Advanced Master of Research in Art and Design

Sint Lucas Antwerpen welcomes applications for the 2025–26 Advanced Master of Research in Art and Design program! 

Are you an artist or designer working on social-political concerns and do you need more time for your practice-based research? Are you looking for a nurturing research environment with critical but caring peers and tutors? Do you want to improve your writing, theoretical framework, and artistic methodologies? Are you in search for the right formats and contexts to share your artistic research experiments and doubts? Are you planning to apply for a practice-based PhD in the arts? Are you able to dedicate yourself to an intense and intensive artistic research process? 

The Advanced Master of Research in Art and Design program focuses on the research development of artists and designers whose practice is addressing a social-political context (including, but not limited to, feminism, social design, migration, decolonization, race, gender, queer, class, disability politics, capitalism, the Anthropocene, the (under)commons, community art, critical design, healing & rituals, history, AI & digital cultures…). The program is developed in accordance with the specific research proposals, interests, and needs of the participants. We offer intense coaching in writing, critical theory, artistic research methodologies, and in sharing research. The coaching is individual, collective, and participatory. 

Collective learning and participatory coaching are central to the program. We ask from each participant the engagement to care for and contribute to each other’s research development and well-being. We offer a nurturing research environment of dedicated and experienced tutors, researchers, and PhD students as well as an international and local network of professionals, institutions, and guest lecturers. Participants have access to the workshop facilities of Sint Lucas Antwerpen and the support of technical staff (photographic labs, ceramics, digital printing, printmaking, etc.). We work with a small team of maximum twelve participants.

Who
The Advanced Master of Research in Art and Design is intended for candidates who have previously obtained an MA degree. Holders of either a master’s in visual arts or in other subjects with an active art or design practice are invited to apply with a letter of motivation, a research proposal, and a relevant portfolio.

We are looking for artists or designers who have developed an individual or collaborative practice and who are in the position to dedicate themselves for the duration of the program to a research project related to their practice. The program is particularly suitable for those interested in critically developing their practice within a social-political field and/or in preparation for a practice-based PhD in the arts.

Practical information
The participants meet in Antwerp every two or three weeks for three full days, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. These three days are dedicated to four modules: Methodology, Writing, Critical Theory, and ShareResearch. In these modules we focus on the participants’ specific research proposals and enable them to advance in writing, theoretical explorations, research methodology, and sharing their research. Parallel to this trajectory, we also organize three intensive weeks. These are full-time research weeks with international or local artists or designers across the fields of artistic research. 

The workload and intensity of the program are not to be underestimated, and we therefore recommend candidates to realistically assess their situation before applying. Ideally, participants are based in or relocate to Antwerp or Belgium.

The application process for the 2025–26 program closes on February 26, 2025. On positive evaluation of your research proposal, you will be invited for an online interview on March 24, 25, or 26, 2025. The program starts IRL in Antwerp on September 29, 2025 and lasts till the end of June 2026. You can apply here. On February 12, 2025 we will organize an online and on campus open day! Follow our social media announcements for more info. 

To read more about the research projects of previous participants and the Advanced Master program, check adma.be. For more info, please contact Marnie Slater, the program leader and coordinator, at adma [at] kdg.be.