Doctoral Spotlight: Postgraduate research excellence and community at the RCA

The Royal College of Art’s Doctoral Research Programme is a unique environment where practice, theory and innovation converge. Doctoral students and graduates are not only advancing knowledge but also shaping industries, influencing public discourse and winning international recognition. This academic year highlights brilliant achievements and innovation — from baking to prize-winning for creative excellence, special documentary features, ASMR, student-led initiatives and international collaborations.

It’s about the journey

Behind every research project is a journey of curiosity, collaboration and perseverance.

• Maria Joseph (Design Research, PhD) is exploring how the global transition to a circular economy is reshaping the ship recycling industry. The research aims to develop design-led approaches that support more resilient, equitable and transparent circular systems within the global maritime sector.
• Ziming Wang (Design Research, PhD) showcased ‘Echo Fossils’ at the 17th International Symposium on Computer Music Multidisciplinary Research at UCL. The work is an interactive, ammonite-inspired AI music installation that translates touch and gesture into generative ambient sound.
• Julia Kotziamani (Arts & Humanities Research, PhD) published Shingles this year with BARC Books, as part of her residency with Flatland Projects. A series of short stories and vignettes, this collection invites readers into the strange, cursed heart of Hastings: a seaside town that refuses to let go.
• Carmen Mariscal (Arts & Humanities Research, PhD) and Samantha Rebello (School of Arts & Humanities) both completed their PhD Viva Voce this year. Carmen’s viva exhibition A House (Re)membered and other Spectral Topographies investigated the demolition of Pascal House, a family home built in Mexico City in 1957, alongside related projects, to explore how buildings hold memory - personal, collective, and urban. Samantha's viva exhibition The Doctor Ate, the Body : P H A R M A K O N featured paintings and drawings exploring image making via a conception of the ‘pharmakon’. The research digs through layers of historical painting and image making (its forms, materials, practices), which are considered to be both physical, and psychical substances.
• Communication MPhil/PhD student Laura Boutros reflects on the evolving journey of doctoral study at the RCA. From navigating imposter syndrome, developing discipline and discovering how research can take shape over a simple cup of coffee. Read the full story on our website.

Impact and public engagement

Our postgraduate researchers work closely with industry and communities to explore important questions, share their creativity and make a positive impact.

• Archana Prasad (Communication Research, PhD) has been sharing her research internationally at the RCA AI Festival, Data Care Festival, Art of Research Conference, and Shaping AI Conference this year to advance conversations around inclusive, ethical, and community-centred approaches to AI. She was also invited to the AI Renaissance Residency in Bückeburg, bringing together approximately 40 global leaders working across AI policy, governance, education, entrepreneurship, art and research, where she presented her research during a fireside chat on AI sovereignty.
• Laurence Wen-Yu Li (Arts & Humanities Research, PhD) hosted an ASMR “knit-with-me” session earlier this year that stitches a pair of vintage 1940s-style gloves from a pattern drawn from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Collection, capturing the peaceful simplicity of traditional crafting. More recently, Laurence presented the museum showcase ‘Weaving on the Fiddle Loom’ which tells the story of different weaving experiments undertaken at the Mary Rose Museum since its excavation in 1982.
• Claire Van Rhyn (Communication Research, PhD) joined an international group of designers, artists, researchers, educators, and changemakers gathered at Aalto University, in collaboration with Studio Atelierista and the Presencing Institute. The social arts residency focused on refining ‘Pedagogies of Togetherness’ for 15-25 year old students in school and university settings. Claire’s research provided both practical and theoretical grounding for body-led relational learning practices, as well as examples of existing case studies with schools in Wales and South Africa.
• Sohali Baluch (Arts & Humanities Research, PhD) was commissioned by Glasgow Women’s Library to create work for Glasgow International 2026, Scotland’s biennial festival of contemporary art, where her work uses performance, film and material processes to explore histories of care, labour, inheritance and archival absence.

Awards and recognition

Our doctoral researchers continue to be recognised globally, with awards and recognitions that highlight the social and creative significance of their practice.

• Folashade Elizabeth Olukoya (Arts & Humanities Research, PhD) was selected as the recipient of the Luminary Award for Creative Excellence in recognition of her work in establishing safe and empowering spaces for women who have experienced systemic abuse. Elizabeth’s interdisciplinary approach integrates her creative art practice of Material Reformations with the poetics of trauma resistance and re-empowerment through the processual metaphors of papier-mâché and pastoral care counselling.
• Rowena Liangru Lu (Communication Research, PhD) exhibited a furniture and home accessory series entitled ‘Serious Play’ at Design Week 2026 in Milan, inspired by kids’ playthings and exploring the mindset and human instinct of play. During the exhibition, Rowena was interviewed by Sky Arte for the Milan Design Week Special Documentary broadcasted around Italy.
• Yunqi Peng (Communication Research, PhD) has gained international recognition for the ‘Interpretation Power of Memories’, an independent art publishing project exploring the complicated communication models in artists’ books. The project won the Professional Best of Show Award at the PRINT Awards, the Winner Award from the Type Directors Club in New York, and a Wood Pencil at the D&AD Awards.
• Mi (Misha) Lin (Design Research, PhD) continues to gain attention for the ‘Generative Unravelling Series’ which reimagines how Miao embroidery, an intangible cultural heritage from Southwest China, can be experienced in the postdigital age. Her work has been presented internationally, most recently at the Shanghai Art & Design Exhibition 2026, the RCA AI Festival 2026 (Snap Visualisation Lab), supported by the EPSRC AI Skills Fund, and the AI for Humanity Spotlight at GOSIM Hangzhou 2025 in China.

Beyond the research project

While research remains at the centre of postgraduate life, our students and staff are making valuable contributions beyond their research and having a lasting impact on the wider research community.

• Inspired by TV series The Great British Bake Off, our first ever PGR Bake-Off challenged students to think beyond conventional methods of disseminating research ideas and Rizpah Brinkman Amadasun (Communication Research, PhD) was crowned the Star Research Baker.
• The RCA AI Festival 2026 brought together a range of researchers, artists, designers, and technologists to explore how AI is reshaping creativity, society and the human experience. The festival featured a range of workshops, exhibition, and artworks using the SNAP Visualisation Lab from our researchers: Mi (Misha) Lin, Faith Ogundare, Archana Prasad, Damien Roach, Kangle Sun, Stephen Todd, Julia Wolf, Zhigang Ye, and Jingjie Zhang.
• As part of a new series ‘Inside Supervision at the RCA’, leading supervisors shared their experiences, methods, and ideas that shape doctoral research at the College. You can find the latest story on our website.
• Our postgraduate researchers Stuart Lee (Arts & Humanities Research, PhD) and Max Livesey (Architecture Research, PhD) are taking the lead in the initiative Signposts/Outposts which will bring students together, supporting their research community and creating new opportunities across the programme.
• Communication PhD researchers have launched the 4th Issue of Itinerant Space, an experimental online journal. Exploring the ways in which “creative practice centres the human experience” the issue showcases work by Stuart Lee, Rowena Liangru Lu, Graham Newman, Yunqi Peng, Xinyue Sun, Bryan Yueshen Wu, Jingjie Zhang, and Shuang Zhao, under the editorial direction of Professor Teal Triggs.
• School of Arts & Humanities researchers including Sohaila Baluch, Minna Pöllänen, and Anju Kasturiraj were selected from a competitive open call to curate and hold a month-long exhibit at Hypha Studios, also featuring work from fellow researchers Linn Phyliss Seeger and Julia Wolf. Shifting Choreographies interrogated the politics of bodies and objects in space through sound, moving image, sculpture, audience participation, writing, photography and performance.
• In the latest episode of the RCA Podcast, artist and PhD researcher Damien Roach (Arts & Humanities Research, PhD) and Professor Zey Suka-Bill, the RCA’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Success, discussed the reality of the creative industries today.

Looking ahead

The research taking place today has the potential to shape the future. As our postgraduate researchers continue to investigate, question, and discover, we will continue to provide an environment where ambitious ideas can flourish.

We celebrate the doctoral researchers who are making their mark today and look forward to seeing where their research takes them tomorrow.