About the Programme
The Institute for Creative Futures is an innovative hub that merges the cutting-edge fields of design innovation and creative technologies. By combining expertise in design innovation, media, and the creative industries, the Institute fosters interdisciplinary approaches to tackle contemporary global challenges. We are dedicated to exploring how design innovation and creative technologies drive social, cultural, and economic transformation while equipping the next generation of leaders with the skills, knowledge, and expertise to shape the future of the creative industries.
Our community is vibrant, enthusiastic, and forward-thinking, where world-leading academics and talented students collaborate closely on groundbreaking research. We foster a culture of experimentation and interdisciplinary collaboration to create real-world impact.
Students pursuing our postgraduate research programmes will have the chance to work with top researchers and industry leaders, gaining invaluable first-hand experience in addressing real-world problems.
Design Innovation PhD
PhD: 3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
MPhil: 2 years full-time; 4 years part-time
Entry Requirements: An honours degree (2:1 or above) or equivalent overseas qualification.
About the Programme
The Institute pursues design research at the forefront of innovation, focusing on issues with the potential to generate outstanding outcomes for both research and practice.
Research Areas
Futures:
This theme explores design’s role in social transformation, addressing catalysts such as social, cultural, political, economic, and technological changes. Questions include:
How do movements impact design, and how does design influence social transformation?
What futures are being designed, and what role does design play in shaping them?
How do technologies impact future-making, and what are the socio-political and ecological implications?
Cultures:
This theme examines the cultural contexts and communities involved in design processes. Key questions include:
Who are we designing for and with?
How do diverse cultural perspectives shape design practices?
How can collaborative and inclusive innovation be achieved?
Praxis:
Praxis focuses on the practices, performativity, and organizational aspects of design. Questions include:
How does design organize and manage societal change?
What processes and practices enable meaningful innovation?
How does design communicate its values and ideals through aesthetics, language, and culture?
Students pursuing an MRes in Design Innovation can focus on areas such as Identity, Culture and Communication, or Design Thinking, emphasizing design's role in fostering innovation.
Media and Creative Industries PhD
PhD: 3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
MPhil: 2 years full-time; 4 years part-time
Entry Requirements: An honours degree (2:1 or above) or equivalent overseas qualification.
About the Programme
The Institute focuses on the dynamic relationship between media, communication, and technological, social, and cultural change.
Research Areas
Current research addresses the implications of technological transformations and social change, including:
Social, cultural, political, and economic relationships and movements
Social media and activism in historical and contemporary contexts
The Institute excels in methodologies such as ethnography, participatory approaches, oral histories, archival research, and textual analysis. These approaches are applied to critical studies of gender, sexuality, identity, race, and ethnicity.
Key areas of interest include:
Mobility (people and technologies), place, creativity, and labour
Communication practices and infrastructures that connect, disconnect, enable, and constrain
Media and communication structures, regulations, and practices, spanning legacy and new media
Our academics have global expertise, conducting empirical research worldwide and offering perspectives on media, communication, and social change.
Students pursuing an MRes in Media and Creative Industries will join a vibrant research community on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, gaining specialized knowledge of media practices and critical insights into different media platforms and industries.