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This part-time taught research course gives you the opportunity to carry out in-depth original research into design practice while developing the skills to become an independent, critical thinker and effective design researcher.

The taught modules provide a framework of transferable skills that apply to all researchers as well as those relevant to your chosen pathway subject of Arts, Design, English Literature, History, Social Science, or Media.

You will gain an understanding of research methods while developing expert professional skills in communication, self-management, and project planning. You will devise and deliver a significant research based project in the form of a dissertation or practical arts based project, to demonstrate your interests and ability to think independently.

Whether you go on to further PhD study, or work as a researcher for a range of public services and professions, this course gives you the research and professional skills for a successful career. 

Find out more about studying a MRes at Northumbria University here.

Course Information

Level of Study
Postgraduate

Mode of Study
2 years part-time
1 other options available

Department
Northumbria School of Design

Location
City Campus, Northumbria University

City
Newcastle

Fee Information

Module Information

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Entry Requirements Modules Overview Fees, Funding  and Scholarships How to Apply Study Options

Entry Requirements 2022/23

Standard Entry

Applicants should normally have:

A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree in a relevant subject. Applicants with appropriate work experience and/or a relevant professional qualification will be considered. 

Applicants are required to submit a statement of their proposed area of study in order to identify a suitable supervisor.

International qualifications:

If you have studied a non-UK qualification, you can see how your qualifications compare to the standard entry criteria, by selecting the country that you received the qualification in, from our country pages. Visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/yourcountry

English language requirements:

International applicants are required to have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 with 6 in each component (or approved equivalent*).

*The university accepts a large number of UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS.  You can find details of acceptable tests and the required grades you will need in our English Language section. Visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/englishqualifications

For further admissions guidance and requirements, please visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/admissionsguidance Please review this information before submitting your application.

Fees and Funding 2022/23 Entry

Full UK Fee: £7,950

Full EU Fee: £16,500

Full International Fee: £16,500



Scholarships and Discounts

Click here for UK, EU and International scholarship, fees, and funding information.


ADDITIONAL COSTS

All costs are recommended, not mandatory.Throughout your programme of study, students are expected to be able to access a computer / laptop for study on this course. Access to computers are through the Masters Study suite in the Library and potentially within the School of Design. If students want to work remotely / at home, then it is expected that they will have their own personal laptops and relevant software and it is also a recommendation that you purchase a portable hard drive(s) to back up your digital work (approx. £ 50) as well as a personal SD card for digital cameras (approx. £10) if photographic equipment is needed for your research. Further costs may be incured by students depending on the nature of their research, for example, practice-based research, and these costs will be covered by the student. Access to specialist equipment on campus will be negotiated with the Programme Leader.

If you’d like to receive the latest updates from Northumbria about our courses, events, finance & funding then enter your details below.

* At Northumbria we are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. To view the University’s Privacy Notice please click here

How to Apply

Please use the Apply Now button at the top of this page to submit your application.

Certain applications may need to be submitted via an external application system, such as UCAS, Lawcabs or DfE Apply.

The Apply Now button will redirect you to the relevant website if this is the case.

You can find further application advice, such as what to include in your application and what happens after you apply, on our Admissions Hub Admissions | Northumbria University



Modules Overview 2022/23

Modules

Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.

Year one Year two

Year one

EF0126 -

Academic Language Skills in FADSS Level 7 (Core – for International and EU students only,0 Credits)

The purpose of this module is to develop the participant’s ability in study skills and English language skills for academic purposes.

The module is designed to develop the participants as independent learners. The module is supported by a teaching and learning plan which outlines the formal sessions, together with the tutor-directed study and independent reading. An interactive approach to seminars will draw upon the directed learning undertaken and participants’ own experience of study skills. Directed learning will centre upon a range of activities including pre-reading, preparation for interactive activities and use of the discussion board on the e-learning platform.
Independent learning will focus upon the participants identifying those skills which they need to develop and understand through a range of learning activities that might include extended reading, and reflection. The sessions will attempt to follow the principles set out by the CEM model (Sloan and Porter, 2008)

More information

HI7011 -

Research Development (Core,30 Credits)

In this module you will develop an aspect of your research project and present it in a professional manner to an audience of academics and students. You will work with classmates to organize, advertise, and present a one-day symposium of research papers that express your scholarly projects. The module aims to advance your professional skills and professional abilities by practice. You will learn how to effectively present a piece of research, develop event planning skills, gain practical project management experience, all of which are necessary to sustain this type of work.

More information

VA7029 -

Research Methods (Core,30 Credits)

In this module you will be equipped with a range of core skills essential to research in the arts, as well as specific methodologies appropriate to your specialist field of enquiry (as historian, critic or theoretician). There are four key elements to the module: identifying the key issues and methodologies appropriate to your subject; identifying and retrieving appropriate data and sources; understanding ways to evaluate and employ these sources, and the implications of doing so; and developing and a practicable appreciation of how theory, research methods and practice mutually inform the creation of knowledge in the arts.
On completing the module you will have an enhanced awareness of how the choice of methodologies can fundamentally influence the direction of your research, and be able to: Understand and employ a range of advanced research skills, methods and critical approaches necessary to conduct a major academic research project in the arts; exhibit enhanced skills in the identification and evaluation of research sources relevant to your specific project and articulate a strategy for retrieving and utilising those sources; understand the characteristics of research questions, and frame your specific research questions within a feasible and sustainable topic of enquiry, appropriate to available research materials; develop original responses to the historical and conceptual questions posed by the research topic and to be able to situate your research within the larger context of research in the arts; communicate complex arguments and methods in written, visual and verbal form in a clear and credible way.

More information

Year two

EF0126 -

Academic Language Skills in FADSS Level 7 (Core – for International and EU students only,0 Credits)

The purpose of this module is to develop the participant’s ability in study skills and English language skills for academic purposes.

The module is designed to develop the participants as independent learners. The module is supported by a teaching and learning plan which outlines the formal sessions, together with the tutor-directed study and independent reading. An interactive approach to seminars will draw upon the directed learning undertaken and participants’ own experience of study skills. Directed learning will centre upon a range of activities including pre-reading, preparation for interactive activities and use of the discussion board on the e-learning platform.
Independent learning will focus upon the participants identifying those skills which they need to develop and understand through a range of learning activities that might include extended reading, and reflection. The sessions will attempt to follow the principles set out by the CEM model (Sloan and Porter, 2008)

More information

EL7028 -

MRes Dissertation (Core,90 Credits)

In this module you will identify a research question and produce a 20,000 word dissertation, or 10,000 word Dissertation with major project for designated programme pathways, which represents the culmination of your postgraduate studies on the MRes programme. It will enable you to apply the skills you have acquired in other modules and yield a discrete body of primary sources related to an identifiable area of enquiry. As an exercise in research it is intended to develop further your research skills and your ability to work independently. Dissertation topics will be supervised by an appropriate tutor, who will guide you through the various stages of formulating, researching and writing this substantial piece of work. You will operate at a higher level of independent learning and research than in the taught modules, albeit with the support of a supervisor who has specialist knowledge in your chosen area of interest.

More information

VA7030 -

Critical Contexts (Core,30 Credits)

This module will address the intellectual contexts for research in the visual arts, media and design. You will examine the wider conceptual and theoretical frameworks that inform and impact upon your specific research project. In doing so you will assess how these frameworks reflect and inform a variety of historical, visual, performative and literary texts and practices (in the fields of fine art, film and television, performance, cultural and media studies, and history of art and contemporary design and design history), and are interrelated with broader cultural, social and political developments.
You will analyse how writers, critics, historians and practitioners think about knowledge and how they pursue their disciplines from epistemological and theoretical perspectives. In this way you will develop a structured overview of the ways in which key critical writing has changed over time, and how theory and conceptual thinking has influenced those working within disciplinary and cross-disciplinary fields.
On completion of the module, you will have developed original and critical responses to key theoretical questions raised via the analysis of sources, ideas, and other bodies of work, and be able to:
Locate your research within wider relevant disciplinary debates; demonstrate an enhanced knowledge of selected theories, concepts and critical literatures, and how to employ them in regard to your own research; interrogate and problematise theories and concepts; demonstrate how curiosity and dynamic debate underpin academic enquiry; communicate complex ideas, and their relevance to your research project, in open discussion and formal written, visual and verbal forms in a clear and credible way.

More information

Modules Overview 2023/24

Modules

Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.

Year one Year two

Year one

EF0126 -

Academic Language Skills in FADSS Level 7 (Core – for International and EU students only,0 Credits)

The purpose of this module is to develop the participant’s ability in study skills and English language skills for academic purposes.

The module is designed to develop the participants as independent learners. The module is supported by a teaching and learning plan which outlines the formal sessions, together with the tutor-directed study and independent reading. An interactive approach to seminars will draw upon the directed learning undertaken and participants’ own experience of study skills. Directed learning will centre upon a range of activities including pre-reading, preparation for interactive activities and use of the discussion board on the e-learning platform.
Independent learning will focus upon the participants identifying those skills which they need to develop and understand through a range of learning activities that might include extended reading, and reflection. The sessions will attempt to follow the principles set out by the CEM model (Sloan and Porter, 2008)

More information

HI7011 -

Research Development (Core,30 Credits)

In this module you will develop an aspect of your research project and present it in a professional manner to an audience of academics and students. You will work with classmates to organize, advertise, and present a one-day symposium of research papers that express your scholarly projects. The module aims to advance your professional skills and professional abilities by practice. You will learn how to effectively present a piece of research, develop event planning skills, gain practical project management experience, all of which are necessary to sustain this type of work.

More information

VA7029 -

Research Methods (Core,30 Credits)

In this module you will be equipped with a range of core skills essential to research in the arts, as well as specific methodologies appropriate to your specialist field of enquiry (as historian, critic or theoretician). There are four key elements to the module: identifying the key issues and methodologies appropriate to your subject; identifying and retrieving appropriate data and sources; understanding ways to evaluate and employ these sources, and the implications of doing so; and developing and a practicable appreciation of how theory, research methods and practice mutually inform the creation of knowledge in the arts.
On completing the module you will have an enhanced awareness of how the choice of methodologies can fundamentally influence the direction of your research, and be able to: Understand and employ a range of advanced research skills, methods and critical approaches necessary to conduct a major academic research project in the arts; exhibit enhanced skills in the identification and evaluation of research sources relevant to your specific project and articulate a strategy for retrieving and utilising those sources; understand the characteristics of research questions, and frame your specific research questions within a feasible and sustainable topic of enquiry, appropriate to available research materials; develop original responses to the historical and conceptual questions posed by the research topic and to be able to situate your research within the larger context of research in the arts; communicate complex arguments and methods in written, visual and verbal form in a clear and credible way.

More information

Year two

EF0126 -

Academic Language Skills in FADSS Level 7 (Core – for International and EU students only,0 Credits)

The purpose of this module is to develop the participant’s ability in study skills and English language skills for academic purposes.

The module is designed to develop the participants as independent learners. The module is supported by a teaching and learning plan which outlines the formal sessions, together with the tutor-directed study and independent reading. An interactive approach to seminars will draw upon the directed learning undertaken and participants’ own experience of study skills. Directed learning will centre upon a range of activities including pre-reading, preparation for interactive activities and use of the discussion board on the e-learning platform.
Independent learning will focus upon the participants identifying those skills which they need to develop and understand through a range of learning activities that might include extended reading, and reflection. The sessions will attempt to follow the principles set out by the CEM model (Sloan and Porter, 2008)

More information

EL7028 -

MRes Dissertation (Core,90 Credits)

In this module you will identify a research question and produce a 20,000 word dissertation, or 10,000 word Dissertation with major project for designated programme pathways, which represents the culmination of your postgraduate studies on the MRes programme. It will enable you to apply the skills you have acquired in other modules and yield a discrete body of primary sources related to an identifiable area of enquiry. As an exercise in research it is intended to develop further your research skills and your ability to work independently. Dissertation topics will be supervised by an appropriate tutor, who will guide you through the various stages of formulating, researching and writing this substantial piece of work. You will operate at a higher level of independent learning and research than in the taught modules, albeit with the support of a supervisor who has specialist knowledge in your chosen area of interest.

More information

VA7030 -

Critical Contexts (Core,30 Credits)

This module will address the intellectual contexts for research in the visual arts, media and design. You will examine the wider conceptual and theoretical frameworks that inform and impact upon your specific research project. In doing so you will assess how these frameworks reflect and inform a variety of historical, visual, performative and literary texts and practices (in the fields of fine art, film and television, performance, cultural and media studies, and history of art and contemporary design and design history), and are interrelated with broader cultural, social and political developments.
You will analyse how writers, critics, historians and practitioners think about knowledge and how they pursue their disciplines from epistemological and theoretical perspectives. In this way you will develop a structured overview of the ways in which key critical writing has changed over time, and how theory and conceptual thinking has influenced those working within disciplinary and cross-disciplinary fields.
On completion of the module, you will have developed original and critical responses to key theoretical questions raised via the analysis of sources, ideas, and other bodies of work, and be able to:
Locate your research within wider relevant disciplinary debates; demonstrate an enhanced knowledge of selected theories, concepts and critical literatures, and how to employ them in regard to your own research; interrogate and problematise theories and concepts; demonstrate how curiosity and dynamic debate underpin academic enquiry; communicate complex ideas, and their relevance to your research project, in open discussion and formal written, visual and verbal forms in a clear and credible way.

More information

Study Options

The following alternative study options are available for this course:

Any Questions?

Our admissions team will be happy to help. They can be contacted on 0191 406 0901.

Contact Details for Applicants:

bc.applicantservices@northumbria.ac.uk

All information on this course page is accurate at the time of viewing.

Our Campus based courses starting in 2022 and 2023 will be delivered on-campus with supporting online learning content. We continue to monitor government and local authority guidance in relation to Covid-19 and we are ready and able to adjust the delivery of our education accordingly to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff.

On-campus contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with any additional restrictions, which may be imposed by the Government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors. This could potentially mean increased or fully online delivery, should such restrictions on in-person contact time be required.

 

Current, Relevant and Inspiring

We continuously review and improve course content in consultation with our students and employers. To make sure we can inform you of any changes to your course register for updates on the course page.


Your Learning Experience find out about our distinctive approach at 
www.northumbria.ac.uk/exp

Admissions Terms and Conditions - northumbria.ac.uk/terms
 Fees and Funding - northumbria.ac.uk/fees
 Admissions Policy - northumbria.ac.uk/adpolicy
Admissions Complaints Policy - northumbria.ac.uk/complaints





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