Master’s degree in Advanced Studies in Design-Barcelona (MBDesign)

The curriculum of the master’s degree in Advanced Studies in Design-Barcelona comprises 60 ECTS credits that are divided as shown in the table below.

Compulsory subjects, which are worth 15 ECTS credits in total, are common to all students taking the master’s degree. One of five optional specialisations, which are worth 30 ECTS credits each, must be chosen from the following:

• 1. Contemporary Design (taught in English - Barcelona School of Architecture - ETSAB - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya)
• 2. Design, Innovation and Technology (taught in English - Vilanova i la Geltrú School of Engineering - EPSEVG - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya)
• 3. Industrial Design Engineering (Terrassa School of Industrial, Aerospace and Audiovisual Engineering - ESEIAAT - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya)
• 4. Art Direction in Design (Faculty of Fine Arts - FBBAA - University of Barcelona)
• 5. Design Research (ETSAB-ETSEVG-ESEIAAT-FBBAA)

To complete the degree, students must take 15 ECTS credits in the form of a master’s thesis, which must be related to the chosen specialisation. Students taking two specialisations must produce a master’s thesis related to the curricular pathway they have followed over the course of the master’s degree.

Basic competencies

The basic competencies are those stated for master’s degrees in Royal Decree 1393/2007:

• Graduates of this degree will have acquired the knowledge that serves as a basis or opportunity for developing and applying original ideas, often in a research context.
• They will know how to apply the knowledge acquired and their problem-solving abilities in new or unfamiliar settings within wider (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their field of study.
• They will be able to integrate their knowledge and deal with the complexity of making judgements on the basis of information that, although incomplete or limited, includes reflection on the social and ethical responsibilities related to the application of their knowledge and judgement.
• They will be able to clearly and unambiguously communicate their conclusions – and the knowledge and reasons that support them – to specialised and non-specialised audiences.
• They will have acquired learning skills that will enable them to continue studying in a largely self-directed or autonomous manner.

Generic competencies

Generic competencies are those that students must have acquired over the course of the master’s degree.

• Students will have learnt to research, innovate and specialise in order to interpret the current state of affairs and its effect on the fields of design, technology, theory and the environment from the cross-disciplinary perspective that characterises BarcelonaDesign.
• They will be able to apply the advanced knowledge of design, technology, theory and the environment that they have acquired locally and that results from the characteristic experience and erudition of BarcelonaDesign and relate it to an international context.
• They will be able to apply basic research methods for innovation and specialisation in the field of design with the will to improve and the tradition that are characteristic of BarcelonaDesign.

Cross-disciplinary competencies

Cross-disciplinary competencies are those skills that the student acquires during the course of study and that are common to all master’s degree courses. At the UPC, these generic competencies are entrepreneurship and innovation, sustainability and social commitment, foreign languages (preferably English), teamwork and the effective use of information resources.

Specific competencies

Common compulsory subjects

• Students will have acquired a broad view of the state of the art internationally, the current state of affairs and research in a range of design specialisations that focuses on theory and criticism; of design and the environment; and of technology and innovation.
• They will have acquired a systematic understanding of the application of design as regards the latest trends in theory and criticism, design and the environment, and technology and innovation, in national and international terms and in terms of design fields in Barcelona.

Specialisations

• Upon completing the specialisation, students will be able to work in multidisciplinary and multicultural groups and to deploy strategies for managing cultural diversity. (Competency specific to the Contemporary Design, Art Direction in Design and Design Research specialisations.)
• They will be able to contribute their research to expanding knowledge of the discipline using critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis skills. They will understand management and design systems and criteria for scientific rigour in design innovation. (Competency specific to the Contemporary Design, Industrial Design Engineering, Art Direction in Design and Design Research specialisations.)
• They will be skilled at intervening in decision making and in the conception of complex designs. (Competency specific to the Contemporary Design and Design Research specialisations.)
• They will be able to conceive and carry out complex integrated designs by applying advanced theoretical foundations in design. (Competency specific to the Contemporary Design, Industrial Design Engineering and Art Direction in Design specialisations.)
• They will have acquired a systematic understanding of the cultural environment, moment and context – as regards the object but also the urban and spatial environment – that they can then apply to the integrated design of systems and products linked to design. (Competency specific to the Contemporary Design specialisation.)
• They will be able to critically analyse technological progress and new materials, techniques and material construction of objects and to intentionally apply visual communication and material representation techniques according to the design premise and in a contemporary key. (Competency specific to the Contemporary Design, Industrial Design Engineering and Art Direction in Design specialisations.)
• They will be able to formulate research hypotheses and projects on contemporary design and new products and processes and emerging sectors and to reflect upon innovation, originality and dissemination of design in the context of the knowledge society. (Competency specific to the Contemporary Design, Design, Innovation and Technology, Industrial Design Engineering and Design Research specialisations.)
• They will be familiar with and know how to use the latest technologies to extract the information contained in large data sets to improve design processes. (Competency specific to the Design, Innovation and Technology specialisation.)
• They will be able to integrate knowledge and new technologies in the selection of existing and emerging processes and materials. (Competency specific to the Design, Innovation and Technology and Industrial Design Engineering specialisations.)
• They will be able to apply the knowledge and methods they have acquired in design to design that has a social value and that takes into account the principles of sustainability, accessibility and user-centred design. (Competency specific to the Design, Innovation and Technology, Industrial Design Engineering and Design Research specialisations.)
• They will be able to conceive and develop projects and services that involve multiple disciplines and participate in the ‘design project’ as a product in itself. (Competency specific to the Design, Innovation and Technology and Design Research specialisations.)
• They will be familiar with and know how to use qualitative and quantitative tools for interaction with final users as an integral part of design for all. (Competency specific to the Design, Innovation and Technology and Design Research specialisations.)
• They will be able to distinguish and use collaborative and collective techniques and models in design processes. (Competency specific to the Design, Innovation and Technology specialisation.)
• They will be able to give shape to design projects using advanced computer-aided design techniques and prototype creation processes. (Competency specific to the Industrial Design Engineering specialisation.)
• They will understand how systems behave in the world of design, as well as aspects that contribute to the sustainability of products, strategies and practices. They will be able to analyse the environmental implications of the decisions they take in the design process. (Competency specific to the Contemporary Design and Design Research specialisations.)
• They will have in-depth knowledge of the history of design and be familiar with the current situation of the main methodological schools for the study of design. They will be able to reflect upon the state of the art in design studies. They will be aware of the professional context in which research will be carried out. (Competency specific to the Art Direction in Design specialisation.)
• They will be able to visually communicate the conclusions of their research and the knowledge and reasons on which they are based to specialists and non-specialists alike. (Competency specific to the Industrial Design Engineering, Art Direction in Design and Design Research specialisations.)
• They will be able to respond to the public and to users in a way that recognises the physiological, cognitive, cultural and social factors that have a bearing on design decisions. They will have learnt to persevere in their observation of systems’ behaviour in the field of design. (Competency specific to the Art Direction in Design specialisation.)
• They will have acquired aesthetic sensibility and judgement and a creative disposition. (Competency specific to the Contemporary Design and Art Direction in Design specialisations.)

Master’s thesis

• They must be able to demonstrate broad knowledge of the state of the art in research in order to diagnose the problem to be studied, lay out initial proposals to be developed and the hypotheses to the research questions, and propose lines of research, innovation and subsequent specialisation.
• Once they have passed all of the credits of the master’s degree, they must be able to explain, present and defend an original piece of work carried out individually in front of an examination committee.

The curriculum of the master’s degree in Advanced Studies in Design-Barcelona, which has a credit load of 60 ECTS credits, begins with a compulsory common stage of 15 ECTS credits. The master’s degree includes five specialisations of 30 ECTS credits each and the writing, presentation and defence of a master’s thesis.

To be awarded a specialisation a minimum of 25 ECTS credits (of which 20 ECTS credits will be for compulsory subjects) must be taken and passed. The remaining 5 ECTS credits must be for a subject in the same specialisation or any other of the optional subjects that are common to all the specialisations. In this case the master’s thesis must be based on the specialisation taken.

Two specialisations may be taken in given circumstances. In this case students must take and pass the ECTS credits for each specialisation and submit and obtain a pass mark for a master’s thesis on the curricular pathway taken over the course of the master’s degree. The two specialisations must be chosen during the admissions process.

The MBDesign specialisations are the following:

1. Contemporary Design (taught entirely in English)

Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB)

This specialisation takes design, a creative and formative act, as the central topic for study, practice and research. The subjects covered approach contemporary design as a process that is constantly being updated and in which innovation and new areas of application and development continue to emerge.

• Project strategies (compulsory)
• Creativity, invention an emotion in design 5 ECTS
• Integral design. Systems and programs 5 ECTS
• Materiality, representation and form design (compulsory)
• Design and materiality 5 ECTS
• Representation and new formats 5 ECTS
• Contemporary Design Research (optional)
• Sustainable reality and future. Environment and product 5 ECTS
• Design culture. Architecture and exhibition 5 ECTS

2. Design, Innovation and Technology

Vilanova i la Geltrú School of Engineering (EPSEVG)

The aim is for students to become familiar with, develop and use the aspects of design in which collective participation, social factors and innovation play a part. Areas of study range from collective design to the management and creative use of data analysis and also include design related to personalised care and networks that communicate and shape the knowledge society

• Collective Design (compulsory, specialisation)
• Design and Society 5 ECTS credits
• Network Creativity and Technology 5 ECTS credits
• Knowledge Management in Design (compulsory, specialisation)
• Design and Data Analysis 5 ECTS credits
• Process Design for Complex Systems 5 ECTS credits
• Research in Design, Innovation and Technology (optional, specialisation)
• Research Methods and Processes in Design, Innovation and Technology 5 ECTS credits
• Research and Innovation in Design and Technology 5 ECTS credits

3. Industrial Design Engineering

Terrassa School of Industrial, Aerospace and Audiovisual Engineering (ESEIAAT)

The aim is to focus on advanced techniques in industrial design engineering. This leads to a concentration of knowledge of the criteria for selecting materials and of transformation processes and the practical application of these materials following creative and trend-based criteria.

There is also a focus on in-depth techniques for developing forms linked to CAD systems that are used in sectors such as product, automotive and reverse engineering and generative modelling. This generation of forms materialises in the creation of prototypes, in which advanced techniques such as programmable logic and the Arduino standard are explained.

The specialisation covers research and innovation topics and analyses industrial design research techniques and methods applied to basic conceptual design and final product development.

• Advanced Geometry and Prototyping (compulsory, specialisation)
• Advanced Geometry for Design 5 ECTS credits
• Prototyping 5 ECTS credits
• Design and Materials (compulsory, specialisation)
• Study and Technical Analysis of Materials 5 ECTS credits
• Practical Application of Materials in the Design Process 5 ECTS credits
• Industrial Design Engineering Methods and Research 5 ECTS credits
• Research, Development and Innovation in Product Design 5 ECTS credits
• Research Methods and Processes for Industrial Product Design 5 ECTS credits

4. Art Direction in Design

Faculty of Fine Arts (FBBAA)

This specialisation focuses on the application and development of art direction in the field of design. The topics covered are developed in design projects and applications in graphic design, graphic and typographic architecture, information design and the development of areas and methods for theoretical and critical research on aesthetics and design.

• Design and Art Direction Project Coordination (compulsory, specialisation)
• Art Direction in Design Projects 5 ECTS credits
• Graphic Applications 5 ECTS credits
• Design and Art Direction Project Development (compulsory, specialisation)
• Graphic Architecture and Typography 5 ECTS credits
• Information Design 5 ECTS credits
• Design and Art Direction Research (optional, specialisation)
• Theoretical and Critical Design Research Areas and Methods in History and Social Sciences 5 ECTS credits
• Aesthetics and Design Theory 5 ECTS credits

5. Design Research

Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB); Vilanova i la Geltrú School of Engineering (EPSEVG); Terrassa School of Industrial, Aerospace and Audiovisual Engineering (ESEIAAT); Faculty of Fine Arts (FBBAA), University of Barcelona

This multidisciplinary specialisation covers the research topics of the other four specialisations. The backbone to this specialisation is the study and research topic chosen by the student, so that every specialisation provides a different perspective on the topic. The specialisation focuses on the study of cross-disciplinary topics that often arise in the field of design and that may become the subject of a doctoral thesis.

• Research in Contemporary Design
• Sustainable Reality and Future: Environment and Product 5 ECTS credits
• Design Culture: Architecture and Exhibition 5 ECTS credits
• Research in Design, Innovation and Technology
• Research Methods and Processes in Design, Innovation and Technology 5 ECTS credits
• Research and Innovation in Design and Technology 5 ECTS credits
• Industrial Design Engineering Methods and Research
• Research, Development and Innovation in Product Design 5 ECTS credits
• Research Methods and Processes for Industrial Product Design 5 ECTS credits
• Research in Design and Art Direction
• Theoretical and Critical Design Research Areas and Methods in History and Social Sciences 5 ECTS credits
• Aesthetics and Design Theory 5 ECTS credits

Common optional subjects

• Design, Management and Business (common optional subject)
• Fundamentals of Business for Designers 5 ECTS credits
• Industrial and Intellectual Property 5 ECTS credits
• Design Studies (common optional subject)
• Theory, History and Historiography of Design 5 ECTS credits
• Social Sciences for Design 5 ECTS

Professional areas

• Academia and theory-focused settings. Doctoral degrees in Design.
• Agencies and organisations devoted to applied design for social, health and/or welfare purposes.
• Companies, industries and new product development offices. The application of design in new fields and its implementation in emerging sectors.
• Public and private bodies related to markets, products, consumption and the environment.
• Communication, social networks, image and communication. New media and overall message design.
• Cultural organisations related to society, culture and objects and outreach, reflection and debate.

Contemporary Design

ETSAB-UPC

josep.maria.fort@upc.edu

Design, Innovation and Technology

EPSEVG-UPC

enric.trullols@upc.edu

Industrial Design Engineering

ESEIAAT-UPC

voltasege@upc.edu

Art Direction in Design

Belles Arts - UB

Oriol Moret

oriolmoret@ub.edu

Design Research

ETSAB-EPSEVG-ESEIAAT-Belles Arts

jm.monguet@upc.edu

Access and admission

Entrance qualifications

• a. Degree in Architecture Studies, bachelor’s degree in Architecture or equivalent qualification in previous Spanish curricula.
• b. Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering.
• c. Bachelor’s degree in Design.
• d. Design studies (performing and applied arts degrees equivalent to bachelor’s degrees taught at art and design schools).
• e. Degrees in architecture, industrial design engineering and design awarded in education systems outside the European Higher Education Area. The University must verify that the course of study corresponds to a level of education equivalent to an official Spanish university degree and that the qualification obtained provides admission to a master’s degree in the country of award.
• f. Exceptionally, degrees in communication sciences, business administration, fine art and fields of engineering other than the one that gives direct access.

In cases e) and f) the academic committee of the master’s degree will assess the suitability of candidates and their motivation, and may set bridging courses from the degree in Architecture Studies, the bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering or the bachelor’s degree in Design, which must not exceed 18 ECTS credits. The decision of the academic committee will be binding; therefore, the bridging courses set will be a necessary condition for awarding the master’s degree in Advanced Studies in Design-Barcelona.

Admission and selection

The criteria for assessing merits and selecting candidates include the weighting of candidates’ academic records, the correspondence between the curriculum of the previous degree and that of the master’s degree, and the certification of language skills.

Candidates must provide at least the following documents:

• Entrance qualification and academic record that includes the average mark for the degree.
• CV.
• Letter of motivation.
• Filled-in questionnaire designed by the academic committee of the master’s degree.
• Portfolio.
• An indication of whether the candidate has been awarded a grant.
• Level B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference or equivalent (in Spanish or English, depending on the course being taken).
• (Optional) Proposal of a research topic/field (compulsory for the specialisation in Design Research).

Applications for admission must include the specialisation or specialisations that the candidate wishes to take, in order of priority.

The academic committee orders the applications according to the average marks in candidates’ academic records and its assessment of the supporting documents provided. Each of these items carries a weight of 50%.

Pre-enrolment

Applications must be submitted online via the pre-enrolment application. All previously requested documents must be submitted in the same manner. Students who are admitted must provide their original degree certificate and academic record when they enrol. Documents issued abroad must have been translated and legalised whenever necessary.

See the information on the legalisation of foreign documents.

Access the pre-enrolment application before 7 July

UPC Quality System data

Master’s degree in Advanced Studies in Design-Barcelona (MBDesign)