In 2026, after nearly 90 years, the Institute of Design was folded into Illinois Tech's School of Design & Society.
This website is an archive of the impactful and inspirational work produced by the ID community before that transition.

László Moholy-Nagy opened the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937, treating design as a discipline that was teachable, testable, and consequential. Nine decades on, its scope had widened from the things people use to the systems they depend on: hospitals, government agencies, classrooms, supply chains, digital platforms. Along the way, ID community members developed the published research, methods, and frameworks that designers rely on every day.

Chief among them is human-centered design: close attention to how people actually live, and advocacy for what that research reveals. It shaped designers who are comfortable with complexity and ambiguity: curious, rigorous, inclusive, and stubbornly optimistic about design's ability to change the systems that shape our lives.

To every one of them, who taught, studied, built, critiqued, and stayed late in the studio: thank you, and keep designing.

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PhD Research and Thesis

PhD Research and Thesis

The course credits dedicated to a PhD student’s central research objective.

Objective & Outcomes

The PhD Research and Thesis courses offer a highly personalized and flexible approach to advanced study in design. Each student’s research is uniquely tailored to their academic interests and career goals, with close guidance and support from their advising committee. Together with their primary advisor, students will define and refine the focus of their research credits at various stages of the program, ensuring the coursework aligns with the demands of their research.

Grading is based on effective and substantial progress, as defined by the primary advisor, towards a completed thesis. This progress is not merely measured by the quantity of work but by its quality and its contribution towards the completion of a significant, original thesis. 

The ultimate goal of these research courses is to produce a thesis that not only fulfills the requirements for a PhD but also makes a meaningful impact on the field of design.