Practice-Based Design

Overview

The Practice-Based Design course at Heriot-Watt University by practice is a common mode of research in the area of art and design and has grown enormously over the past decade. This involves the exploration of a subject of enquiry through practical work accompanied by a related text. The relative weight of these elements varies for each project. The word 'related' may be interpreted in various ways, but a clear structural and Intellectual link must be established between the two aspects of the project.

Additional information

The practice-based component of the MPhil / PhD is expected to conform to the stipulations attached to all forms of research. The Arts and Humanities Research Council, a major funder of postgraduate research students, defines a research project as meeting the following requirements:

• It must define a series of research questions that will be addressed, or problems that will be explored in the course of the research. It must also define its objectives in terms of answering these questions or reporting on the results of the research project.
• It must specify a research context for the questions to be addressed or problems to be explored, showing what particular contribution the research will make to the advancement of knowledge and understanding in the area concerned. It must specify why it is important that these particular questions should be answered or problems explored; what other research is being or has been conducted in this area; and what particular contribution this project will make to the advancement of creativity, insights, knowledge and understanding in this area.
• It must specify the research methods for addressing and answering the research questions or problems. It should also explain the rationale for the chosen methods and why they provide the most appropriate means by which to answer the research questions.