Research doctorate (PhD)
PhD in Architecture & Design Research
Thomas Jefferson University · College of Architecture, Design & Engineering · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Official award
- Doctor of PhilosophyPhD
- Pathway
- ResearchStated for United States
- Format
- Hybrid4 - 7 Years
- Tuition
- Not published
Hybrid program
About this program
Research doctorate in architecture and design research offered in three hybrid tracks (standard PhD, practice-based PhD, SMARTlab practice-based PhD) with a focus-area dissertation.
Intended audience: Candidates seeking doctoral research in architecture and design; a practice-based track serves established mid- or later-career practitioners.
- Subject
- Architecture
- Department
- College of Architecture, Design & Engineering
- Awarding body
- Not stated on the pages we checked
Qualification and professional pathway
Pathway is classified only from a statement on an official page. A degree title such as B.Arch, BA, BSc, M.Arch or MSc does not decide it, and no degree by itself grants permission to practise as an architect.
- Degree level
- Research doctorate (PhD)A research doctorate focused on architecture (PhD, Dr.-Ing. and equivalents).
- Pathway
- Research degreeA research degree. It does not qualify anyone to practise as an architect.
- Why we classify it this way
- The page describes a dissertation-based research doctorate in which students pursue original research on a chosen focus area.“In this program you will choose a focus area and conduct original research on timely, discipline-specific topics.”Source
- Previous architecture degree required
- Not published
- Applicants without an architecture degree
- Not published
Accreditation, validation and recognition
Recorded for this program and campus, with the authority’s role. Institutional recognition, degree-awarding authority, program accreditation, professional validation and eligibility toward registration are different things; none of them is full professional registration.
No accreditation, validation or registration-pathway record for this program has been verified yet. That does not mean none exists; check the national authority and the institution.
Study structure
- Delivery
- HybridPart online and part in person (studios, residencies, assessments or placements). A hybrid degree is never described as fully online.
- Online instruction
- Blended with required campus elements
- Campus studio required
- Not published
- Campus residencies or workshops
- SMARTlab track: 9 credits of coursework at University College Dublin with in-person participation three times during the first or second year; other tracks not stated.
- Live attendance
- Live attendance not published
- International enrolment
- Not published
- Study mode
- Full-time
- Duration
- 4 - 7 Years
- Credits
- 48 creditsCredit systems differ between countries and institutions.
- Thesis or dissertation
- Individualized dissertation phase making a contribution to a specific focus area
- Intakes
- Not published
- Campus
- East Falls campus, Philadelphia
Teaching language
- Taught in
- Not stated on the pages we checked
- English
- English teaching not verifiedAn English-language website does not mean a program is taught in English.
Admissions
- Portfolio
- Not published
- Interview
- Not published
- Official instructions
- Application instructions
Research degree details
- Department
- College of Architecture, Design & Engineering
- Study modes
- Three online/hybrid tracks: PhD, Practice-Based PhD, SMARTlab Practice-Based PhD
Fees and costs
Original currency is authoritative. Each price keeps its basis (per year, per credit, whole program), academic year and student category, and is never converted. Annual tuition and whole-program tuition are different figures.
The institution does not publish tuition for this program on the pages we checked. Ask for current fees, what they include and whether studio, materials, printing, software, equipment and field-trip costs are extra.
Sources and verification
Not published on the program’s source pages: tuition, intakes, portfolio requirement, whether a previous architecture degree is required, accreditation or validation record.
Sources and how this was checked
Last checked 19 October 2026. Each fact carries a verbatim quote that is re-checked against the live page. Research methodology.
Sources (checked 19 October 2026)