Aalto Design Research

Aalto Design Research is at the international forefront of enquiry into and through design.

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Our research environment fosters goal-oriented research, imaginative experiments, critical discussion and cross-disciplinary enquiry.

We work with businesses, scientists, technologists, sociologists, policymakers, public sector organisations and communities of interest towards a more just and sustainable world.

Aalto Design Research has three, interlinked foci: Design for Sustainability, Collaborative and Human-Centred Design and Practice-Based Design Research.

Julia Lohmannin Hidaka Ohmu. Kuva: Mikko Raskinen

Development of new sustainable materials, research on product/service systems for sustainability, sustainable consumption and research on sustainability transitions.

Department of Design

Collaborative and Human-Centred Design research includes co-design, service design, interaction design, user experience, end-user innovation and open design.

Department of Design

Practice-based design research includes artistic research, design-driven exploration on emerging technologies and materials, and the action research–oriented development of new design methods and approaches.

Department of Design

We also research design management and innovations as well as contemporary and historical issues of design culture and society. Our work extends to applied research that serves industry and the public sector.

Aalto Design Research seeks both rigour and high societal relevance. A high proportion of its work involves multi- and trans-disciplinary collaboration. It is also characterized by engagement with societal challenges and collaborations with organizations in the private and public sectors and with civil society actors.

Empirica – Research on art, design and culture (external link)

Group approaches research with an attitude, where making, acting and engaging play important roles.

Embodied Design

Research group

ENCORE - Engaging Co-design Research Group

The ENCORE research group explores constantly application fields for co-design through hands-on exploration and ambitious research. The visionary competence stems mostly from industrial design spiced with engineering, architecture and anthropology.

Fashion/Textile Futures

The Fashion/Textile Futures research group explores new perspectives on human-centered design research. The group approaches research in the field of fashion, clothing and textiles in multi-faceted ways.

A coat made of Ioncell. Design: Anna-Mari Leppisaari. Photo: Eeva Suorlahti

INUSE - The Users and Innovation Research Group

Researches designer-user relations in sociotechnical change.

INUSE transition arena workshop - panorama of indoor space with groups discussing around whiteboards

NODUS – Sustainable Design Research Group

NODUS Sustainable Design Research Group undertakes transdisciplinary design research for sustainable futures.

Nodus tutkimusryhmäläisiä keskustelemassa

SDIM - Strategic Design Integration and Management Group (external link)

The Strategic Design Integration and Management (SDIM) research group organises researchers with an interest in design management and the organisational adoption, implementation and leadership of designers and design-based practices at the Department of Design.

Department Of Design | Latest Publications

Latest research output and publications from the Department of Design.

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Aalto Design Research in Numbers

We currently supervise over 50 active students within our doctoral programme and we achieve around 40 peer-reviewed articles and books annually. The number of international peer-review journal articles has grown 400% since 2012. The qualitative improvement is visible in the increase of publications in top-of-the-field (the world’s top 10%) outlets, which has grown from 1–2 annually in 2011–2013 to 18 in 2016: about a 1000% increase.

In the University's Research, Art and Impact (RAI) assessment of 2018, the Department of Design's research was described by an international expert panel as 'one of the top design departments in the world...There clearly is buzz about what the Department of Design is producing.'

In 2015 the Aalto ARTS Crown indicator was 2.14 and in 2016 it was 2.65. This indicates the status of a global leader in research among the art-based design schools and is the highest crown score among Aalto’s six schools. The Department of Design is a major contributor to both the volume of articles and the number of citations in the crown score.

Aalto University’s Art & Design now 7th best in the world according to the annual QS Ranking

number of post-doctoral students in design

There are now 14 post-doctoral researchers engaged in our research activities.

There are now 52 active doctoral students enrolled in our research community.

num of exhibitions in 2019 at Aalto Design Research

We organised or took part in 71 exhibitions in 2019.

num of research groups at Aalto Design Research

We are a research community of 7 research groups with diverse backgrounds.

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Woman touching a long-sleeved Marimekko Unikko shirt on display

Research & Art Published: 30.9.2022

Lab-grown pigments and food by-products: The future of natural textile dyes

As the environmental impact of the fashion and textile industries becomes clearer, the demand and need for sustainable alternatives is growing. One international research group aims to replace toxic synthetic dyes with natural alternatives, ranging from plants to microbes to food waste.