and successfully completed an MRes elsewhere.

You can find more info at the following pdf: https://www.ncad.ie/files/pg_files/Handbook_for_PhD_and_MLitt_Students.pdf?utm_