The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree is offered in all faculties of the University of New South Wales and encourages initiative and originality in research. Candidates should make a significant contribution to knowledge in their field.

As a general guide, the minimum requirement for a Postgraduate Research Degree (PhD, Master by Research or MPhil) within UNSW Built Environment is an appropriate undergraduate degree, usually at honours level, in a field represented within UNSW Built Environment, or another relevant discipline.

Candidates may be admitted to the PhD program after one year’s full-time enrolment in a Masters by Research program, with the approval of the Faculty Research Committee. In exceptional cases an applicant who submits evidence of such other academic and professional qualifications as may be approved by the Committee may be permitted to enrol for the degree.


English language requirements also apply. Please see: Graduate Research School

UNSW Built Environment encourages both discipline-specific and interdisciplinary research within the domain of the built environment. Cross-disciplinary research is encouraged and collaborative supervision across disciplines and with other disciplines within the University may be arranged when appropriate.

This program involves a minimum of three years full-time study. Students undertake supervised research leading to the production of the thesis.

The length of a doctoral thesis normally should not exceed 100,000 words of text and should be submitted for examination within 4 years of full-time study.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  UNSW Fee Website.

If you are considering applying for a PhD at UNSW you will need to make contact with the relevant School or Faculty. This is necessary in order to establish that your research interests and those of the School and Faculty are aligned, and that there is a suitable supervisor for your particular area of research.

Prospective students are strongly advised to make contact with potential supervisors before applying for research study at the University.

Please refer to the relevant Faculty home page for contact details of Schools and Departments.

Please refer to the following web-page for further information on how to apply, scholarships, English language requirements, thesis preparation and other research related matters: Graduate Research School