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In 2008 the British Council in Australia, with the support of the Prime Minister’s Initiative established a Design Researcher Award programme.
The purpose of the Award was to develop new research links between higher education institutions and research centres in the UK and Australia. It was expressly looking for long-term relationship building which could result in joint publications and research, exhibitions or student projects in design.
The Award was available for any area of design research including product design, digital media design, architecture and design for film and television.
Each Award was for up to $7,000 but had to be matched by the applicants’ Australian University, to ensure a genuine Australia/UK research connection.
The awarded projects are diverse and interesting -from designing intelligent garments, to the role of public monuments on a collective psyche, to the history of interior design.
Awards were made to seven Australian researchers:
•Gene Bawden from Art & Design, Monash University, linked with School of Graphic Design, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London to research the design history of English domestic interiors and their application in colonial Australia. Read profile
•Dr Yoko Akama from RMIT University, Melbourne linked with London College of Communication, University of the Arts London (Information Environments unit), to explore the critical concern of the communication designer’s role in society and how they can design for, and with, other people. Read profile
•Vince Dziekan, Art & Design, Monash University, linked with Foundation of Art & Creative Technology (FACT), Liverpool John Moores University to investigate curatorial design and emerging forms of project architecture.Read profile
•Danielle Wilde, Art & Design, Monash University and CSIRO linked with School of Architecture, Design & the Built Environment, Centre for Smart Materials, Nottingham Trent University to explore wearable and body centric technologies
•Dr Ian Coxon, UTS linked with Human Centred Design Institute, School of Engineering & Design, Brunel University to investigate the Intersection between technical engineering of the mobile phone and the human-centred social use. Read more
•Peta Carlin from RMIT University, Melbourne linked with Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee, Scotland to undertake interdisciplinary knowledge exchange around the design of surfaces and their capacity to affect identity and place. Read profile
•Russell Rodrigo from University of New South Wales, linked with the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL to explore the Challenges of Contemporary Memorialism in Urban Landscapes.Read profile
This programee was funded under the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education (PMI2). A major strand of PMI2 is the development of strong, strategic overseas partnerships.
This programme has now finished, and will not be available for applicants in 2009.
For further information about the Award, contact Kirsten Freeman, kirsten.freeman@britishcouncil.org.au or call + 61 3 9523 2271
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