{"id":15401,"date":"2023-09-12T11:09:04","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T11:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/did\/?page_id=15401"},"modified":"2026-08-03T15:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T07:08:21","slug":"postgraduate-structure","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/dd\/programmes\/postgraduate-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"Programme Structure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\t<ul>\n\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/did\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2025\/06\/Postgrad-programme-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul id=\"menu-programmes-menu\"><li id=\"menu-item-3800\"><a aria-expanded=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/dd\/postgraduate\/\">Postgraduate<\/a>\n<ul>\n\t<li id=\"menu-item-15399\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/dd\/programmes\/postgraduate-admissions\/\">Admissions<\/a><\/li>\n\t<li id=\"menu-item-15408\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/dd\/programmes\/postgraduate-structure\/\">Programme Structure<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-3801\"><a aria-expanded=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/dd\/undergraduate\/\">Undergraduate<\/a>\n<ul>\n\t<li id=\"menu-item-15878\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/dd\/undergraduate\/award-and-scholarship\/\">Award and Scholarship<\/a><\/li>\n\t<li id=\"menu-item-14124\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/dd\/undergraduate\/curriculum-and-programme-structure\/\">Curriculum and Programme Structure<\/a><\/li>\n\t<li id=\"menu-item-15818\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/dd\/undergraduate\/minor-visual-communication\/\">Minor in Visual Communication Design<\/a><\/li>\n\t<li id=\"menu-item-16444\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/dd\/undergraduate\/study-abroad-internship\/\">Study Abroad and Internship<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\n\t<h3>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/graduate\/graduate-programmes-by-research\/programme-structure-2\/\" title=\"Programme Structure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\tProgramme Structure\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<table cellspacing=\"20\" cellpadding=\"30\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n\n<td>Master&#8217;s by Research<br \/>\n<strong>Master of Arts (Industrial Design)<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>&nbsp;\nPhD by Research<br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><strong>Doctor of Philosophy (Industrial Design)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Coursework element<\/strong>\u00a0<\/td>\n<td scope=\"col\">\n<p>Research degree programme includes an element of coursework in the same or related fields. This provides a graduate-level foundation and prepares the student for research. The Master&#8217;s by Research structure comprises not less than 16 Units (typically 4 graduate courses).<\/p>\n<strong>ID5021 Design Research <\/strong>&#8211; 4 units<br \/>\n<strong>ID5151 Design Innovation <\/strong>&#8211; 4 units<br \/>\n<strong>ID5351 Design Studies<\/strong> &#8211; 4 units<br \/>\n<strong>ID5951 Topics in Industrial Design <\/strong>&#8211; 4 units<br \/>\n<strong>ID5770 Graduate Seminar Course in Industrial Design <\/strong>&#8211; 4 units\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Research degree programme includes an element of coursework in the same or related fields. This provides a graduate-level foundation and prepares the student for research. The PhD by Research structure comprises not less than 24 Units (typically 6 graduate courses).<\/p>\n<p><strong>ID6770 Doctorial Seminar Course in Industrial Design<\/strong> &#8211; 4 units<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<b>Graduate\/<\/b><br \/>\n<b>Doctoral\u00a0Seminar<\/b>\n<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\">\n<p>To cultivate a strong research culture among graduate students, the required coursework includes a &#8220;Graduate seminar&#8221; or &#8220;Doctorial Seminar&#8221;. A Postgraduate Research student is required to attend seminars and also deliver presentations of his\/her research work. Participation in seminars is an integral part of graduate study as it helps to enhance knowledge, broaden research outlook, sharpens thinking and improves communication skills.<\/p>\n<p>A &#8216;Satisfactory\/Unsatisfactory&#8217; grade is awarded on the basis of attendance, presentation and document submission. All research students are also expected to obtain a satisfactory grade for the seminar course.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><b>Doctoral Qualifying Examination<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Not Applicable<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>A doctoral candidate must complete a prescribed set of courses before proceeding to the Doctoral Qualifying examination (QE). The QE comprises a comprehensive written examination and an oral defence of the PhD thesis proposal. The comprehensive written examination tests the general competence of the candidate in his\/her discipline(s), while the oral defence ensures that the candidate is prepared to embark on his\/her thesis research. The QE should usually be taken 12 to 24 months from the start of the doctoral candidature.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Doctoral students are expected to pass both the written comprehensive examination and the oral defence. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><strong><b>Thesis component<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\">\n<p>The Master&#8217;s and PhD programme requires the completion of a thesis not exceeding 40,000 words.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><strong><b>Oral Defence Examination<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Not Applicable<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Doctoral candidates are required to undergo and pass an oral examination before a panel chaired by the candidates&#8217; Head of Department and two examiners of the doctoral thesis. Doctoral students are required to pass their oral defence thesis examination before they are conferred their doctoral degree. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>\n\t\t\tContact\t<\/h3>\nDepartment of Design<br \/>\n<strong><a title=\"mailto:didpgresearch@nus.edu.sg\" href=\"mailto:didpgresearch@nus.edu.sg\" data-ogsc=\"\" data-outlook-id=\"a6fe5921-dc7f-40b5-a1d2-d76508c6b82a\">didpgresearch@nus.edu.sg<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n\nCollege of Design &amp; Engineering, Postgraduate Research<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:cdepgresearch@nus.edu.sg\"><strong>cdepgresearch@nus.edu.sg<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Postgraduate Admissions Programme Structure Undergraduate Award and Scholarship Curriculum and Programme Structure Minor in Visual Communication Design Study Abroad and Internship Programme Structure Master&#8217;s by Research Master of Arts (Industrial Design) &nbsp; PhD by Research Doctor of Philosophy (Industrial Design) Coursework element\u00a0 Research degree programme includes an element of coursework in the same or related [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"parent":3701,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15401","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - 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