The Doctoral School of Visual Arts has been active within the Institution Organizing Doctoral Studies at the “George Enescu” National University of Arts in Iași since 2007-2008. It covers the three-year Doctoral Studies Program within the Faculty of Visual Arts and Design, along with the other two doctoral schools, Music and Theatre. The Doctoral School of Visual Arts aims to train specialists in the field of visual arts in order to develop research-based artistic practices or to produce theoretical studies on the complex phenomenon of visual arts of the past and present. Another objective is to develop creativity through theoretical and practical research and to internationalize the entire educational and research approach.

The main goal is therefore the production of original, internationally relevant scientific knowledge, which can be the basis for a professional career in higher-education and research. The professional PhD program can be attended by visual arts practitioners acknowledged at national and international level, whose artistic activity is visible and has a distinct identity that can be integrated into an original concept of theoretical scope and artistic practice.

The areas of doctoral studies managed by the Doctoral School of Visual Arts are designed as two separate directions of training, comprising two programs:

  1. The scientific PhD aims to produce original, internationally relevant scientific knowledge based on scientific methods; the professional doctorate in Visual Arts aims to produce original knowledge based on applying the scientific method and systematic reflection on high-level national and international artistic creation and which can constitute a basis for a professional career in higher education and research. The research fields relative to the scientific PhD are the History and Theory of Art – Aesthetics of Visual Arts, with the subfields: History of Universal Visual Art, History of Romanian Visual Art, Theory of Visual Arts, Anatomy and Artistic Anthropology, Art Criticism, Visual Art Curation, Artistic-visual pedagogy.
  2. The professional PhD has the following fields and subfields: Visual-artistic composition, Plastic composition, Decorative composition, Design, Artistic-visual techniques and technologies. It is mainly based on the research and scientific analysis of one’s own artistic performances, carried out in the creative profile.

The field of Visual Arts comprises the following creative subfields: Painting, Sculpture, Graphics, Mural Art, Textile Arts, Ceramics and Design, and the scientific subfields: Painting, Sculpture, Graphics, Mural Art, Textile Arts, Ceramics, Design, Restoration, Visual Art Aesthetics and History of visual art.

Strategies and procedures implemented or in the process of being implemented within the Doctoral School of Visual Arts, with respect to the quality of doctoral programs:

  • Outlining the specificity of the two types of PhD programs: professional and scientific, so that future candidates know exactly how to approach the process of research and artistic creation, together with the supervisor;
  • Expert knowledge of the field of specialization, aiming at theoretical, methodological and practical developments, specific to visual arts;
  • Improving the research methods, by creating separate sections and distinct strategies, to help doctoral students, depending on the individual specifics of the topic addressed in research.
  • Interpreting information and developing forecasts regarding the socio-economic-cultural context of the evolution of the artist-opera-society relationship;
  • The superior use of a language specific to professional communication within the specialized field and in communication with different inter-professional environments.
  • Promoting multidisciplinarity and carrying out joint projects with ICMA within UNAGE Iasi, by adopting common research and development strategies.
  • Attracting candidates from multiple areas of artistic research, both conventional and innovative research areas (multimedia, new media, artistic digital technologies, virtual, etc.);
  • Coordination, through the innovative use of quantitative and qualitative methods, of professional research and/or artistic management projects.
  • Collaboration with the other doctoral schools of IOSUD, through projects, grants, common artistic manifestations, but also common strategies regarding the improvement of the educational act.