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.
Join us for the opening conference
On November 13, 2026, researchers, designers, and stakeholders from academia, business, and politics will gather at the TUM Research Campus in Garching to mark the official opening of the MDI and discuss the potential of design methods for scientific discovery, innovation, and social transformation.
Tickets:
Early Bird: €79.00 (until September 30) Standard: €99.00 (October 1 – November 8) Last Minute: €159.00 (November 9 – 13)
Ticket price includes catering for the full day. Conference languages are German and English.
Presenters whose submission was accepted by the scientific program committee attend free of charge — no ticket purchase needed here. Please register using the personal code sent to you separately.
The day features talks (max. 20 minutes) selected by the scientific program committee, organized around MDI's four research priorities:
Health, Wellbeing, and Care:
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:
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:
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:
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?
The detailed program will be published shortly.
For accepted presenters
If your abstract was accepted, you'll receive a personal registration code by email. Use it to register free of charge; no separate ticket purchase is required. Log in to your existing account to manage your details or check your submission status
Abstract Submission - closed
The call for papers closed on August 31, 2026. Submitting authors will be notified of the review outcome by mid-September, alongside the detailed program. New submissions are no longer being accepted..
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