Marcel Breuer Doctoral School of Architecture
The primary task of the Doctoral School is to provide educational programmes of a high standard in accordance with the requirements of the Bologna system to those leading architects with an MSc or MA degree, as well as to those with an MA or MSc degree in an architecture-related field.
The programmes of the Doctoral School engage in fields dealing with the most important concerns in Hungary and, specifically in the Pécs region, the areas of national heritage protection. Heritage protection, taking advantage of the latest developments and technologies, enjoys priority within the highly complex system of architectural tasks both in Hungary and the whole of Europe. Heritage protection, in addition to its architectural and artistic aspects, encompasses the active use of a wider range of scientific fields (civil engineering, structural engineer-ing, information technology, etc.).
In accordance with the original mission of the Pécs Doctoral School, heritage protection has been and will be one of the main focus areas of its activities. However, the experience gained from the activities, the changing social requirements and the scientific developments have made it imperative for the Doctoral School to embrace the complex topic of sustainable architecture, especially those aspects whose research is supported by the profile of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. These aspects include the information technology support of architecture and the interaction between architecture and IT, the development of smart buildings, smart cities and infrastructure, green architecture, including the developments in the methods and instruments of energy-efficient design. The objective is to realize these goals and apply these methods and instruments in the innovative architectural design of the future where the environmental and safety aspects are also observed.
The Doctoral School organizes and implements the doctoral programme within one organisational unit but offers two different programmes:
- DLA programme in Architecture
- PhD programme in Architectural Engineering
The excellent teaching staff and the infrastructure of the Doctoral School help students to engage in a so-called ‘atelier-style’ creative work, and due to its excellent professional and international relationships, the school provides students with all the opportunities to realize doctoral designs and creations. While students engage in an integrated heritage protection programme, Pécs with its special atmosphere and culture also offers an opportunity for young architects and researchers to experiment with heritage protection ideas of the modern architecture of the 21st century.
As a result of our special circumstances, our undergraduate programmes are taught by staff excelling at various fields of art and architecture in an exceptional infrastructural environment. This ensures that students have the opportunity to examine the relation of architecture to other fields of art and applied arts. In our Doctoral School at the Pollack Mihály Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, doctoral studies can be pursued in the fields of ecological architecture, sustainable architecture and the use of new materials and technologies. The interdisciplinary nature of architecture ensures that it can meet today’s social expectations in planning, research and creative activities.
The Doctoral School cooperates with several Hungarian and foreign educational and research institutes. We are in the fortunate position of being part of a multi-faculty university which means we have been able to develop a close cooperation with the Faculties of Medicine, Natural Sciences, Arts, Humanities and Economics. The establishment of a jointly used research centre, the so-called Science Building, is an excellent example of the fruitful cooperation of the various faculties of the university.
Besides the other Faculties of the University of Pécs, the Doctoral School also cooperates with several Hungarian and foreign institutes:
- Research project groups of the Gyula Forster National Heritage and Asset Management Centre (formerly the National Office of Cultural Heritage)
- Ybl Miklós Faculty of the Óbuda University
- FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences Graz, Austria
- Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado, USA
- University of San Carlos, Cebu City, The Philippines
- Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
- Shanghai Institute of Technology, School of Urban Construction and Safety Engineering, Shanghai, China
- University for Business and Technology, Pristina, Kosovo
- Fachhochschule Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Dortmund, Germany
- University of Lisbon, Faculty of Architecture, Lisbon, Portugal
An up-to-date infrastructural background, which is excellent at an international level also, is available at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology of the University of Pécs. Additionally, amongst the teaching staff at our Doctoral School, we can boast several Gábor Dénes, Kossuth, Ybl, Steindl, Pro Architektura, Munkácsy or Artist of Merit Award winners. Since becoming a university faculty nearly two decades ago, and thirteen years after beginning our Doctoral School we have increased the number of instructors who graduated from our faculty. With their youthful agility and outstanding professional skills, they are excellent successors to retiring professors.
The instructors and supervisors of the Doctoral School play an active role in the editorial committees of several Hungarian and international academic periodicals e.g. Hungarian Building Construction, Pollack Periodica.