This optional module, allows for various kinds of research studies in collaboration with planned or ongoing research projects. It is closely linked to the five units of the School of Architecture and is undertaken individually or in small teams of students. Supervision consists of guiding students towards clear results in a particular area of research. The research project is reviewed before a panel of experts from the supervising research unit.

The Research Semester offers a deeper research contribution to the Systematic Sustainability Catalogue (SSC) of the Unit Sustainable Design. The SSC investigates how sustainability is defined, structured and made measurable through theory, policy frameworks, standards, certification systems and local practices. lt asks which dimensions of sustainable transformation are already weil established, and which remain under-addressed, weakly institutionalised or spatially unresolved. Participants develop an individual research project within the SSC framework. Possible topics include ethical and anthropological foundations of sustainability, comparative analysis of SIA, EN and ISO standards, certification systems, food and health, commons and care, material culture, repair, education, work, or local transformation fields in the Alpine Rhine Valley. The expected output is a structured research contribution: an expanded bibliography, a coding protocol, a comparative matrix, an indicator proposal, a thematic dossier or a territorial research map. The Research Semester is not a studio project. lt may inform OPS! as a spatial testing ground, but it remains research. The distinction is essential: SSC provides the research framework; OPS! translates selected questions into design.

Research or design studies defined by research units and under the guidance of mentors, usually closely related to current research projects, developed individually or in groups. The offers of the research semester vary each semester depending on the units and are coordinated with the academic director of the Master's degree programme.

Relevant reading will be made available at the beginning of the course. A list of recommended literature will be announced in the course and updated on an ongoing basis.

None. Recommended for the third semester of the Master´s degree programme.

Minimum 75% compulsory attendance, continuous assessment and regular meetings with instructors.
The final grade is calculated according to the weighting of the following components: submission (40%) and presentation/participation (60%).

Individual appointments will be set with the tutor; group projects are also possible, as well as group work with individual submissions;

Start, final submission and presentation can be individually
defined with the respective tutors.

Registration via the intranet of the University of Liechtenstein is not binding and is only valid in combination with the written consent of the respective unit. This applies to all Individual Electives in the Master's degree programme in Architecture.