Graduate Research Opportunities

Research is an essential component of design education at the David R. Ravin School of Architecture. Graduate students participate in a wide range of funded and non-funded research, scholarship, and creative and professional activities under the guidance of the School of Architecture faculty. Some of this research is extracurricular and occurs in the form of funded research assistantships in research labs or for individual faculty members. Other graduate student research happens within the curriculum as part of the final year of study thesis project.

Research CENTERS and Labs

Within the School and College, there are several research centers and laboratories that provide a base for faculty research. These also offer opportunities for students to engage in funded research projects with the faculty. This research takes full advantage of the advanced computing, software and digital fabrication facilities at the CoA+A. The scale of research ranges from small, short-term investigations to large, multi-year grants. Sponsored activities include urban design studies for local and regional municipalities and community groups, high performance building and optimization protocols, daylighting and energy analysis, digital design and fabrication components, and interactive visualization.

The School of Architecture’s three research labs in which graduate students are employed include:

• Integrated Building Design Research Lab
• City.Building.Lab
• designLAB

The College of Arts + Architecture also has a research lab and center in which graduate students are employed, which include:

• d-Arts
• Center for Community, Heritage and the Arts (CHArt)

Conference Travel Support

The School of Architecture Director offers awards to support graduate student participation in academic conferences to present the results of their research. A student must have a paper accepted for presentation in order to submit a request for funding. Interested students must submit their paper abstract, the acceptance/invitation letter from the conference, and a projected budget with their request for funding. Award amounts are determined according to conference costs. Requests should be sent directly to Director Brownell.