About the course

Research students are welcomed as valued members of our thriving, research-intensive community in Brunel Design. Our doctoral researchers join the Made in Brunel team in annual final year project showcase and lead-up events. In addition, our yearly Design Doctoral Symposium as well as social events enable you to foster vibrant connections with the outside research community. The Brunel Graduate School also hosts a range of personal, professional and career development opportunities for you to network and to enhance your professional profile. Brunel’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT©) Competition and the Annual Brunel Doctoral Research Poster Conference are some of the wider activities being organised by the university.

Brunel Design has a well-established record of research excellence, with multidisciplinary, product related design research grounded on strong engineering design traditions. The department started offering PhD degrees in the 1980s and you can view the list of our current students here. Research in Design is organised according to following four thematic priorities:

• Human Centred Design through inclusive design, design for aging demographics, perception and enhancement.
• Sustainable Design through social responsibility, cleaner electronics and advanced materials and manufacture.
• Advanced Technologies through engineering methods, optimization techniques, computer-aided-design and other emerging technologies.
• Products, services and digital design through design innovation management, open design, design entrepreneurship, creativity, the digital economy, digital production and interfaces, and Information Architecture.