MFA in Design with Specialisation in Embedded Design
Summary
The Embedded Design master’s programme offers a unique opportunity to engage with critical design in diverse organisational contexts. Focusing on sustainability, innovation, and disruptive thinking, it equips you to become a proactive agent of change. By fostering collaboration and questioning conventions, you’ll emerge as a dynamic force in the design field. Whether following traditional or unconventional paths, this program empowers you to shape the future of design with confidence and impact.
About
As an Embedded Designer, you will immerse yourself in diverse contexts, building deep connections with collaborators and stakeholders to fully understand their needs and challenges. This systemic approach considers the relationship of the aesthetics with the social, environmental, and economic impacts. Embedded Designers act as catalysts for change, driving innovation and sustainable practices through empathy, collaboration, and the ability to navigate complex systems.
Vision and Programme Focus
Our vision for Embedded Design is to foster a vibrant community of practice that emphasises the designer’s role in shaping material forms and relational systems for making change within organisations. Specialising in design within complex and sustainable contexts, we equip you to be both a collaborative partner and a critical thinker. Embedded Design means to situate design practice within an organisational context, not to be misunderstood as embedded software/hardware design, therefore you will explore design’s potential at both micro and macro levels. This offers ample opportunities for experimentation and intervention in real-world contexts. As part of an international cohort, you will engage deeply with sustainability challenges, delving into the transformative potential of design, and creating change.
Focus on Sustainability
This programme, part of GU’s Sustainablity-Focused programmes, uses interdisciplinary collaboration to address today’s pressing societal challenges. We develop design skills that apply to corporations, institutions, public organisations, and society at large, crafting sustainable and lasting solutions in the form of artefacts, services, social interventions, or organisational redesigns.
Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Learning Environment
The learning environment is dynamic and collaborative, with lectures, seminars, and workshops often involving external partners. Our partnerships with organizations such as Volvo, Afry and the City of Gothenburg enrich the programme through real-world projects and collaborations. Each student contributes to a vibrant learning environment, where open dialogue and teamwork in the studio are central. You will work hands-on with real-life partners, learning to balance collaboration with critical thinking. Using design methods such as visualisation, interventions, form-giving, and experience design, we challenge the status quo to propose sustainable solutions
Get to know teachers and staff at the Design Unit.
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Programme structure and content
The programme combines theory and practice. In the first year, you will explore embedded design through experiential learning, collaborating with partners and peers. Critical perspectives such as ethics, intersectionality, and sustainability are integrated throughout.
The second year is focused on long-term explorative projects with external partners, allowing you to set up and execute your own design interventions. The thesis project in the final term involves conducting and disseminating a comprehensive design project, paired with a written component.
Who should apply?
- Do you have a background in design or interdisciplinary studies and want to apply your diverse interests to create innovative design work within organisational settings?
- Are you passionate about how design can address global social challenges?
- Do you envision a dynamic and unconventional career in design?
If you believe design can drive change and wish to collaborate and challenge the status quo by tackling global, social, and organisational issues, the master’s programme in Embedded Design is for you.
Prerequisites and selection
Entry requirements
Bachelor's Degree in Design of at least 180 credits or equivalent. Applicants must prove their knowledge of English: English 6/English B from Swedish Upper Secondary School or the equivalent level of an internationally recognised test, for example TOEFL, IELTS. In addition, approved work samples are required.
Portfolio
Find the portfolio instructions for the MFA Programme in Design with Specialisation in Embedded Design here:
More information about Portfolio
Selection
The selection is based on an assessment of submitted work samples.
After graduation
Upon graduating, you will receive a Master of Fine Arts in Design with a specialisation in Embedded Design.
This programme prepares you for roles in academic research, design consultancies, and in-house positions in companies, municipalities, or governmental agencies, with titles such as Service Designer, Strategic Designer, and Design Researcher. More importantly, you will be equipped to apply your skills in unconventional fields, beyond traditional job titles.
You will leave the programme ready to drive change in new organisational contexts, adapting to a global, sustainable, and digitalised society.
Facilities
The Embedded Design programme is housed at HDK-Valand’s facilities on Kristinelundsgatan, right in the heart of Gothenburg, within the same building complex as the Röhsska Museum of Design and Crafts. You’ll be studying in an international environment with access to well-equipped workshops, located near the vibrant arts scene.
More information about facilities
Exchange opportunities
Exchange studies are possible in the third semester of the programme, providing the opportunity to study at several interesting universities around the world.
