A PhD thesis is a major piece of original research. Word length varies according to the nature of each project, but something like 60,000 to 100,000 words is typical. According to the University Calendar, a PhD thesis 'demonstrates the candidate's ability to carry out independent research' and must also be 'a significant contribution to the knowledge or understanding of a field of study'. As well as intelligence and research aptitude, the degree requires considerable dedication and tenacity.

On completion, your thesis is assessed by three examiners, usually one from Victoria, one from another New Zealand university and one from an overseas university. For some PhDs, in particular those in science, this is followed by an oral examination.

Candidates for the PhD in the Faculty of Architecture and Design must normally have obtained a first or second class Bachelor with Honours (or equivalent) or a Masters degree in architecture, design or a related discipline. The PhD is examined by thesis normally after a minimum three-year period of supervised original research at Victoria University. Extensions beyond five years will not be given except in exceptional circumstances.

Facilities for Postgraduate Students

Location: The School of Architecture is a unique and leading centre of architecture and building science research in New Zealand. The Faculty's facilities are widely acknowledged as some of the best in Australasia - all in a radically remodelled former cargo building, which is an award-winning landmark in central Wellington city, in the University's Te Aro Campus .

The Faculty of Architecture & Design is a unique and leading centre of design, architecture and building science. The Faculty offers a dynamic mix of courses. Numerous design projects are undertaken in conjunction with leading world companies and many of the students have won international recognition in competitions. The Faculty is located in the heart of the city where staff and students are constantly part of new and exciting projects being undertaken in the city. The Faculty also benefits from leading design and architecture experts who operate in the city as well as on-campus.

Equipment: The two Schools work together to offer world class facilities such as: studios, construction workshops, a graphic workroom, a video production and editing suite, photography studios, exhibition spaces, lecture theatres, seminar rooms, and computer laboratories with a full range of professional design, graphics, animation, thermal and structural performance simulation software. Major items of research equipment available in the Faculty for use by postgraduate students in consultation with their supervisors are: wind tunnel, heliodon, sky simulator, effulger, beam testing rig, video production and editing suite, ergonomics laboratory, photography laboratory, and instruments for field measurements of thermal, lighting, acoustic, ventilation and air quality conditions. Postgraduate students have access to shared office spaces with telephones and computing and printing facilities.

How to Apply

International PhD students apply through the Faculty of Graduate Research.

For more information please click on one of the links below.

For more information please click on one of the links below.

Landscape architecture is a design and planning discipline. It aims to create places that provide stimulating, satisfying and uplifting experiences, meet socio-economic and functional needs, and that sustain and enhance ecological and cultural values.

The Postgraduate Certificate in Landscape Studies provides students an opportunity to gain insight into the field and to deepen existing knowledge.

For more information please click on one of the links below.

The PGDipProp is particularly appropriate for individuals who are employed in property or a related field and wish to study part-time to upgrade their skills in specific areas such as finance and investment or development.

To be admitted to this course of study, a student needs to have previously completed a BProp or other approved qualification indicating ability to undertake advanced property studies. The course requires two semesters of full-time study or their equivalent (14 points), and requires at least 8 points from the list of graduate papers provided in the Paper Descriptions section of the web site, and may include up to 6 points from the schedule for BProp. After successful completion of the requirements for the PGDipProp, and before they have actually been awarded the diploma, students may elect to transfer into the MProp course.

For more information please click on one of the links below.

Auckland is an excellent place to study contemporary urban issues, as the city and regions grow in diversity, density and sophistication. The Master of Urban Design (MUrbDes) is a studio-based taught programme that appeals to architecture, landscape architecture and planning graduates, mid-career built environment and design professionals, and international students interested in the unique ‘laboratory’ provided by Auckland’s Pacific Rim context.

This innovative programme is based upon international best practice in urban design education. You will study sustainable urban development, urban development processes, urban design history and theory and infrastructure planning. You will also learn to consider the design of urban environments within the cultural, social, legal and economic framework of any given locality.

^{Important: This is not a professionally accredited degree and will not prepare you for professional registration.}

http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/ap-murbdes

 

For more information please click on one of the links below.

 If you have completed the equivalent of at least four years of full-time architectural studies at a recognised university, the Master of Architecture (MArch) gives you the opportunity to extend your knowledge through advanced research in a specialist area of interest. The Master of Architecture programme may be either entirely thesis-based or involve a thesis with some advanced coursework in a range of subject areas. You will explore in-depth issues that arise either from your undergraduate experience or in practice, and be able to put an academic context around your own personal architectural investigations. You will undertake self-directed work, with the guidance of an appointed supervisor.

^{Important: This is not a professionally accredited degree and will not prepare you for professional registration.}

http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/ap-march

For more information please click on one of the links below.

The Master of Architecture (MArch) degree is undertaken as a written thesis, in an architectural subject of interest of which the candidate has adequate training and ability. A MArch thesis should derive from an understanding of an aspect of the intellectual, technical, aesthetic and cultural conditions of architecture. It must have a theoretical as well as methodical foundation. Though design may be a primary research method in a MArch thesis, it must be placed within an explicitly stated theoretical framework. Permission may be given for work in other media (e.g. a drawing portfolio, video) to be submitted with the thesis where appropriate.

The School of Architecture is a unique and leading centre of architecture and building science research in New Zealand. The Faculty's facilities are widely acknowledged as some of the best in Australasia - all in a radically remodelled former cargo building, which is an award-winning landmark in central Wellington city, in the University's Te Aro Campus.

The Faculty of Architecture & Design is a unique and leading centre of design, architecture and building science. The Faculty offers a dynamic mix of courses. Numerous design projects are undertaken in conjunction with leading world companies and many of the students have won international recognition in competitions. The Faculty is located in the heart of the city where staff and students are constantly part of new and exciting projects being undertaken in the city. The Faculty also benefits from leading design and architecture experts who operate in the city as well as on-campus.

For more information please click on one of the links below.

Advance your architecture skills, and improve your knowledge of current techniques and theory. Undertake your own architecture design project, and identify the unique qualities of your work and how to use these to forge new directions for your design practice.

The Master of Architecture is a qualification for professional architects who want to advance their architecture skills and further their interest while working together with other professionals. While it is open to bachelors degree graduates, the programme has been specifically developed to enable practicing architects to study part time, learn new techniques, sharpen their design skills and update on current theory.

The degree is 'by project', which means that you undertake an architecture design project based on an aspect of your architecture practice to date. Previous student projects include a clinic in Las Vegas, a waterfall house, Hoani Waititi Marae Whare Wananga and a housing scheme in Cambridge. There is no coursework, and the programme's focus on design is supported by a strong contemporary theoretical framework.

Each year, you take part in several design workshops, at which you present your work in progress for critique and evaluation by invited international architects, landscape architects and designers. Two supervisors are appointed, to help you achieve your design goals.

You further your knowledge of current design techniques, and learn to present your work effectively to interdisciplinary audiences and in a digital format. Improve your understanding of how to look at architecture sites and briefs from different angles, and use techniques and theory to construct interesting and unique responses. You also learn to analyse and critique your own work objectively, identifying its unique qualities and how to use these to forge new directions for your design practice.
 
The Master of Architecture, together with the Master of Landscape Architecture and the Master of Design, is part of a suite of design programmes at Unitec. Students in all three programmes combine for theory seminars and workshops in order to foster cross-disciplinary fertilisation, new ideas and new approaches to inter-disciplinary practice.

English language: Have an overall IELTS band score (Academic) of no less than 6.5 (with no band score lower than 6.0), or a TOEFL score of no less than 575, or equivalent, achieved within the last two years.

For more information please click on one of the links below.

New Zealand's environmental safeguards and renewable energy resources make it an ideal country in which to study the application of sustainable design principles to a western lifestyle.

The Master of Architecture (MArch) in Sustainable Design is a specialisation within the Master of Architecture, offering advanced studies of sustainable design in architecture, urban design and building performance. In this programme you will have the opportunity to study alongside and be supervised by experts in the field of sustainable design who bring both practical and theoretical experience to research and teaching. You can choose a solely research-based programme, requiring the writing of a supervised thesis, or a combination of some formal taught courses together with group or individual research.

^{Important: This is not a professionally accredited degree and will not prepare you for professional registration.}

http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/ap-march-in-sustainable-design

 

 

 

For more information please click on one of the links below.

Would you like to become a registered architect? Have you already completed an undergraduate degree in architecture? The Master of Architecture (Professional) provides you with an advanced knowledge of architectural and urban design issues in New Zealand. Together with the three-year Bachelor of Architectural Studies, it forms a five-year package that prepares you to become a registered architect and that reflects an internationally recognised model of delivery now being pioneered in New Zealand by Unitec.

Perfect your understanding of architectural theory, architectural technology, digital fabrication and architectural business management. Explore at a postgraduate level what it takes to create architectural works of merit and value, and learn to incorporate innovative design research into your architecture practice.

Develop the ability to promote sustainable and ethical approaches to architecture and development, and to collaborate effectively with different disciplines on architectural design projects. You also further your ability to critically reflect on your own work, and that of others.

 

Duration:                                                                                                                                                                         Full-time for two years or part-time options available

Tution fee per year:                                                                                                                                                      NZD 20,000

English language:                                                                                                                                                           Applicants must have an overall IELTS band score (Academic) of no less than 6.5 (with no band score lower than 6.0 in Writing), or a TOEFL score of no less than 575, or equivalent; or must have an appropriate Unitec English language qualification, such as the Diploma in English (Advanced), or equivalent.

 

For more information please click on one of the links below.

• Sustainable Design
• Urban Design
• Material and Digital Fabrication
• Mori and Cultural Studies.

For more information please click on one of the links below.

2 Calendar years

The MBSc is taught in two parts. Part 1 consists of four 400-level courses completed in a single year. Part 2 consists of research for and the writing of a thesis, for one calendar year of full-time study.

For more information please click on one of the links below.

3 trimesters

A research-based degree focused on topics in Digital Media Design, Industrial Design, Interior Architecture or Landscape Architecture. Topics also can include areas which link design with architecture, building science or certain areas of the arts and humanities, or with general design topics. The MDes may take the form of a written dissertation, a design study, a design composition or a combination thereof.

A research proposal must be approved and a portfolio of design work submitted and reviewed before enrolling – contact Victoria International for details.

For more information please click on one of the links below.

No summary available

For more information please click on one of the links below.

2 Calendar years

The Master if Landscape Architecture is subject to approval in July 2009.

Please contact Victoria-International@vuw.ac.nz for more information

For more information please click on one of the links below.

Landscape architects aim to create places that provide stimulating, satisfying and uplifting experiences. They must also meet socio economic and functional needs, while sustaining and enhancing ecological and cultural values.

The Master of Landscape Architecture offers an innovative and successful professional design programme as well as an active centre for landscape research and scholarship.

Design, planning and management are learnt through undertaking a series of real world projects.

The M.L.A is an internationally recognised programme that offers the opportunity for professional accreditation to the NZILA.

Students normally take a minimum of three academic years to complete an M.L.A by examination and thesis, or the equivalent in part-time study.

For more information please click on one of the links below.

The Master of Landscape Architecture gives landscape architects a chance to further their skills, investigate new design techniques and collaborate with other professionals. While it is open to bachelors degree graduates, the programme has been specifically developed to enable practising landscape architects to study part-time, learn new techniques, sharpen their design skills and update on current theory.

The degree is 'by project', which means that you undertake a design project based on an aspect of your landscape architecture practice to date. There is no coursework, and the programme's focus on design is supported by a strong contemporary theoretical framework.

Each year, you take part in several design workshops, at which you present your work in progress for critique and evaluation by invited international landscape architects, architects and designers. Two supervisors are appointed, to help you achieve your design goals.

 

Duration:                                                                                                                                                                        Full-time for 18 months to three years or part-time for two-and-a-half  to four years

Tution fee per year:                                                                                                                                                        NZD 20,000

English language:                                                                                                                                                      Applicants must have an overall IELTS band score (Academic) of no less than 6.5 (with no band score lower than 6.0 in Writing), or a TOEFL score of no less than 575, or equivalent; or must have an appropriate Unitec English language qualification, such as the Diploma in English (Advanced), or equivalent.

 

 

 

For more information please click on one of the links below.

If you have completed the equivalent of an undergraduate degreeat a recognised university and have an interest in pursuing advanced research in planning, the Master of Planning (Mplan) is a good choice. It allows you to specialise in a topic of particular interest and thereby enhance your career.

You will be encouraged to immerse yourself in a rich research environment, engaging in discourse and debate with school staff and fellow students. Your programme of study can be entirely thesis based, or involve the preparation of a significant research report combined with advanced coursework.

^{Important: This is a research degree only. It is not a professionally accredited degree and will not prepare you for professional registration.}

http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/ap-mplan

 

For more information please click on one of the links below.

With increased local and global interest in sustainability and urban design, professional planners are in great demand. The Master of Planning Practice (MPlanPrac) degree is a professional qualification accredited by the New Zealand Planning Institute. The programme is suitable for graduates with degrees in subjects other than planning – our students come to us from diverse backgrounds including the social sciences and humanities, environmental sciences, law, engineering and business.

 

With its holistic view of social, economic and environmental issues, this programme will equip you to take on opportunities and challenges of contemporary planning practice. Courses cover the fields of planning theory, techniques, law and policy, and urban design and sustainability  A large component of the programme is studio-based, offering plenty of opportunities for integration of theory and practice.

You will graduate with the qualification for a range of planning-related careers, including city and regional planning, resource management, health, conservation, and community and economic development in the public and private sectors.

 http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/ap-mplanprac

 

For more information please click on one of the links below.