The Kent School of Architecture and Planning (KSAP) offers full-time and part-time research programmes, leading to a PhD. The School promotes innovative and interdisciplinary research, which focuses on four main areas:
A PhD, which typically last between 3 to 4 year full-time, and 5 to 6 years part-time, offers candidates the space to conduct original research within their area of interest. It also offers practicing architects, engineers or planners to undertake research relating to their work in industry practice.
A particular feature of PhD programme at KSAP is the wide spectrum of investigation and the possibility of undertaking research that is bridging the gap between academia and the world of industry, government or civil society. PhDs are not only essential for those pursuing a career in academia, but also offers the practitioners to develop areas of expertise, or to acquired the knowledge and skills required to facilitate innovation within the context of practice.
PhD students are part of the KSAP Graduate School and will take part in weekly seminars for research students, and in an annual research symposium. Each PhD student has two supervisors, and the staff profiles on the KSAP website give summaries of the range of expertise and research interest held within the school. They are active researchers and many are leading scholars in their field. They also have experience of collaborating with experts in other schools within and outside the University of Kent in supervising inter-disciplinary research, as well as managing projects that involve partnerships with industry or government, with many PhD students being linked with live projects.
What our students say: 'Doing a PhD as a cotutelle between Kent and Lille architectural labs has been a challenging but also intellectually rewarding experience. The main challenge for me is trying to understand what the end product looks like as every thesis and the training you undertake for it is different. But my research is about standards and I now fully understand how complicated they can be in all walks of life. Even more than a century ago, buildings were designed individually and depended on personal tastes. How on earth could society normalise them? The same answer applies to doing my PhD at Kent. We are diverse specialist researchers with many, sometimes conflicting, interests. But collectively we find solutions to complex problems. That's our other big speciality!' -Nick von Behr
Learn more about Architecture (Canterbury), MArch - at University of Kent
Visit course webpageContact University of Kent to find course entry requirements.
International Scholarships
The University of Kent has a long-standing relationship with Chevening, which has successfully placed scholars from all over the world at the university for many years. Kent is proud to be a Chevening partner, and offers three partner scholarships, in addition to the standard Chevening Scholarships. The University of Kent welcomes applications from all Chevening-eligible countries for any one-year taught master’s degree starting in September 2024, based at our UK campuses. Find out how to apply.
For international students starting a postgraduate taught course in September 2024 at one of our UK campuses, we have several scholarships available. Check if you are eligible to apply and get more information on our scholarship's webpages.
Here are Scholarships that might be of particular interest:
Find out what students say about University of Kent
Inspirational teaching - Patrique Tanque from Brazil is studying for a BSc in Forensic Chemistry.
“Choosing Kent was an easy decision. The forensic programmes are ranked among the best in the UK and have a high graduate employment rate.
“The teachers bring fresh ideas and up-to-date materials from real cases to enrich the lectures. They are keen to help out and always make sure we are getting plenty of support.
“I was very fortunate to be awarded an International Scholarship, which meant I could dedicate myself to my studies.”
Academic excellence - Stephanie Bourgeois from France is studying for a BSc in Biochemistry.
“I like the approach to teaching here; academics are happy to answer questions and to interact with students. I find the lectures very motivational, they pique your curiosity and for me the exciting bit is going to the library and pursuing the things you are interested in.
“The lecturers at Kent are excellent. You get to know them well and, as you move through the course, they are able to guide you towards projects, ideas or career paths that they think you will like.”
Specialist research - Sally Gao from China is studying for a PhD in Electronic Engineering.
“I have been very lucky with my supervisor, Professor Yong Yan, who is a world-class expert and the first IEEE Fellow in the UK in instrumentation and measurement.
“Professor Yong Yan has helped me to become a better researcher. I am inspired by his novel ideas and constructive suggestions. Under his supervision, my confidence has grown through such milestones as my first set of experiments, writing my first research paper and attending my first conference.”
There are 507 other courses listed from University of Kent. A selection of these are displayed below:
Accounting and Finance and Economics with a Year in Industry BSc (Hons)
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