A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the School of Design at the University of Limerick and the National Institute of Design, India, in order to develop current research and teaching activities and to facilitate the exchange and mobility of staff members, researchers and students.
Both NID and UL School of Design are recognised internationally to be at the forefront of educating highly skilled graduates who operate effectively in the global workforce where creative expertise in Environmental, Technological and Social problem solving are critical. This partnership aims to build on these strengths to further enable graduates to be global citizens, design entrepreneurs, community design facilitators and some of the industry leaders into the future.
The signing of the partnership agreement between NID and the UL School of Design aims to provide a further study pathway for undergraduate design students to further their studies while learning from each other’s sociocultural contexts in India and in Ireland. It also aims over time to build a shared design research capacity through joint supervision of research, exchange of faculty and researchers.
Elaborating on the association Dr Adam de Eyto – Head of School of Design, University of Limerick, said “Our interests in design are very similar but are social and cultural contexts are each distinctly different. This provides us with a unique opportunity to collaborate with our NID partners, to learn from each other and develop new design approaches to positively influence our fast changing world”
Speaking about the association Professor Kerstin Mey, Vice President Academic Affairs and Student Engagement, UL said: “Design is a vital catalyst for the development of solutions to complex societal challenges. The cooperation between UL and NID will create a fertile ground for sharing ideas and insights, stimulating research and knowledge exchange, and promoting staff and student mobility in the service of social change and innovation and the education of the next generations of leaders in design.’
Mr. Praveen Nahar, - Activity Chairperson of International Programmes at NID said: “India and Ireland have similar foundations of design, it will be very interesting for NID and UL School of Design to build collaborative research and academic exchange initiatives and common areas of interests in design”
National Institute of Design (NID), India
National Institute of Design was established in 1961 as an autonomous National Institution under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India for providing world class design education, training, and applied research. NID is a multi-campus Institute having its main campus in Ahmedabad as well as campuses in Gandhinagar and Bengaluru. It carries out its objectives through educational research programmes at both Bachelor and Master’s levels, under its five faculties covering 20 specific design disciplines. National Institute of Design has been declared ‘Institution of National Importance’ by the Act of Parliament, by virtue of the National Institute of Design Act 2014. The Institute is also recognized as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. It also undertakes outreach, consultancy and industry programmes & projects.
School of Design, University of Limerick, Ireland
The School of Design is home to a variety of undergraduate, postgrad and research activities in Architecture, Product Design, Design Research, Human Factors and Digital Fabrication. The School represents the very best in new collaborative approaches to design education and research for and about people, the spaces they inhabit and the products and service systems they use now and in the future. All discipline areas within the school work through an applied, studio-based approach with strong collaboration with Industry and Societal stakeholders. The School coordinates a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and also hosts the largest single design research group in the country (Design Factors). Research conducted through Design Factors and SAUL (Architecture) takes the form of Practice-based, Design led, traditional and/or Professionally Based research projects and degrees. The School is positioned within the Faculty of Science & Engineering at UL which gives it strong ties to the Health Research Institute and to the CONFIRM and LERO research institutes within UL. The School of Design is the first Design School based within a University in Ireland.