Advice for those wishing to pursue a PhD in interdisciplinary design

Although my title is Professor of Interdisciplinary Design, Cambridge does not offer a degree programme in this subject.

For some years, working with David Good and Nathan Crilly, I coordinated the Crucible network for research in interdisciplinary design. Crucible was not an official University department or research institute. The Crucible network included around 100 faculty members in Cambridge, all in different departments, who often made arrangements to jointly supervise PhD students. (There were also several hundred more non-faculty members, who did not supervise PhD students).

The consequence of working that way was that we did not have a mechanism for processing applications for a programme in interdisciplinary design as such. Our students applied for PhD places via conventional disciplinary routes, but then developed a custom programme meeting their own needs and interests, often working closely with a single network member on an apprenticeship model, but sharing in that member of faculty's collaborations with other disciplines.

An important early step in developing an application for a PhD place in Cambridge is to identify a particular university department or faculty member where you would obtain your primary research training, and then work more closely with that person to develop an application for academic admission and potential funding. Typically, this would be a person and department in a field where you have demonstrated excellence as an undergraduate and/or master's student. Entry to Cambridge is extremely competitive, with the result that both funding competitions and allocation of academic places are dominated by students who already have substantial achievements in specific fields.

In recent years, and subsequently to the main period of activity for Crucible, UK government policy for academic funding has emphasised desire for PhD students to undertake "training" in research skills for a practical purpose, rather than critical or creative enquiry that might not have clear public benefit. Most public funding for PhD scholarships is thus directed through "Centres for Doctoral Training" (CDTs). There are many of these in Cambridge, each with a specific instrumental objective. Most are nominally interdisciplinary, and would in principle benefit from the approaches that were developed across the Crucible network. Students considering an application to one of these CDTs, and wondering what opportunity there might be for broader interdisciplinary enquiry beyond the constraints imposed by the CDT structure, would be welcome to contact Alan Blackwell or other Crucible members for advice.