PhD By Design: Rethinking Practices to Bring Together Practice-Based Design Researchers Conducting PhD’s

Practice-based design PhDs have gained momentum, but the integration of design practice into the PhD thesis lacks consensus. The PhD By Design initiative offers insights and reflections on approaches to enable productive collaboration among design practitioners conducting practice-based PhDs. The initiative includes events, publications, and an interactive database showcasing practice-based research in design. The initiative rethought traditional academic event structures and encouraged unique formats for collective knowledge sharing, promoting quick and wide experimentation without the preciousness that often surrounds academic research.

PhD By Design created a supportive environment to share practices, experiences, dilemmas, failures and doubts while contributing to the wider practicebased design research community. This paper presents the initiative as an example of a practitioner-led effort and highlights its three main formats to facilitate dynamic modes of engagement among participants. The initiative promotes collaborative exploration, unique formats for collective knowledge sharing, and supportive engagement for the practice-based design research community.