Student hardship

From: Steve Parnell
Sent: Thursday June 25, 2009 12:01PM
To: John-Paul Nunes; David Gloster; Sunand Prasad
Subject: hardship scheme for students

Dear John, David, Sunand

I read with interest the article on BD's website about the RIBA's student hardship scheme.

Could I ask why it is that the RIBA don't consider PhD students worthy of support?

After all, the Institute's official line is that:

"The RIBA recognizes the capacity of research to unite the study and practice of architecture and to strengthen links between students and the profession; knowledge is any profession’s most precious asset and research is what underpins it, helping our anticipation of the future.

The Institute is committed to supporting and promoting research in architecture carried out by PhD students, academics and practitioners through schemes including the annual RIBA President's Awards for Research and the RIBA LKE Ozolins Studentship."

Vapid oratory. Offering an award is no good if nobody can afford to finish a PhD in the first place and the Ozolins - the sole studentship formerly offered by the RIBA for the whole country - is now no more. So can you tell me in what way the RIBA supports PhD students in order to enhance the profession's "most precious asset" and link the academy, the profession and practice "in anticipation of the future"?

Architecture as a discipline is already laughable. I beseech you sirs to look up from validation and unto real research as something worthy of financial support before this beloved profession of ours designs itself into an irrelevant corner.

Regards,
Steve Parnell
(hard-up PhD student at Sheffield, the country's 2nd placed architectural research centre according to the most recent RAE, but which offers no funding for PhD students outside of building science (so Corb help the rest))