Research School Launch

The launch of the 4TU.Design United Research School, March 4 in Utrecht

Industrial Design plays a crucial role in bridging technology and society. In the Netherlands, this discipline is built on a strong foundation of collaboration between the four universities of technology through the 4TU.Centre Design United.

The Research School has been established to deliver current, high-quality PhD-level education in design research, while cultivating a vibrant and collaborative community of design researchers across the Netherlands.

By establishing the Research School, we aim to educate the next generation of design researchers, fostered by our academic community within 4TU.Design United, and together address the complex challenges of our time.

Program

09.30 Welcome with coffee & tea
10.00 Keynote by Professor Lin-Lin Chen, TU/e, “Design and its path towards a mature academic discipline”
11.00 Panel discussion with Rick Schifferstein and colleagues about the Research School moderated by Marco Rozendaal
12.00 Lunch
13.00 Breakout sessions to explore the future of the Research School
- Transdisciplinary design and research
- The role of making in research
- Artistic research practises
- Uses of AI in research
- Free topic
15.00 Plenary reflectionw
15.30 Closing and drinks
16.30 End

Please join us on March 4, from 09:30-17:00, at “De Lik” in Utrecht to celebrate the establishment of the Research School.

All academic staff across the 4TU, from PhD candidates to full professors, are warmly welcome.

We look forward to celebrating this milestone with you!

Lin-Lin Chen is professor and chair of Design Innovation Strategy at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands. She has served as Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Design since 2007. She is also Director of International Scientific Relations for TU/e and represents TU/e in the Governing Board of EuroTech Universities Alliance.

Her academic career spans Taiwan, USA, and the Netherlands. She received B.Sc. degree from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the US. She was professor in the Department of Design at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) from 1998 to 2022, dean of the college of design at Taiwan Tech from 2004 to 2010, president of the Chinese Institute of Design (in Taiwan) from 2007 to 2008, and convener for the arts (and design) area committee of Taiwan’s National Science Council from 2009 to 2011. She joined Faculty of Industrial Design at TU/e in 2013 and was dean of TU/e ID from 2018 to 2026. She founded the International Journal of Design (SCI, SSCI, AHCI) in 2007, was president of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) from 2017 to 2019 and has been a fellow of the Design Research Society (DRS) since 2006.

Her research focuses on human-AI interaction, aesthetics, interdisciplinary collaboration, and design innovation strategy.

De LiK – Gevangenis Wolvenplein
Wolvenplein 27
3512 CK Utrecht

Questions and further information mail to du@4tu.nl