The Research Training Initiative (RTI) is a project based at UCE Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD), which aims to develop and support research education and training in art, design and media. RTI seeks to encourage debate about research skills, methods and approaches; and supports researchers, research students and research supervisors through the publication of PhD case studies, methodological papers and reviews. The project was set up in January 1995, and has been online since 1998. The website is supported by an international advisory board.

The RTI website is organized into three main sections

 

· The Research Training Resource Centre
· Research Issues in Art, Design and Media
· Research Degree Case Studies

The Research Training Resource Centre

The Research Training Resource Centre brings together a number of resources of use to research students and supervisors. These include:

 

· Reviews of relevant books, conferences and websites
· A database of research training and doctoral programmes and courses
· A bibliography on research education and training

 

This part of the site also contains an archive of electronic publications, including the original print Research Guides (published in 1996, now out of print), journal articles and conferences papers related to the project, as well as some archived sections of the old RTI website.

Research Issues in Art, Design and Media

Research Issues is an online publication focused on research methods in art, design and media, and providing researchers with insights, which have implications for their own studies.

 

Research Issues publishes:

 

· Overviews of new and emerging themes and research topics
· Reflections on the process of research
· Reviews of particular research methods or techniques
· Discussions of current issues in art, design and media research

 

Research Issues is published three times a year, with each issue consisting of one paper focused on a distinct topic. The primary audience is research students, but the publication is also likely to be of interest to research degree supervisors and other researchers in art, design and media.

Research Degree Case Studies

The Case Studies website now contains 21 case studies of completed research degrees in art and design. In some cases these have been constructed from the original documents that accompanied the research process - the original proposal, transfer papers, the final thesis and accompanying illustrations – in other cases they have been reconstructed in summary form following completion. Several of the case studies include the student’s reflections on the experience of research degree study.

 

The intention in presenting these examples is to focus attention on the structure and process of research, rather than content. The case studies provide a diverse range of examples of research approaches in art and design, some involving visual art or design practice as an integral feature of the research process. Research students and supervisors might use the case studies as the basis for further discussion and reflection on research in this field.

 

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