PhDiA was established to provide a forum for discussion of issues related to the education of doctoral students in architecture. Membership includes leading voices in academia, the profession and doctoral students. PhDiA sponsors a peer-reviewed journal and supports regular conferences.

PhDiA was created to:

•  establish a clearinghouse for doctoral program pedagogy and structure

•  assist faculty and administrators in doctoral programs

•  provide a forum for doctoral students

•  encourage inter-university doctoral research and dissertation cooperation

•  elevate doctoral studies and the role of research and advanced scholarship

•  recognize outstanding achievements and leadership in doctoral research

While collecting data and references for a publication comparatively describing doctoral programs in North America, we learned that the pedagogy and structure of the programs were surprisingly varied.  Discussions with a few of the leaders of these programs helped define the type of program structure information that these leaders wanted to obtain.  Leaders were interested in comparing core and elective coursework, dissertation support methods, and especially research and funding.

Administrators and faculty had similar interests. Of the 5 administrators who took part in the survey, all agreed that understanding the structure of other programs was important to them, but that they had limited real information.  Not surprisingly, both the faculty and administrator groups nearly always asked for copies of the results of our survey.

A survey of doctoral program leaders in 2008 revealed that, while some worked together, most chairs and directors of doctoral programs are not well-connected with other leaders and programs.

With more than 600 current students in doctoral programs in North America, it is time to connect these people with each other.  Certainly this group of people can be aided by an organization that understands the unique conditions and frustrations faced by these students.  More importantly perhaps, this group will benefit from the ability to work collaboratively and build on the research of others.

As others have observed, a common lament among those who have completed a Ph.D. in architecture is that the degree is remarkably under-recognized in the profession.  We have learned anecdotally that holders of this advanced degree are placed in the uncomfortable position of explaining the degree to highly-positioned people in the profession and at leading academic institutions. The purposes of the degree and the accomplishments of the participants should not continue to be overlooked.

Another role of PhDiA will be to recognize outstanding work by students and faculty.  An awards committee is being formed, and among their first tasks will be to establish procedures and qualifications for each of the annual award categories.