UNIDCOM is a research centre in Design and Communication, established in 2000 and based at IADE – Universidade Europeia, Lisbon, Portugal.
UNIDCOM’s vision is to be an international reference for Design Research, with a two-fold mission: (I) to boost Design as a subject and (II) to contribute to solving major social problems through Design.
UNIDCOM’s aims are therefore:
(1) Recognising Design as an aggregating area, crossing boundaries, its own and those of other fields;
(2) Advancing and promoting Design Research, while understanding its importance for both the practice and study of Design;
(3) Advancing the theory and practice of Design.
UNIDCOM/IADE was accredited by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) in 2003 in the area of Arts and Humanities. In the last evaluation of R&D Units by FCT (2019), UNIDCOM was evaluated with 12 in 15 possible points and received a “Very Good” review among the 14 R&D units evaluated in the panel of ARTS AND HUMANITIES.
The UNIDCOM team currently comprises 113 researchers, 45 integrated members and 68 collaborative members, 37 (33%) of whom are enrolled in PhD programmes. The researchers are from a variety of scientific areas (i.e., Design, Architecture, Engineering, Marketing, Communication Sciences, History of Art, Philosophy, Psychology, etc., reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the UNIDCOM project. Amongst other activities, UNIDCOM organises international conferences regularly and provides student research training opportunities (e.g., as part of project teams, workshops, seminars), as the DDC.
To find out more about UNIDCOM/IADE access this link.
IADE is a laboratory of creativity, talent and leadership recognised by society as a whole. It has encouraged students to put their own talents to the test, to believe in themselves, making them the best of the best, in their personal lives or in their future professional integration.
IADE today is a reference in teaching Creativity. It is also one of the best Design schools in Europe and a pioneer in Marketing, Advertising and Photography.
Founded in 1969, in Lisbon, it has been a pioneer in teaching Design in Portugal. Currently, it is the institution that trains the most students in this field, with an employability rate of 97 per cent.
In 2012, it gained the status of University Institute, a title which enabled the creation of a modern Doctoral programme in Design, focusing especially on creativity and internationalisation.
Between 2015 and 2019, IADE was part of Laureate International Universities, the largest global group of higher education.
Since 2016, IADE has been a part of Universidade Europeia, reinforcing its positioning as a creative school in Europe.
Currently, IADE grants academic Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctoral as well as Post-Graduate Degrees in areas related to creativity: Design, Arts and Communication, Marketing, Advertising and Photography.
