Help shape healthier places: AD[A]PT PhD applications now open for 2027

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), AD[A]PT is seeking researchers interested in tackling some of the most pressing challenges facing the built environment.

Six fully funded PhD studentships are now open for applications through the AD[A]PT doctoral focal award, with opportunities available across Cardiff University, Oxford Brookes University and Falmouth University for an October 2027 start.

Cardiff Univerwsity AD[A]PT institutional lead, Dr Chris Whitman explains that ‘AD[A]PT brings together the three universities and a network of industry partners to explore how architectural design and humanities research can help create healthier places, to support healthier people and a healthier planet. We believe that guidance already exists as to how we should be designing to support human and planetary health, but the big question is why isn’t this commonly being put into practice?’

Established to create more opportunities for doctoral research in architecture, planning and the built environment, the programme strengthens connections between academia, industry and policy. Students benefit from collaborative training opportunities across the three partner universities, industry engagement and a supportive interdisciplinary research community.

At Cardiff University, we have just welcomed our first two AD[A]PT researchers, and they are already beginning to tackling complex challenges in the built environment through innovative, socially relevant projects.

Aslıhan Yılmazer, one of the current new AD[A]PT scholars, is undertaking the project Designing with Toxic Heritage: A Multi-Value Framework for Contamination-Aware Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Sites. Her research explores how contaminated industrial sites can be adapted in ways that balance environmental, cultural and social considerations.

Fellow researcher Yunseo Joung is investigating Cold, Damp and Governance: The Persistence of Unhealthy Conditions in Wales's Pre-1919 Housing through a Collaborative Doctoral Award with the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru. Her work seeks to better understand the barriers preventing healthier living conditions in some of Wales's oldest homes.

Applications are open to candidates from a diverse range of disciplinary backgrounds, skills and research interests. Applicants can submit either an original research proposal aligned to the programme's themes or respond to one of the programme's set research briefs. The programme is open to both UK and international applicants, subject to eligibility requirements.

More information about the programme, upcoming webinars and the application process can be found on the AD[A]PT website.