Yesterday, the ID+ Summer School 2026 came to an end with a closing session at the School of Design, bringing together students, researchers and doctoral researchers to share and celebrate their work.
Over three months, nine UPCA students from the Master’s programmes in Illustration and Animation and Digital Design, and the Bachelor’s programme in Industrial Design, had the opportunity to enter a research environment and develop their own projects through an introductory research experience. They explored topics ranging from visual storytelling, political communication and planned obsolescence to urban design, AI, human-technology interaction, material experimentation and illustration.
The students presented the development and outcomes of their projects during the closing session through a series of research posters, sharing their research questions, theoretical frameworks, methodologies, experiments and current results.
An international research experience
The Summer School programme extended beyond the development of the students’ individual projects. Participants also took part in LEXS Research Skills+, a RUN-EU intensive programme dedicated to research development, collaboration and knowledge exchange.
Held at UPCA from 15 to 19 June, LEXS Research Skills+ brought together students and early-career researchers from partner institutions across Ireland, the Czech Republic, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and Romania. The programme created an international and interdisciplinary environment in which participants could develop research competences, explore new perspectives and establish academic connections.
Throughout the week, participants engaged in keynote lectures, practical workshops, networking opportunities, visits to research units and cultural activities. The programme also included sessions addressing knowledge valorisation and the societal impact of research, as well as the RUN-EU Doctoral Research Symposium, where PhD candidates presented their research projects and exchanged ideas with researchers and academics.
ID+ contributed to LEXS Research Skills+ through four workshops and a lecture on Design Thinking, addressing topics including applied design research and regional transformation, embodied medical devices, the evolution of design culture in the textile industry, and the archive and personal heritage.
This international experience provided the Summer School participants with an opportunity to engage with a wider research community and encounter different research cultures, methodologies and perspectives.
Alongside the LEX programme, participants also attended the ID+ UPCA Summer School Talks 2026, further expanding the programme through contact with different voices and experiences in Design and research. Together, these activities complemented the practical and exploratory dimension of the Summer School, encouraging knowledge exchange and reflection on different approaches to research practice.
A broader research community
The closing session also brought together research projects at different stages of development, creating an opportunity to look beyond the Summer School and gain a broader perspective on the research taking place within ID+ UPCA.
Among the projects presented was the work of the Design researchers involved in the HeAICare project, funded through Norte 2030. Their work focused on the development of the project’s visual identity, establishing a coherent design system for an ecosystem of AI-driven solutions for feto-neonatal neurodevelopment.
The event also included presentations from our doctoral researchers, whose work addresses a diverse range of topics, including the valorisation of post-industrial textile waste through digital manufacturing, Design contributions to medical devices and upper-limb prosthetics, and the role of archives, zines and alternative culture in design and communication.
Bringing these projects together created a valuable opportunity to see research at different stages, from students taking their first steps into research and exploring initial questions and methodologies, to doctoral research and more developed projects with established research processes and outputs.
The closing session was therefore not only a celebration of the completion of the ID+ UPCA Summer School 2026, but also a moment to highlight the diversity of research taking place within ID+ and the different paths through which research in Design, Media and Culture can develop.
