Institute for Design Innovation

The Institute for Design Innovation combines research, teaching and enterprise to deliver comprehensive programmes in design innovation and management, entrepreneurial design management and design research.

3rd in the UK for Art and Design The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
5th in the UK for Product Design The Guardian University Guide 2024
4th in the UK for Art and Design The Complete University Guide 2024

Design Innovation at Loughborough

The Institute for Design Innovation is committed to delivering high quality teaching in collaboration with industry and civil society to address real-life enterprise and social innovation needs.

Our postgraduate programmes within the Institute for Design Innovation allows students to engage in externally connected creative projects whilst studying in the ‘design capital of the world’. Each postgraduate programme provides experience of working in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary design-driven teams, whilst facilitating the development of skills that are increasingly required by industry.

Research degrees

In addition to our exciting range of taught programmes, there are also a variety of funded and unfunded opportunities to join the Institute for Design Innovation as a doctoral researcher. You can develop your own unique research proposal or browse our current list of PhD opportunities – either way, we’d love to hear from you.

Browse our PhD opportunities

Research and teaching

Research

The research agenda of the Institute for Design Innovation builds on the idea that design contributes to and enables innovation in multiple ways and on various levels. The Institute for Design Innovation is currently engaged in four key research areas, with a focus on the use and application of design knowledge, skills and approaches into varied contexts.

Teaching

Each programme allows students to engage in externally connected creative projects whilst studying in the design capital of the world. These projects provide students with experience of working in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary design-driven teams, facilitating the development of skills that are increasingly in demand by industry and civil society.

The campus is part of an exciting development on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, known as Here East. Here East is actively bringing together an emerging breed of innovators and digital makers through education, business, technology and media to drive forward creativity and entrepreneurship across London.

By undertaking a PhD or postgraduate research project with the Institute for Design Innovation, you will have the opportunity to bring direct benefits to local, national and global society, and gain experience of real-world problem solving.

Links with industry

Institute for Design Innovation students have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities with the Institute’s extensive network of industry partners, social enterprises and voluntary organisations.

The Institute for Design Innovation also enjoys a collaborative relationship with Loughborough Design School, based at the University’s East Midlands campus. Students from Loughborough Design School and the Institute for Design Innovation regularly come together to take part in design projects, hackathons and company site visits.

Facilities

Based on our London campus, you will have access to all the facilities within our building, plus opportunities to learn outside the campus throughout your studies with us.

Career opportunities

As a postgraduate student with the Institute for Design Innovation, you will have the opportunity to turn a passion for design into a desirable professional asset. As a university, we are recognised for producing outstanding graduates ready to excel as advocates of design innovation and creative thinking.

Graduates of our Design Innovation master's and PhD programmes are extremely desirable to employers, who search for innovators and creative designers in order to thrive in the current marketplace.