Cursos / 3º Ciclo / Faculty of Architecture and Arts :: Architecture

SEMINÁRIO E METODOLOGIAS E TÉCNICAS DE INVESTIGAÇÃO - 2025/2026

1º curricular year
Semestralidade: 1st semester
ECTS: 15

Teachers

Leading Teacher: Prof. Doutor Miguel Malheiro
Assistant Professor: Prof. Doutor Miguel Malheiro

Class type and School hours

Seminário : 2 Horas

Teaching Language

Portuguese

Main Aims/Objectives

Attending a PhD course presupposes the prior acquisition of competences in terms of research methodologies and written and oral communication, contributes to the planning of the work to be carried out, both in terms of the structure of its various phases and the objectives to be progressively achieved, and to active participation in the circuits of dissemination and scientific discussion.

Specific Aims/Objectives

The main aim of this course is to provide doctoral students with a detailed and practical overview of the research process within the scope of a doctorate, promoting contact with methodologies and working tools in the academic and scientific context. It is intended that PhD students develop skills in structuring and presenting their work, identifying the differences between the various contexts and communication media.

Skills to be acquired

The learning outcomes of this curricular unit are that doctoral students acquire analytical and critical skills in the search for opportunities for innovation and development in the context of defining a research topic, clearly presenting its scope and objectives, searching for sources of information, as well as identifying the most appropriate research methodology, methods and means.

Teaching Procedures

The teaching methodology comprises a theoretical component and a practical component. The theoretical component will focus on the fundamentals of the research process, using specialised bibliography to build up a knowledge base and to create the skills needed to carry out the practical work. The practical component will focus on monitoring and discussing the practical work to be carried out, and experimenting with digital tools to support research.

Programme

The programme aims to address the various methodological approaches and the different phases of the research process in architecture: - Conceptual aspects: concepts of science and research; research methodologies in architecture; problem formulation (rigour and objectivity); scientific theory and methods of proof (hypothesis, deductive and inductive thinking); the concept of paradigm; - Research planning: research styles and framework in research methodologies; sources and collection of data; - Choosing the topic of work: factors influencing the choice and questions to be asked (what, why, where, when, how, who and how much); defining topics and analysing topics of personal interest; knowledge acquired; trends in current research topics; data required; sources of data available; limitations to research; - Evaluating the topic: alternatives for defining the topic; the refinement of the topic during preliminary research; - The research proposal: contents of a research proposal (title, scope, assumptions, objectives, hypothesis); - Preliminary research: preliminary research as a process of confirming the scope, objectives and hypotheses under study; defining the basis for the detail of the research work (existing studies, alternatives, formulation and confirmation of the research process); definitions and assumptions; State of the Art (review of theories and critical review of bibliography), data collection and analysis (structuring of data collection, types of documents, sources of documents and data, data collection methods); - Construction of the theoretical model: definition of the theory adopted; - Empirical work: formulation of experiments; research with case studies; modelling; simulations; - Definition of hypotheses: concept; requirements of a hypothesis; the role of hypotheses in research; verification of hypotheses; validation of hypotheses; - Data collection and analysis: objectives of data collection; data requirements; methods of obtaining data (inspections, questionnaires, interviews, case studies); principles of obtaining and processing data; sampling (objectives, types of sampling, size); - Results and conclusions: production of results; validation and discussion; conclusions and recommendations; limitations of the study; future research. This course will also cover the communication aspects of research, with special emphasis on the structure and writing of different types of documents: - Types of media: thesis, scientific article, report, communication, oral presentations and posters; - Elements of document composition: title, abstract, introduction, review of the state of the art, research methodology, results, conclusions, references, appendices; - Document writing: style and type of language, title, paragraphs, punctuation, argumentation, data presentation (figures, tables), revisions; - Conventions: reference systems, citation methods, standard systems of quantities and units. The programme also includes familiarising doctoral students with the ethical aspects of research: - Ethical principles in research: integrity and quality, confidentiality and independence; - References: citations, clarity of content and context, intellectual property and copyright; - Credibility of bibliographic sources; - Use and protection of data.

Evaluation Type

The assessment of the curricular unit is the place where the information retained through the presentation and discussion of research examples comes together with the competences that the student acquires through what they discover in the works and texts they study.
Assessment consists of an individual assignment that defines the topic, research question and associated bibliography that the student intends to address in their doctoral thesis.

Teaching Resources

The following teaching resources will be used: - Digital media for the presentation of the syllabus; - Knowledge source search platforms; - Source management programmes.

Sustainability Objectives

Goal 4 - Quality Education
Goal 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
Goal 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Goal 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
Goal 13 - Climate Action

Keywords

Doctoral Programme
Architecture
Research
Methodologies
Tools
Sources

Main Bibliography

Complementary Bibliography