Postgraduate Studentships - Search for funding opportunities.
Postgraduate Studentships - Search for funding opportunities.
Study Details: 2 year programme
Full-time study
IDE is about transformation. Transformation of the practices that transcend disciplinary boundaries. Transformation of the understanding of how the past, present and future can identify opportunities to create lasting impact. Transformation of you as an individual into a creative leader.
Run jointly with Imperial College London for 40 years, this unique double Master’s programme in Innovative Design Engineering (IDE) will help you integrate design and engineering with science and enterprise. Past RCA IDE students have looked at everything from medical devices that manage health conditions to systems for protecting the environment against pollution.
Transdisciplinary teamwork is at the core of our approach, encouraging collaboration with industry and a wide range of stakeholders. IDE nurtures a supportive, empathic culture – the IDE family – both during your studies and through our extensive alumni network.
We aim to create a new type of innovator capable of tackling the complex challenges faced by society and the planet. By the time you graduate, you’ll not only have the necessary technical skills but also be fiercely curious, open-minded, empathic, and analytical.
The programme accepts a wide range of applicants – we want diversity of expertise, culture and experience and we welcome applicants from fields such as business, social science, and the arts in addition to engineering, science and design. Candidates who can demonstrate outstanding potential to develop creative, technical and innovation qualities.
Generally, we are looking for pioneering applicants to demonstrate their:
creativity, imagination and innovation;
ability to clearly display and articulate the intentions of your work;
intellectual engagement in areas relevant to the work and subjects that matter to you;
technical skills appropriate to IDE and rigour in your approach;
potential to direct and navigate their learning journey within the structure of the programme, and achieve MA and MSc standards overall.
IDE is a double Master's programme run jointly between the RCA and Imperial College London, and consequently, applicants need to meet the requirements of both institutions. Candidates for IDE are normally required to have at least a UK honours degree at 2:1 level (or the equivalent) in any subject relevant to innovation. It is desirable for candidates to have some relevant work experience.
In exceptional circumstances applicants without the required degree qualification will be considered, for example, excellent professional experience or outstanding creative or technical abilities. Special cases for admissions require unanimous approval from the IDE Entrance Examination Board, then approval by the RCA’s Academic Board for Concessions and Discipline (ABCD) and Imperial’s Programme’s Committee.
IDE graduates head into diverse creative careers as consultants, innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, freelancers or within corporations.
IDE Fundamentals
Transdisciplinary Practices
Cyber Physical Systems
Regenerative Materials
Structures & Aesthetics
Impact
Sustainable Systems and Agency
Implementation
Ranked for twelve consecutive years as the world’s number 1 art & design university*, the Royal College of Art’s postgraduate programmes enable yo...
Thu 18 Jun 2026