Academic Collaborations
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Academic collaboration is a fundamental part of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, leading to cutting edge research outputs and knowledge exchange.
There are a number of ways to engage with the Centre for academic collaboration.
Research grants
The majority of design research projects undertaken by the Centre are collaborative. We work with a variety of partnering institutions and academics, covering disciplines ranging from orthopaedic surgery to wearables for ADHD monitoring.
We lead, or partner, on the writing of grant applications, strategic planning and ultimate realisation or execution of award-winning research outputs. These may span traditional academic outputs such as papers and conference presentations, but crucially include practical design outputs (e.g. information, apps and product designs) for impact in the real world.
We have been awarded funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Wellcome Trust, Innovate UK and Horizon 2020.
Knowledge exchange
The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design engages in knowledge exchange with business, government, the non-profit sector and the design community.
Engagement takes place through education and events, publications and industrial collaborations. The Include biennial conference, student collaborations and the Challenge Workshops are some of the ways in which the Centre does this:
- Include is an international network and a series of biennial conferences which aim to develop the theory and practice of inclusive design. It has a special focus on bringing academics and practitioners together.
- Collaboration with universities: projects with design departments within universities focusing on teaching inclusive design though live briefs.
- The international Challenge Workshops focus on inclusive design practice as a tool for innovation and is aimed at designers and business organisations.
- Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) are undertaken to improve business competitiveness and productivity through funded partnerships with our academics and researchers.
Course development and teaching
Part of the HHCD remit is to engage the RCA student body with Inclusive Design concepts and methodologies. We actively engage with several schools and courses as guest lecturers, tutors and examiners, lecture on the PhD training programme and run AcrossRCA modules annually. We encourage students to get in touch if they feel there are inclusive and/or healthcare components to their work.
