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The Master’s of Research (MRes) RCA offers early-career research students the opportunity to develop and demonstrate mastery in the theory, methods and practice of research within an art and design environment.

MRes RCA degrees are offered in four Schools (Communication, Design, Fine Art and Humanities) and are designed to provide early-career researchers with the intellectual, technical and professional tools with which to complete high-quality research projects, whether at doctoral level or within the cultural and creative industries, working across traditional sociocultural, disciplinary and sectoral boundaries. MRes RCA programmes are delivered through a combination of: structured learning, comprising of lectures and master-classes by practitioners and senior academics; workshop classes based around a set task (a ‘brief’); tutor-led seminar classes where students will be asked to reflect on material that they have read or studied in advance; and project assignments that support the structured teaching programme.

The programme is offered for enrolment in September 2016, subject to successful validation.

Staff — Students are taught by highly regarded and active practitioners who are also academically qualified to provide a critical context for their work. For further information on staff, including research interests, exhibitions and publications, please visit: rca.ac.uk/staff

Facilities — MRes programmes will use College-wide teaching spaces, and will have access to College-wide resources and facilities where appropriate. For the collaborative project, MRes students will be provided with a hotdesk space.

College-wide facilities include:– Resource Stores – College Shop – Print on Demand – Darwin Workshops – Common Services – Digital-aided Making – RapidformRCA – Ceramics & Glass – Jewellery & Metal – Fashion – Textiles

Please note that access to some of these facilities are subject to an induction and academic need.

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Communication Design Pathway The MRes RCA Communication Design Pathway will introduce students to practice-led interdisciplinary and experimental research processes, methods and methodologies that inform and underpin communication design research. It will also help to position a student’s research proposal within a social, historical, cultural and theoretical discourse through evidencing primary research, proven research methods including visualisation, and engaging critically with reflective practice and evaluation. The focus of the Pathway is to explore the nexus between social science, art and design methods – such as those found within social semiotics, discourse analysis, visual ethnography, multi-modal analysis, narrative analysis and storytelling, reception theory – and the ways in which they might be applied to independent research proposals, R&D consultancy or ‘live’ project briefs. Communication theory is at the core of this offer, engaging critically with different perspectives and sensory (e.g. visual, aural and haptic) forms.

Students enrolled on the MRes RCA Communication Design Pathway will join a vibrant and dynamic research community situated within the context of a burgeoning research and knowledge exchange (RKE) culture in the School of Communication. Our RKE in the School is focused on broad thematic areas of the transformation of publishing, the shaping of experience, and the construction of identities. Linked to these are internationally renowned innovation research labs and hubs, such as the Creative Exchange Hub and the Book Futures Lab, which also build on the School’s robust industry networks. In addition to drawing upon the School’s core Master’s programmes in Animation, Information Experience Design and Visual Communication, students will engage with the broader context of the RCA’s leading research and will be exposed to the range of cutting-edge art and design research undertaken by our staff and MPhil/PhD students.

The programme is offered for enrolment in September 2016, subject to successful validation.

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Design Pathway Students enrolled on the MRes RCA Design Pathway will join a dynamic and diverse research community that represents a wide range of approaches, from the industrially oriented to the highly speculative. Our research ranges from individual projects by world-leading designers to large team projects with other institutions, including international companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Tata, Tussauds Group and Philips, with academic partners such as Imperial College London, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum and Natural History Museum as well as government bodies such as the Technology Strategy Board, Transport Systems Catapult and Future Cities Catapult. We also have a close relationship with the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design.

The programme is offered for enrolment in September 2016, subject to successful validation.

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Fine Art Pathway The MRes RCA Fine Art Pathway introduces students to a range of advanced practice-based methodologies through participation in the School’s Fine Art Research Programme and thematic School Groups. These are led by key researchers from the School and beyond together with visiting Professors. Students are involved in live and collaborative research projects and have access to weekly Fine Art Lectures, Visual Cultures Lectures and regular tutorials with academic staff working in the School. The broad base of expertise offered by the School of Fine Art means we can support research interests in moving image, painting, performance, photography, printmaking and sculpture. We also conceive of Fine Art as a subject that is accessible to collaboration with other fields and disciplines; it is a subject that celebrates the deployment of diverse methods of research and production that are invented, borrowed and even stolen.

Research in the School is driven by the individual concerns of academics and students within the broad context of art practice. We work within an integrated research culture and our interrogations inform every level of activity in the School. We conceive of the School as a critically and socially engaged platform for debate and experimentation about art and its applications, which seeks to understand and generate opportunities for artists and researchers in the world.

The programme is offered for enrolment in September 2016, subject to successful validation.

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Humanities Pathway The MRes RCA Humanities Pathway in the School of Humanities offers interdisciplinary training in critical, curatorial, historical and theoretical approaches to research in art and design. The Pathway will foster experimentation, risk-taking and critical and creative thinking through humanities research, with a distinctive ‘art school’ ethos. Unique to the Pathway is an emphasis on practice-led Humanities research: writing, curating, and designing research projects that are public-facing, contribute new knowledge and action around contemporary concerns, develop robust platforms for PhD and other subsequent research and can be applied across a rich range of professional careers. The MRes RCA Humanities Pathway encourages interdisciplinary and experimental approaches to arts and humanities research. The broad base of expertise offered by the School of Humanities means that we can support research interests in art, design, photography, architecture and urban studies, fashion, the crafts, film, graphics, sound, performance, technology and emerging media. Given our location in a world-leading, research-intensive art and design university, our work is directly informed by our close relationship to contemporary practice and future-thinking in art and design.

The School has an international network of partners, including museums, galleries and archives and arts, publishing and media organisations. School of Humanities graduates have a strong track record in obtaining leadership roles in the these sectors. Our graduates shape as well as facilitate the future of practice, policy and strategy in cultural sectors worldwide.

The programme is offered for enrolment in September 2016, subject to successful validation.

The Master’s of Research (MRes) RCA is a 180-credit programme that will offer early-career research students the opportunity to develop and demonstrate mastery in the theory, methods and practice of research within an art and design environment. This interdisciplinary programme will provide students with an intensive introduction to advanced research methods and enable them to apply and extend those methods through a collaborative live project and a personal research project.

The programme provides students with the intellectual, technical and professional tools to pursue their own independent research within academia or industry, drawing on the experience and expertise of world-leading researchers across the College. The ethos of the programme will be collaborative, so students should be prepared to engage fully within their peer group, and with established and emerging research communities throughout the College. In the development of intellectual engagement, students will be encouraged to demonstrate an advanced understanding of the principles of scholarly research within art, design and the humanities; identify robust research questions that interrogate fundamental questions of knowledge creation and exchange; critically analyse and evaluate complex

research data; and situate their own research questions in the wider academic context of their field, understanding how their own research builds on and contributes to existing knowledge. In the development of technical skills, students will be encouraged to: demonstrate an advanced understanding of the tools, methods, theories and techniques of research in Art and Design; experiment in the development, evaluation and presentation of complex research projects; effectively communicate the aims, methodologies and outcomes of their research to a range of different audiences; and effectively explore and articulate the potential of their research to achieve impact beyond the academic sphere. For professional development, students will be encouraged to: take responsibility for directing their studies through setting goals and managing time and resources effectively; participate as an active, thoughtful and responsible member of a research community; demonstrate an understanding of and sensitivity to the principles and policies of ethical research; effectively plan and manage a complex research project; define their professional identity through self-reflection informed by theoretical, social and cultural awareness; engage constructively with research partners in order to form collaborations that benefit both their research and the partner organisation. M

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Part 1: Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits / 600 hours)MRes RCA students will share College-wide units on Research Methods, and Research Cultures, which will serve as the foundation to the programme, equipping students with the necessary intellectual framework and practical tools to progress through the award. They will also take a pathway-specific Research in Practice unit that will focus on the process of research from a disciplinary perspective. It will use a case study approach that connects students with practising researchers and research teams, and encourages them to reflect on how research projects are developed, managed, evaluated and communicated.

Part 2: Postgraduate Diploma (60 credits / 600 hours)Students undertake pathway-specific units in Advanced Research Methods, a Group Research Project and a College-wide module on Research Identities. Each pathway-specific unit enables students to extend the knowledge and understanding developed through the College-wide ‘Research Methods’ unit, enabling students to develop and demonstrate mastery of discipline-specific research methods.The pathway-specific Group Research Project will provide students with an opportunity to apply the intellectual and technical skills developed through

prior units to a collaborative ‘live’ research project. This could take the form of a collaborative self-initiated project, participation in an existing research group, or a placement with one of the College’s network of research partners (such as a national museum). The College-wide Research Identities unit will focus on professional development. It will enable students to define their professional identity as a researcher, and to develop the tools to establish and sustain their profile beyond graduation. This will encompass: confidence; leadership; negotiation; networking; communication and collaboration.

Part 3: MRes (60 credits / 600 hours)The MRes RCA concludes with a Personal Research Project, in which students apply the knowledge, skills and practices developed throughout the programme. The submission could take the form of an extended thesis or an original work of art, design or communication, along with a shorter thesis that defines the purpose, context and impact of the work. Students will also complete a supporting statement that reflects on the process of developing, managing and communicating the outcomes of the research project, and provides an action plan that specifies on-going professional development goals.

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Candidates for all taught postgraduate courses are assessed on their existing qualities as demonstrated in their work and in their interview, as well as on their potential to benefit from the course and to achieve required standards overall. The assessment will consider: creativity, imagination and innovation evident in the work; ability to articulate the intentions of the work; intellectual engagement in relevant areas; appropriate technical skills; and overall interview performance, including oral use of English.

Candidates should have a good first degree in a related subject. We welcome applications from students of all ages, and view both prior academic and professional experience as valuable. See www.rca.ac.uk for pathway-specific application details. Online applications should be submitted with a CV and a brief (500-word) statement that outlines your motivation for applying and your engagement with the subject. Candidates who do not speak English as their first language are required to produce evidence that within the previous two years they have achieved an IELTS exam score of 6.5 with 6 in writing.

For pathway-specific entrance requirements visit rca.ac.uk/entrance-requirements

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