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Design education, powered by an entire research university.
The UC San Diego Master of Design is a two-year graduate program for designers ready to move from making things to shaping systems, and from contributing to leading.
➔ Degree |
Master of Design (MDes) |
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|---|---|---|
➔ Duration |
2 years · 6 quarters · Full-time · On campus |
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➔ Location |
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➔ Pathways |
Plan A (Capstone) or Plan B (Thesis) |
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➔ First Cohort |
Fall 2027 |
Why a Master of Design?
The biggest problems worth solving today, equitable healthcare access, climate change, social justice, and socio-political polarization, don’t fit inside a single discipline. They need designers who can think at the level of systems, lead across teams, and bring ethical clarity to decisions that affect millions of people.
The MDes is a cross-disciplinary degree built to develop those leaders. It pairs the research depth of a top public university with the studio culture of serious design education, on one of the most collaborative campuses in the world. Graduates leave ready to lead in startups, companies, government, and nonprofits.
A degree here is more than its courses. Students join a community and a network: a close, cross-disciplinary cohort, faculty mentors, and industry partners, with the credibility of the Design Lab. Much of what shapes a career happens as part of an ecosystem, not with any single class.
Why UC San Diego?
Over a decade of design excellence.
The Design Lab at UC San Diego was founded in 2014 by Don Norman, together with co-founders Jim Hollan and Scott Klemmer. Over the past decade, it has grown into a globally recognized center for interdisciplinary design research spanning healthcare, urban development, the future of work, AI and automation, climate adaptation, and civic systems.
The university behind the program.
With faculty from arts and humanities, engineering, social sciences, management, public health, and medicine all contributing to this program, students will have access to the full intellectual breadth of UC San Diego, one of the top public research universities in the world.
Design as a common language.
At the Design Lab, design thinking, methods, and research is what brings cognitive scientists, engineers, physicians, economists, and urban planners to the same table. The MDes teaches students to work the same way: using design as a method for making sense of complex systems and the people inside them, and for turning that understanding into action.
The market is ready.
Graduate into a field that needs exactly these skills. Demand for designers who can lead at the level of systems, not just screens, continues to climb: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects faster-than-average growth for design roles, with roughly 14,500 openings nationwide each year through 2034. The MDes will prepare students for their rewarding career in design.
Curriculum Preview
Six quarters. One clear arc. The MDes moves from foundations to depth to real-world application, culminating in a capstone project or a faculty-mentored thesis.
Year 1 – Foundations
Core grounding in human and humanity-centered design, prototyping, design research, and systems thinking. Studio work and peer collaboration from day one.
Year 2 – Depth
Advanced studio methods, humanistic research, and socio-technical systems, then the capstone or thesis. Students choose electives from across campus, enabling deep specialization that aligns with future career goals.
Faculty Highlights
Michael Meyer
MDes Program Director · Design Lab / Rady
Steven Dow
MDes Associate Program Director · Cognitive Science
Eric Hekler
Associate Dean · Public Health
Lilly Irani
Professor, Communication
Meet the Program
Virtual Info Session
Online · Zoom · [date TBA]
An hour with the program team: an overview of the MDes, how admissions works, and open Q&A. A good first step when deciding whether to apply.
Campus Open House
In person · Design and Innovation Building, La Jolla · [date TBA]
Tour the studios and makerspace, meet faculty and current researchers, and see where the learning will happen.
Ready to take the next step?
Applications for the Fall 2027 cohort open in mid-September 2026, with a priority deadline of December 1, 2026. In the meantime, join our interest list for updates, event invitations, and application guidance.
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