Professional doctorate

On this page:

• Why study a professional doctorate?
• About the programme
• Programme content
• Programme structure
• Entry requirements
• Assessment
• Duration
• Apply now
• Fees
• Staff profile

Why study a professional doctorate?

• An achievable route for busy professionals to achieve a doctorate
• Studied part-time with others from similar professional backgrounds
• Reduces your study time by drawing on existing expertise
• Distance learning, supplemented by occasional Saturday workshops

About the programme

The programme provides an achievable route for experienced property and construction professionals to gain a doctorate in a subject related to their professional expertise. It provides an induction into doctoral level research in a friendly and supportive environment where candidates study with others from similar professional backgrounds. The programme provides a logical step-by-step approach to achieving a doctorate which allows candidates to make maximum use of existing knowledge, and thereby to reduce study time. Distance learning study is supplemented by occasional workshop sessions in Central Manchester, making the programme suitable for professionals based throughout the UK, the Republic of Ireland or Continental Europe.

Programme content

Professional doctorates are as rigorous as traditional doctorates (for example PhDs). However, they cater specifically for professional practitioners with many years’ experience in their field, but who may have been out of contact with the academic world since gaining their qualifications. Candidates are therefore provided with the tools for making maximum use of their existing professional knowledge in an academic context, and with the key academic skills that are required for success at doctoral level.

Awards

On registration you will join other members of your cohort in a single ‘doctorate in the built environment’ programme. Successful completion of the programme entitles you to receive the Doctor of the Built Environment (DBEnv) award.

At the time of submitting your thesis you may instead elect to receive one of two alternative discipline-specific doctoral awards. Depending on the subject of your thesis you may therefore choose to be awarded either the Doctor of Real Estate (DRealEst), or the Doctor of Construction Management (DConstMgt).

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Programme structure

You will be working on your research project from the moment you enrol on the programme under the direction of an experienced research supervisor. However, during the first two years, your studies will be structured into a number of credit-bearing taught modules, assessed by coursework. Successful completion of these modules allows you to progress to the final three years of the programme. During this period you will rework and expand the written work produced during the first two years into a doctoral thesis.

Credit-bearing modules (first two years)

Academic & Professional Knowledge in the Built Environment (30 credits)

This module introduces you to the nature of doctoral-level knowledge in the various built environment professional disciplines and addresses the differences between academic and professional knowledge. It also equips you with the philosophical knowledge necessary to make informed decisions about the future direction of your research project, and the ability to mount an effective defence of these decisions during the examination of your thesis.

Knowledge Development through Reflective Practice (30 credits)

The second module draws upon theories of reflective practice and experiential learning to assist you in identifying suitable areas for research from within your own professional environment. As part of this process you are also introduced to the concept of action learning research and its potential use by practitioners. You use your studies on this module to identify the broad focus for your doctoral research project.

Practice-based Theoretical Study (30 credits)

Having identified a suitable area for research from within your own professional environment the third module provides you with the academic skills necessary to place this within its broader theoretical and academic context. You are guided in the process of literature searching and the development of a detailed critical review of the relevant literature. At the conclusion of this module you will have defined your broad practice-centred research focus in terms of a viable research question, suitable for further development to doctoral level.

Research Approaches and Methodologies in Built Environment Practice (30 credits)

During this module you develop your understanding of the range of research methods that might be suitable for practice-related research in the built environment, and of how to select an appropriate method for your own previously identified research question. The module also emphasizes the relationship between the choice of research method and some of the fundamental concepts studied during module 1. By the time you complete this module you will have produced a detailed research proposal which describes, and justifies, the future direction of your research.

Preliminary Practice-based Investigation (60 credits)

The final credit-bearing module supports you in the development of a short dissertation of 15,000 to 20,000 words on the subject of your doctoral research project. It provides an opportunity to use the research knowledge and skills, acquired during the first four modules, in a preliminary research project which can be further developed as your doctoral research proceeds. The form of the dissertation will vary according to the subject of study, and the research design decisions that you have previously made in collaboration with your supervisor. It may, for example, be largely literature based, or may involve some form of empirical pilot study.

Thesis (final three years)

By the time you reach the start of year 3 you are on the home straight! Many of your doctoral-level research skills will be in place, and the direction and process of your research project will already be well-advanced. You are also likely to have had some interaction with the wider international research community and, based on your research to date, to have made some initial contributions to it.

You will rapidly be becoming a seasoned researcher, capable of making independent and critical decisions about the direction of your own research, and offering criticism and insights into the contributions of your peers on the programme.

The nature and scale of the remainder of the research task will vary from candidate to candidate. It may, for example, involve supplementing existing areas of work with other related work. Or perhaps it will involve a more detailed study in one aspect of that addressed during the dissertation. It might involve engagement with an additional body of literature whose significance has only recently come to light, or maybe involve an empirical study. Equally, some candidates will have decided to make more extensive use of the principles of reflective practice and decide to extend their work by drawing on their existing experience in a more ethnographic style of research. The range of possibilities is infinite, and the direction taken will be a matter for each individual candidate, in partnership with their supervisor.

The examination

Once you and your supervisor are satisfied that the research has reached the required standard you will submit a thesis for examination of between 70,000 and 90,000 words.

The University will then appoint two examiners (one from the University’s own academic staff and one from another university) who will conduct the examination. They will read the thesis and a viva voce (oral examination) will then be convened where the examiners will question you about its contents, and about the process and findings of the research.

But you should have no fears about this! The whole of the Salford professional doctorate programme has been designed to enable candidates to deliver a defensible thesis, and to confidently defend it when challenged by the examiners.

By this stage you will know more than anyone (including the examiners) about the subject of your thesis. You will also be well-versed in self-reflection, critical thinking and research skills. So you should be well able to justify every single step that you have taken in developing your research, and therefore also by definition, to convince any examiner about the validity of its findings.

Entry requirements

Please contact the Programme Director Dr Paul Chynoweth for advice on eligibility for the programme.

Applicants must generally have:

• An honours degree (or equivalent) from a recognised University, or
• A masters degree (or equivalent) from a recognised University, and
• A minimum of three years relevant post-qualification experience, and
• An appropriate professional qualification

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Assessment

• Each of the first 4 credit-bearing modules are assessed by a 5,000 word written assignment
• The fifth credit-bearing module is assessed by a 15,000 to 20,000 word dissertation
• All of the above submissions can subsequently be incorporated into the final thesis
• The doctorate is awarded on the basis of a 70,000 to 90,000 word thesis

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Duration

Five years part-time

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Fees for 2012/13

• Year 1 & 2 - £3,750 pa
• Years 3, 4 & 5 - £1,914

Staff profile

Dr Paul Chynoweth, the programme director, is a building surveyor and lawyer, and a prominent member of the international built environment research community. He is the editor of the International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, and director of the international CIB Working Commission (W113) on Law & Dispute Resolution in Construction and Property. He has published extensively in the fields of party walls, rights to light and built environment research. His many publications include The Party Wall Casebook and (with others) the bestselling student textbook, Law and the Built Environment.