Make/Sense

The MAKE/SENSE PhD programme promotes practice-based research in art and design. Operating within three future-facing areas of concern: Planetarity, Materiality and Response-ability, our programme focuses on the relevance and potentials of practice-based research in art and design for just sociocultural, political, and ecological transformations. We encourage transversal work and aim at collectively developing life-affirming practices and infrastructures.

The MAKE/SENSE programme is hosted at the Critical Media Lab, Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures, Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW, offered in partnership with the University of the Arts Linz, and supported by swissuniversities. We provide a structured 3-year study curriculum in research methods, contemporary theory, and generic skills relevant to practice-based research. We foster a dynamic group of PhD candidates who meet four weeks/year for project discussions, reading groups, workshops, and casual hangouts. We maintain a flexible programme structure to allow students to keep up with current work commitments and aim to provide a space for collectivity and exchange that offers respite and joy.

The programme integrates the expertise of faculty from the institutes Experimental Design and Media Cultures (IXDM), Contemporary Design Practices (ICDP), Digital Communication Environments (IDCE), Art Gender Nature (IAGN) and Arts and Design Education (IADE). The activities of the programme further draw on an outstanding network of international partners, including the Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften (IFK), Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity at Humboldt-University of Berlin, SciencesPo Media Lab Paris and metaLAB (at) Harvard.

Our group typically consists of 18 PhD candidates. Spots in the programme are offered on a rolling basis and include free participation in the programme, supervision by one faculty from Basel and Linz, and support in mastering the challenges of a practice-based PhD project.

Find out more:
https://makesensephd.ch/

PhD Programme