The Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) at ETH Zürich is organising the second biennial Doctoral Workshop for 31 May-1 June 2018. Following on the success of the gta Doctoral Workshop 2016, this event offers a selected group of international PhD candidates a forum to present new research in the history, theory and critique of European architecture, urbanism and landscape architecture.

The event’s conceptual framework is Europe in its diverse and constantly reinterpreted geographical, cultural and historical dimensions – from the ideas of the early modern period up to today's designs. The topics are European projects and positions in architecture, urbanism and landscape architecture; relations to European colonial and postcolonial developments on other continents; the influence of non-European architects, planners, historians and theorists in Europe; and European architectural history as the basis of the discipline as such, as it emerged in the nineteenth century – its past, its methods and its constraints.

The workshop will involve 10 to 12 PhD candidates from international universities. Each participant will receive an invitation to give a 20-minute presentation based on his or her doctoral project. The presentation may involve a coherent extract from a dissertation chapter or a distinct conceptual or methodological issue in the candidate’s research topic. Each potential participant must have successfully registered the project in a doctoral program and should have undertaken at least one year's research on the topic. Papers and subsequent presentations in English and German are welcome.

Each application should include a full draft of the intended contribution (2,500 to 3,000 words in length, excluding notes and figure labels). Each application should also include the following: a covering letter outlining the dissertation topic, the paper’s focus and the applicant's institutional affiliation; a 150-word abstract summary explaining the paper’s proposition and the significance of the presented subject within the dissertation; and a written recommendation from the candidate's supervisor confirming the dissertation’s status and estimating the timeline for completion.

Candidates will be notified of their acceptance in early April 2018, receiving feedback on their proposals. The candidates are asked to reflect on the feedback given and then present the final paper during the workshop. The invitation to attend includes two nights in a Zürich hotel and return train or plane travel to Zürich.

The gta Doctoral Workshop will be held within the framework of the Doctoral Program in the History and Theory of Architecture, inaugurated in 2012 at the Department of Architecture, ETH Zürich. Information on the Doctoral Program in the History and Theory for Architecture can be found at http://doctoral-program.gta.arch.ethz.ch/home

For any organisational queries, please contact the event organiser, Cameron Macdonell: cameron.macdonell [at] gta.arch.ethz.ch

Interested doctoral candidates should send an electronic application (in PDF format, no larger than 10 MB) by 16 February 2018 to professur.stalder [at] gta.arch.ethz.ch