Doctor of Design
Develop a work-integrated, design-based research project to elevate your career, while remaining embedded in practice.
A post-professional program for mid-career design practitioners
The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary offers Canada's first design-based doctoral degree.
The Doctor of Design (DDes) is a unique three-year degree that allows mid-career and established architects, planners, and landscape architects to leverage their expertise in a specific research area into innovative solutions with real-world impact while continuing to work in their professional practice. Through this research framework, students identify and develop innovations that make ideas 'project-ready' for integration into practice.
The program challenges design professionals to rethink the ways that professional practices and the buildings, communities, and landscapes they produce, are designed, built and operated. Students formulate a design-based research question from their existing practice-based knowledge and professional experience. They develop their research through an online studio-based pedagogy with a cohort of fellow practitioner-students, working closely with assigned supervisors, and participate in biannual dedicated design research symposia to test their work with recognized external experts and thought leaders.
You're Invited
Doctor of Design: Program Overview Information Session (Virtual)
November 6, 2024 / 8:00 - 9:00 AM MT
Join Dean John Brown and Professor Barry Wylant for a program overview, discussion about the design-based curriculum, time commitment, eligibility criteria, and samples of current student projects. We will also have time for questions at the end of the session.
Ready to apply?
Next application deadline is May 31, 2025.
Learn more about admission requirements here. We encourage applicants to schedule a consultation with John Brown, PhD, SAPL dean, before applying to discuss their research ideas.
Please contact the Recruitment + Admissions Team if you have any questions about the program or admissions process - we're here to help you!