Studying at KISD
Students studying design today give crucial impulses to the definition of their own profession and to their own scope of tasks and duties. This is a complex challenge, which we approach together and enthusiastically. Find about more about our BA and MA courses here… more
The Bachelor of Arts »Integrated Design« focuses on an interdisciplinary and internationally oriented design education. Students are enabled to comprehensively analyze, structure and process design tasks in order to arrive at well-founded and sustainable concepts, positions and problem solutions by simultaneously applying and questioning design methods, procedures and rules. The three-year program is characterized by an integrated, intercultural and interdisciplinary environment in which theory building and practice-oriented design processes are complemented by a variety of experimental and research elements. Applications for our Bachelor program can be submitted once a year and run from mid-February to the end of April every year.
The Master of Arts »Integrated Design Research« focuses on research and development through and by design. Ultimate objective is the conception and establishment of a research practice specific to design, which continuously alternates between the following of rules and their transcension as well as analysis and synthesis. It facilitates gaining, documenting and refining knowledge through the design of artifacts, systems and processes. In this process, the student’s own design is critically compared with other designs, mapped in relation to existing theories, and positioned in discourse in order to open a fertile dialogue between theory and creative practice, to achieve new insights, and to communicate them in a comprehensible way. The Master’s thesis, being the key component of the course of study, focuses on a research through design approach of this kind within one of four Thematic Clusters: Material Systems & Lab Culture, Social & Public Innovation, Urban Intensities & Resources or Visual Cultures & Politics. Applications run from mid-February to the end of April every year.
The study program Master of Sciences »Product Design and Process Development« was developed in close cooperation with experts in mechanical and industrial engineering from TH Köln’s campus Gummersbach. The three to four semester study program offers participants a close collaboration with other disciplines and with players in industry and commerce and features interdisciplinary research projects.
