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Our PhD successes in recent years include students who have gained positions with the V&A Dundee, employment in industry, lecturing posts, post-doctorate positions, government, the NHS, and many have continued to build successful careers in art and design.

PhD students have received major accolades, including the Scottish National Portrait Award, the Scottish Government Awards Climate Change Fund, and the AHRC Research in Film Awards.

We welcome many types of research, both theoretical and practice-based, reflected in applicants’ distinctive proposals.

Current students

Allan Davies

face in a blue striped garment which covers everything except the eyes

'Imaging the Imageless : addressing the paradox and presence of the simultaneously physical and metaphysical through visual interpretation and representation of religious signification in the Christian Holy image'.

Alison Price

a black and white photograph of reeds

The Ontology of the Photographic Moment - An Exploration of the Implications of Speculative Realism for Photographic Practice

Learn more about Alison's research

Andrea McSwan

red abstract figure on blue background

Light for the Blind: Exploring 3D Animation and Immersive Digital Film, to Represent the Perceptual-Experiences of the Blind

Learn more about Andrea's research

Annie Runkel

Woman standing in the clouds with a blue sky

The Boredom Project: Boredom, Art & Attention

Learn more about Annie's research

Cat Dunn

Spaces of Diaspora; Identity Otherness and Belonging in contemporary art of black women artists working in Britain

Learn more about Cat's research

Cate Newton

A sculpture of white material flowing from a solid object sits on top of a glass table.

Contemporary material practice and ideas of time in the work of Michel Serres

Learn more about Cate's research

Dan Drage

wood with hole in the centre

Sacred Space, Place, Time: Extra-material realities in and through the material

Learn more about Dan's research

Désirée Coral Guerra

4 circles, the frist has a plant in it, the second is a close up of thread, the third is a piece of paper and the forth is a plant

Colour as Material: Understanding the Colonial Histories, Environmental Entanglements and the Human Relationships Interconnected within its Materiality.

Learn more about Désirée's research

Ewan Allinson

stone monument

Hefted to Hill: Valuing the aesthetic & ontological expertise of marginal farming communities

Learn more about Ewan's research

Federica Bruni

A woman resting her head on her hand

A Sense of Surreal and Magic in the Work of Contemporary Italian Female Artists

Learn more about Federica's research

Hamer Dodds

The sublime and the unimaginably unpresentable.

Learn more about Hamer's research

Harry Ross

Harry Ross sitting below a monument

I, Highland Warrior – Identity Nuances

Learn more about Harry's research

Helen Roger

A New Culture of Learning, University of the Highlands and Islands

Learn more about Helen's research

Karen-Ann Dicken

black and white vase

Integrating 3D printing and hand fabrication in contemporary craft practice

Learn more about Karen's research

Katie Hart Potapoff

A image of Katie Hart Potapoff's work

With an Attentiveness Towards Intimacy and Texture: Exploring a Sense of Land and Place Through Creative Practices

Learn more about Katie's research

Lauren Baker

Making a Difference – The longer-term impact of the Craft Scotland programme on the development of maker careers and the Scottish creative economy

Learn more about Lauren's research

Louise Ritchie

metallic sheet

Hybrid States: A Practice-Led Enquiry Exploring The ‘Artificial’ Union Of Materials And Their Properties Within Contemporary Art Forms

Find out more about Louise's research

Lucy Robertson

textiles in different colours

Sonic Textiles for Wellbeing

Find out more about Lucy's research

Lucy Smith

silver pins on black background

Making the Conceptual Tangible: The Role of Art in the Understanding of Mathematics and Physics

Find out more about Lucy's research

Margaret Kerr

Portrait photo of Margaret Kerr

Recovering what has been left behind: an interdisciplinary exploration of interconnected ways of knowing

Learn more about Margaret's research

Merrily Hall

An Investigation of Creative Practice as a Shield for Innate Sensitivity

Learn more about Merrily's research

Miriam Mallalieu

wall with images on

What does a museum think it is? Research and practice at the intersection of knowledge, interpretation and organisation.

Learn more about Miriam's research

Nicholas Ilic 

an orange planet

On Representation in Medical Illustration

Learn more about Nicholas's research

Sascia Pellegrini

A Phenomenology of Time through Sense Amplification

Learn more about Sascia's research

Sang Hun Yu

room in rainbow colours

Capturing, communicating and collaborating with Virtual Reality in forensic science

Learn more about Sang Hun's research

Wendy Bell

an object that looks like it is floating

Ambient Atmosphere from and Artists Perspective, a study on spaces that enhance a state of being in the world.

Learn more about Wendy's research

Xiang Kevin Li

A Comparative Study on the Influence of Cultural Attitudes of Chinese and British Art & Design Higher Education Learners on the Learning Process

Learn more about Xiang Kevin's research

Yuxin Li

Ambient Atmosphere from and Artists Perspective, a study on spaces that enhance a state of being in the world

Learn more about Yuxin's research