Expand your horizons and innovate for social good by applying your creative skills and imagination to foster a healthy society at the intersection of design, creativity and health.
Develop skills, knowledge and capability to pursue opportunities and conduct independent creative research arising from the intersection of design and health.
Expand your professional aspirations and innovate by synergising your creative practice with critical and conceptual thinking around design and health.
Develop or expand your professional relationships and networks.
Receive teaching from world class design for health researchers and practitioners

Placing emphasis on personal research and practice, this course provides a stimulating and supportive environment within which you can develop your interests and ideas at the intersection of design and health. Our academic staff are design specialists, researchers and practitioners with expertise across all facets of design and health who will support and encourage you to expand your creative practice. The course is part of an interdisciplinary Postgraduate design programme which promotes an ethos of social and cultural innovation.

Live projects

While there could be opportunities to undertake live, real-world projects embedded into your modules, you're encouraged to seek industrial sponsors or collaborators for individual projects. The long-established link with our Art, Design & Media Research Centre (ADMRC) supports a continuing tradition of graduates from our masters courses working as research assistants and/or continuing their studies to PhD level. As such they’re also able to provide you with expert support throughout your projects.

Field trips

There are often opportunities to go on study trips and visits, with free travel and accommodation for all mandatory field trips in the UK. These could include; workshops, design exhibitions or visits to practitioners’ studios and conferences

Networking opportunities

You will benefit from being part of a vibrant interdisciplinary post-graduate environment which has extensive links to international networks in the broader design for health community. There is an opportunity to learn from and engage with colleagues working across Industry (e.g. Design Futures our award winning in-house design consultancy, from visiting specialists across a range of hospital and community health provision and from end users) and the broader academic art, design and media research community and at SHU.

The initial modules focus on developing your critical understanding of design thinking, theoretical studies, research methods, and making practices. You will also gain knowledge of the diverse range of concepts, approaches, issues and debates related to design for health research and practice and related fields. These modules are taught by staff from the Department of Art & Design and the Lab4Living. Building upon the skills and knowledge gained from the initial modules and supported by key specialist staff, you will embark on an independent practice-based research project in the final module of the programme.

Learning is supported through:

• immersive learning alongside peers in a studio environment
• practice-based research
• project work
• individual and group tutorials
• lectures
• seminars
• constructive critical debates

Visit the department's Instagram to see what innovations and creations our MA Design students have been working on as well as Lab4Living’s diverse range of design for health research. For more content from our MA and MFA Design programmes, please visit our official Instagram.

This course prepares you for a career in

• design
• design management
• making or manufacturing
• company-employed design
• independent design practice
• postgraduate study at PhD level
• education
• retail/marketing
• design research
• academia
• social enterprise
• health and social care service design

 

A 2:2 degree or equivalent in an appropriate design discipline or significant relevant experience.

Overseas applicants from countries whose first language is not English must normally produce evidence of competence in English, with an IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills.

Important notice:

The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.

Final Year Compulsory modules
Module	Credits	Assessment
Lab For Living	60	Coursework
Ma Project (Design For Health)	60	Coursework
Methods For Research And Practice	60	Coursework