The University of Brighton has an established reputation for pioneering research into design and material culture and is a recognised centre of excellence both nationally and internationally for design history.For decades, the University of Brighton has been a leader in the development of design history as an academic discipline and is at the forefront of determining the scope, territory and focus of the subject. We take an inclusive definition of design in an expanded field, and welcome approaches for PhD supervision across all aspects of historical and critical studies that draw on material and visual cultures.Our expertise is brought together at the research Centre for Design History. Academics in the centre embrace the conjunction of professional and non-professional practices; digital and analogue artefacts, and the de-centring of art and design practice away from the singular object to complex ecologies, objects and systems.We have a long tradition of securing research studentships through the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) and other external funders to support research students and have led successful collaborative doctoral awards with the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Design Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers, and Brighton Museum and Galleries.