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Architecture and the Built Environment (MA by Research)

2025-26 (also available for 2024-25)

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This course is eligible for Master's loan funding. Find out more.

Start date

1 October 2025

12 January 2026

20 April 2026

Duration

The maximum duration for an MA by Research is 1 year (12 months) full-time or 2 years (24 months) part-time with an optional submission pending (writing-up) period of 4 months.

Sometimes it may be possible to mix periods of both full-time and part-time study.

If studying on a part-time basis, you must establish close links with the University and spend normally not less than an average of 10 working days per year in the university, excluding participation in activities associated with enrolment, re-registration and progression monitoring. You are also expected to dedicate 17.5 hours per week to the research.

Application deadlines

For September 2025

13 June 2025 for International and Scholarship Students

04 July 2025 for Home Students

For October 2025

13 June 2025 for International and Scholarship Students

04 July 2025 for Home Students

For January 2026

17 October 2025 for International and Scholarship Students

14 November 2025 for Home Students

For April 2026

23 January 2026 for International and Scholarship Students

20 February 2026 for Home Students

About the research degree

A Master of Arts (MA) by Research allows you to undertake a one-year (full-time) or two-year (part-time) research degree. It contains little or no formal taught component. This type of study gives you the chance to explore a research topic over a shorter time than a more in-depth doctoral programme.

Our research degrees are available as full-time, part-time and some are offered distance learning.

Research Master's students choose a specific project to work on and have a greater degree of independence in their work than is the case with a taught Master’s course.

You’ll be expected to work to an approved programme of work which you will develop in conjunction with your supervisor within the first few months of starting your studies. Whilst undertaking the research project you will also develop your research skills by taking part in training courses and events.

You will be appointed a main supervisor who will normally be part of a supervisory team, comprising up to three members to advise and support you on your project.

At the end of the project you’ll write up your findings in the form of a short thesis of around 25,000 words, which will then be examined. We also accept applications for projects which are practice-orientated, and which include portfolio submissions. These include practice submissions with written components. You will receive guidance from your supervisory team as to the percentage equivalents between the practice and written elements of your research.

On successful completion, you will be awarded your degree and if you have enjoyed this taste of research, you may then decide to apply for the full research doctoral degree (PhD).

Entry requirements

The normal entry requirements for enrolment on a MA by Research is a second honours degree (2:2 or above) from a UK university or a qualification of an equivalent standard, in a discipline appropriate to that of the proposed programme to be followed.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.5 overall with no element lower than 6.0, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

What can I research?

You can apply by:

1) Proposing your own research topic. Explore the skills of our supervisors and/or Research Centres to see if we have the expertise to support your topic.

2) Applying for one of the research topics listed below or for a specific research area within the School.

Places are always subject to eligibility, a review of your proposal and supervisory capacity.

There are several research topics available for this degree. The examples provided are include an outline of the topics, the supervisor, funding information and eligibility criteria. It may be that you are interested in pursuing an aspect of one of these projects, so do please consider approaching the named academic to discuss your ideas in further detail.

You may also want to design a project of your own. You can find a full list of broad research areas in Architecture and the Built Environment on our Postgraduate Study in Art, Design and Architecture page.

If you would like further guidance about undertaking postgraduate research or to seek advice about writing a project proposal as part of your application, do please make contact with our postgraduate administration team for further information: gs.pgradmissions@hud.ac.uk.

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Researcher Environment

Our postgraduate researchers contribute to our thriving research culture at Huddersfield, in return we provide an experience that enhances your potential and inspires you to think big and become a globally competitive researcher.

Join our community of like-minded people who are passionate for research and gain access to world-leading facilities, advanced research skills training, and expert careers advice.

Reduced inequalities

We recently ranked 6 out of 796 global institutions for reduced inequalities in the Times Higher Impact ratings – this recognises our research on social inequalities, policies on discrimination and commitment to recruit staff and students from underrepresented groups (THE Impact Rankings 2022).

World-leading

We are in the top 50 UK universities for research power, and nearly two thirds of our research environment is classified as world leading and internationally excellent (REF2021).

As a researcher, you’ll gain access to our Researcher Skills Development Programme through the Graduate School, to help broaden your knowledge and access tools and skills to improve your employability. The programme is mapped against Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework (RDF), you’ll benefit from Vitae’s career support as well as our own programme. We also have a team dedicated to improving the academic English needed for research by our international PGRs. Our training is delivered in a variety of ways to take advantage of online platforms as well as face-to-face workshops and courses. You can access a range of bespoke training opportunities and in-person events that are tailored to each stage of your journey, including: * sessions on PhD thesis writing, publications and journals, post-doctoral opportunities, poster and conference presentations, networking, and international travel opportunities * opportunity to work and study abroad via the Turing Scheme through The Graduate School * externally accredited training programme with Advance HE (HEA) and CMI * online research training support accessed through a dedicated researcher module in Brightspace, the University’s Virtual Learning Environment * We also hold a series of PGR focussed events such as 3 Minute Thesis * PGR led research conference * informal events throughout the year.

Find out more about our research staff and centres: Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture (CEADA) Centre for Urban Design, Architecture and Sustainability (CUDAS) Innovative Design Centre (IDL)

Important information

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

When you are offered a place on a research degree, your offer will include confirmation of your supervisory team, and the topic you will be researching and will be governed by our terms & Conditions, student handbook and relevant policies. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Whilst the University will use reasonable efforts to ensure your supervisory team remains the same, sometimes it may be necessary to make changes to your team for reasons outside the University’s control, for example if your supervisor leaves the University, or suffers from long term illness. Where this is the case, we will discuss these difficulties with you and seek to either put in place a new supervisory team, or help you to transfer to another research facility, in accordance with our Student Protection Plan.

Changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, for example the University being unable to access it’s buildings due to fire, flood or pandemic, or the University no longer being able to provide specialist equipment. Where this is the case, we will discuss these issues with you and agree any necessary changes.

Your research project is likely to evolve as you work on it and these minor changes are a natural and expected part of your study. However, we may need to make more significant changes to your topic of research during the course of your studies, either because your area of interest has changed, or because we can no longer support your research for reasons outside the University’s control. If this is the case, we will discuss any changes in topic with you and agree these in writing. If you are an international student, changing topics may affect your visa or ATAS clearance and if this is the case we will discuss this with you before any changes are made.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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