The theme of this year’s research seminar was “Quality in design research”. The research seminar was organised by the Danish Centre of Design Research and took place at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture on Monday, 27 August 2007. The research seminar gathered most of those active in Danish design research and thus offered an occasion for meeting, forming or affirming networks, and debating design and design research.

 

The reason for focusing on the topic of “Quality in design research” was that it represents an important discussion about research principles, and in particular that the Danish Ministry of Culture has put research quality on the agenda. National and international trends point toward more specific and targeted research funding, increased competition and an emphasis on quality and results.

At the same time, the Danish government has allocated considerable resources to research as part of its globalisation strategy, but the institutions under the Danish Ministry of Culture currently only have access to a small share of these funds. On this basis, the ministry has decided to develop a strategy for research in the area that falls under its auspices.

Thus, the theme of the research seminar was intended to contribute to qualifying the debate about quality in research within our field, so that those active in design research can gain influence on the discussions and the strategies.

The programme was divided into two sections:

Morning programme:

• Head of the Royal Academy’s research training programme in architecture and design, Associate Professor, MA (research degree) Henrik Oxvig spoke about competencies and quality in architecture and design research. Read article.
• Mikkel Bogh, rector of the Schools of Visual Arts at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, spoke about art and design as research-based knowledge production in his capacity of representing a recently founded committee under the Danish Ministry of Culture charged with developing a strategy and a set of quality criteria for research in the Ministry’s field. Read article.
 
The afternoon consisted of a broad discussion about quality in design research based on seven presentations on the topic.

Mind Design #1, 2007