Universidade da Madeira, Art & Design Department

Partners Portugal Funchal

The University of Madeira (UMa) is a state university established in 1988, organized into 4 faculties and 2 schools: Exact Sciences and Engineering, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities and Health Higher School and Technologies and management Higher School. The mission of the University of Madeira is to be a university of international level, achieving excellence through education, research and service to its regional, national and international communities. Considering that a crucial aspect of the mission of a university is the transmission of knowledge, research, is crucial for the quality of teaching/learning process. Thus, a university can only ensure the pursuit of knowledge by promoting fundamental and applied scientific and cultural research, enhancing its ability to establish strategic partnerships with other universities. Scientific research activities have been developed at two levels of organization: in structured research units and in self assembled groups which in some cases can be seen as embryos of future units. At the moment, three structured research units have national and international recognition and are financed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT): CQM (Madeira Chemistry Research Centre), CIE-UMa (Center for Research in Education) and CIMA (Research Centre for Mathematics and Applications). Since 2000, there is a growing activity of scientific research developed in UMa, spread in various areas of knowledge, such as Arts and Humanities, Education, Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Physical and Engineering Sciences and Social Sciences. Most of this research has received financial support from FCT/ FEDER and also from the European Community through INTERREG international projects. This research has been carried out in partnership with several national and international institutions, with a particular effort to achieve a high degree of internationalization.

http://www.uma.pt/departamentos/arte-e-design/apresentacao/

People involved

Susana Gonzaga She earned a Phd in Design at Politecnico di Milano, under the theme of Design Museums and Design Cultural System. She is a higher education teacher for 20 years now and a Designer freelancer. She is the Design Program Director at Art & Design Department of University of Madeira (PT); Coordinator of the Design Research group Peripheries – ID+ Research Unit, and co-founder of the Atlantic Wonder research project. Her research interests are focused on HCD applied to Spatial Design, Nature and Museology.
Elisa Bertolotti She works with storytelling, moving image and communication design. With a Ph.D and postdoc from Politecnico di Milano, Elisa is currently teaching design at the University of Madeira, Portugal. She is co-founder of the Atlantic Wonder research project, focusing on alternative methods for learning outdoors and developing new ways to foster innovation between design and the natural sciences. She explores the ways in which interdisciplinary collaboration between practice and research can enrich the culture and philosophy of designers.
Valentina Vezzani She earned a PhD in Design, and a MSc in Service Design. She is Assistant Professor in Design at University of Madeira. Her research and teaching interests are in the field of strategic design, service design, sustainable development, social innovation and collaborative processes and tools. She is co-founder of Paco Design Collaborative and co-founder of Atlantic Wonder research project.
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