Master of Science in Design Research

They train question makers, strategists, collaborative leaders, and design thinkers The Dexel Ms Design Research (MsDes) is the innovative, interdisciplinary, and distinguished program for you to become a design leader in the 21st-century workplace.

Created to serve students across all design disciplines, creatives, and those looking to make a career change, our program is a self-tailored, yet structured and guided, program. This engagement-oriented program includes extensive coursework in social interest design, design-led strategy, and future-oriented technologies. Students in the program produce a wide range of new knowledge related to emerging technologies, services, spaces, products, and experiences. Design research in our program is a way of creating new knowledge that drives innovative design processes and collaborative problem-solving.

Alumni from our program work across multiple industries, in complex settings with interdisciplinary teams including the non-profit, academic, health, product development, fashion, manufacturing, built environment, and financial sectors. Students in our Design Research Program are specifically educated and challenged in design and strategy, across diverse contexts. All are exposed to a wide range of research and design practices through multiple collaborations with both academic and professional partners.

This 48-credit program is can be taken either full, or part-time, and we offer a range of modalities through our coursework to suit all schedules, including those with full-time work commitments. Our diverse range of current and past self-developed student topics include: circular design for service design futures, assistive tools for those in need of ambulatory access and transportation, shelter systems in the nonprofit disaster relief space, artificial intelligence and blockchain for human uses, services for sustainable living, health and community in education. The program includes making, research, fabrication, collaboration, and human-centered design thinking. The MS in Design Research program is part of the nationally-ranked Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, housed in award-winning, technologically enhanced facilities, and taught by faculty who have worked at the top of their fields. Situated in the Department of Architecture, Design & Urbanism, the program benefits from its associations with faculty and students in the Interior Architecture & Design and Urban Strategy graduate programs. The program focuses on providing a forum for students to pursue paths of inquiry and investigation within design, technology, social impact, community, environmental design, and health. This flexible program operates with a core curriculum that is built on and augmented by a customized set of electives and the second-year thesis sequence. The curriculum, though self-directed, is grounded in research, studio class work, philosophy, theory, and iterative making. Through deep cross-collaboration, our students create cutting-edge solutions and speculative environments to study culture and human-centered design.

Acceptance for graduate study at Drexel University requires a four-year bachelors degree from a regionally accredited institution in the United States or an equivalent international institution Although admission requirements vary by program regular admission typically requires a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 B for undergraduate work The average for any graduate work must be at least 3.0 Applicants for postmasters status must show potential for further study by having maintained at least a 30 average in their masters-level studies Individual departmental requirements may exceed this minimum

Transcripts Provide official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended

TOEFL scores are required for international applicants or applicants who earned a degree outside the US minimum scores 90 or 577 or 233 Scores will be reviewed based on section scores and total scores IELTS scores may be submitted in lieu of TOEFL scores minimum Overall Band Score 6.5