Society-Centered Research and Innovation Through Design

Inaugural Conference of the Munich Design Institute (MDI),
November 13, 2026, Research Campus Garching

The Munich Design Institute (MDI) establishes the sixth Integrative Research Institute at the Technical University of Munich: As a transdisciplinary platform, the MDI will connect numerous academic departments and research institutes at TUM as well as stakeholders from design, society, business, and politics.

The MDI explores visionary, strategic, and implementable solutions for a livable future through design, bridging research and practice and putting TUM's Agenda 2030+ of "Society-Centered Research and Innovation" into action: Originally focused on form and function, design today shapes complex systems, experiences, organizations, and even political processes. Design research advances new forms of knowledge, building shared understanding and making multidimensional challenges accessible across disciplines. Grounded in concrete research questions and methods such as prototyping, visualization, participation, and technology-driven design research, the MDI generates creative outcomes and insight through iterative and non-linear processes of research and making.

To mark the official opening of the MDI, researchers from all disciplines are invited to submit papers that explore the potential of design methods for scientific discovery, innovation, and social transformation.

We particularly encourage interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary contributions addressing one or more of the MDI’s four research priorities:

Health, Wellbeing, and Care (Cluster 1):

  • What role do co-design, participation, and inclusion play in prevention, care, and therapy?
  • How can digital health and medical technologies be designed responsibly?
  • How can design support patient-centered health research and care?

Creative Spaces and Organizations (Cluster 2):

  • Which design approaches foster learning, resilient, and sustainable organizations?
  • How can spatial, material, and social configurations foster creative collaboration and organizational learning?
  • How can organizations translate creative imagination into strategic capacity for action?

Emerging Technologies (Cluster 3):

  • What methods can be used to ensure that the development of AI, robotics, data science, and biotechnology is transparent, trustworthy, and socially responsible?
  • What new research approaches are emerging at the intersection of design and AI?

Social and Societal Futures (Cluster 4):

  • How can design contribute to addressing ecological, economic, social, or political transformation processes?
  • What methods support future literacy, participation, and social self-efficacy?
  • How can diverse societal perspectives be integrated into research and innovation processes?

Abstract Submission

On the following pages you can submit your paper and register for the conference. We particularly welcome papers that have not yet been published and demonstrate how researchers can achieve social impact through design methods. Submissions must include an abstract in German or English (max. 3,000 characters, including spaces). The conference languages are German and English. 

Submission deadline: August 31, 2026

Contributions selected by a scientific program committee will be presented in person as a talk (max. 20 minutes) during the MDI opening conference on November 13, 2026, at the Garching Research Campus near Munich. Further publication is currently not planned.

During the process you have to create an account. With this account you can log in later to check your documents, edit your abstract, change your personal data or extend your bookings at a later point in time. If you already have an account, please use the login box on the left side. Otherwise proceed with “Register now”.

Note: Submitting a paper is free of charge. Conference participation is also free once your submission has been accepted by the committee.

Next steps

Your submission will be reviewed by our reviewers as part of the peer-review process.
Important criteria are:

  • Thematic fit
  • Relevance
  • Methodology
  • Originality

Feedback on the review outcome, along with the detailed program, will be available by mid-September.