Overview

About the programme

Complexity and Design at The Open University UK focuses on:

‘complexity as characteristic of design and innovation’ (e.g. studying complex phenomena and processes such as social innovation, teamwork, cognitive processes, or policy design)
‘complexity as a critical problem in design’ (e.g. studying and developing methods to manage and reduce complexity in design teams or processes)
‘complexity as a set of methods and tools for design practice and research’ (e.g. studying and applying complexity methods such as multi-agent systems or neural networks to generate design ideas, solve design problems or simulate design phenomena)
‘complexity as a theory of design and innovation’ (e.g. using complexity as a set of epistemological concepts that can help us approach reality and understand design processes, design capabilities, design products, design transitions).

Programme Structure

Research includes various topics such as:

application of complexity theory and hypernetwork theory in the design of sociotechnical systems, social design processes, innovation, design process
development of approaches, methods and computational tools to address complex issues that arise in design
simulation and modelling of very large sociotechnical systems (e.g. cities, transportation systems); simulation and modelling of design cognition, design teams and organisations
development of complexity theory of design and innovation in relation to wide areas of design including social design, policy design, collaborative design, sustainable design, community-led design, social innovation, cities, product design, engineering design and manufacturing
design of autonomous machine systems, including cooperating and swarm robots education and entertainment robotics
machine vision and intelligent geometry; pattern recognition; computer vision

Key information

Duration

Full-time
- 36 months
Part-time
- 72 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2027-10-01 00:00:00
- Apply before 2027-04-01 00:00:00
Starting 2028-02-01 00:00:00
- Apply before 2027-04-01 00:00:00

Language

English

TOEFL^® IBT

87

Schedule TOEFL®

Delivered

On Campus

Campus Location

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Disciplines

Design View 39 other PhDs in Design in United Kingdom

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Academic requirements

GPA

Upper Second Class

English requirements

TOEFL^® IBT

87

Schedule TOEFL®

Other requirements

General requirements

Entry requirements

Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent). If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English.

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are shown in and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.

International Applies to you

Applies to you

Non-residents

16420 GBP / year

≈ 16420 GBP / year
Domestic Applies to you

Applies to you

Citizens or residents

5006 GBP / year

≈ 5006 GBP / year

Living costs

Milton Keynes

United Kingdom

848 - 1345 GBP / month

The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.