Beyond Imagination

A radical, £13.2 million, three-year project which will explore and demonstrate how cutting-edge design research can create a healthier, more prosperous and sustainable world.

Academic posts have significantly reduced teaching in the first three years, allowing you to focus on research.

We're recruiting to thirty new posts. Ten academic researchers, ten PDRAs and ten funded PhDs.

You will be supported to engage globally, with a dedicated international travel budget to fund overseas activities.

Funded by Research England, the bold and engaging Beyond Imagination project will put design research at Lancaster firmly on the global map. It will transform the University’s ImaginationLancaster design team with 30 new roles, significantly expanding its expertise and reach.

The three-year project will provide fresh perspectives on real-world challenges focusing on five key clusters: home and living; communities and the public sector; factories and workplaces; cities and urban; and, population and policy. Four themes cut across these clusters: sustainability, health, international and prosperity.

Beyond Imagination will identify and address current and emerging global challenges such as Ageing Society, Artificial Intelligence and Data, Clean Growth, Health and Wellbeing. The expansion of ImaginationLancaster will mean that all areas of design, including architectural design, are developed. Therefore feeding into Lancaster’s new school of architecture as well as design.

Expanding Excellence in England (E3) investment will create a critical mass of new researchers, who will be inducted into the culture of research excellence in ImaginationLancaster.

We are recruiting PhD students (3.5 years funding) to work within the clusters and themes and three support staff (Impact Manager, Visualiser, Admin).

Fresh perspectives

The three-year project will provide fresh perspectives on real world challenges focusing on five key clusters: home and living; communities and the public sector; factory and workplaces; cities and urban; and population and policy. And four themes: sustainability, health, international and prosperity.

ImaginationLancaster

Established in 2006, ImaginationLancaster is an open and exploratory design research lab that conducts applied and theoretical research into people, products, places and their interactions. We work with a variety of organisations to provide fresh perspectives on real-world issues and facilitate innovation.

Our world-leading team have so far published 40 books, created over 100 design artefacts, 25 exhibitions and secured £55m in research funding.

Q&A

Further details about our recruitment of 30 researchers and academics in Architecture and Design

Living in Lancaster

Lancaster University's green campus is surrounded by the beauty of rural Lancashire and is a short ride away from the heart of historic Lancaster – a city full of character and culture.

Working in Lancaster