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RCA Design Research
@rcadesres.bsky.social
Staff and student research in the School of Design at the Royal College of Art, London.
Call for Applications: Two Editors for the journal 'Designing'

Deadline: September 24, 2025

Designing is the new double-blind, peer-reviewed academic journal of the Design Research Society, published in partnership with Sage Publishing.
www.designresearchsociety.org/articles/cal...
Call for Applications: Two Editors for the journal 'Designing'
Call for Applications: Two Editors for the journal Designing.
www.designresearchsociety.org
August 14, 2025 at 4:02 PM
"We welcome Professor Hua Dong as Director of The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. She brings a compelling vision and impressive international experience to a Centre that is integral to the RCA's research and impact."
Prof. Christoph Lindner President & Vice-Chancellor

www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
Professor Hua Dong appointed Director of The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design
Professor Hua Dong appointed Director of The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design
www.rca.ac.uk
August 14, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
The UK is quickly recovering a prime position in the EU’s £80bn science research programme 18 months after becoming a participating member following the resolution of Brexit problems, data shows.

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
UK recovers position in EU’s Horizon Europe science research programme
Scientists received €735m in grants in 2024 after UK rejoined programme as associate member post-Brexit
www.theguardian.com
August 12, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
Europe “needs to do more” to protect scientific data threatened by the Trump administration, the president of the European Research Council has said
#AcademicSky #researchdata
Europe must do more to protect data under Trump, ERC head says
Disappearance of US-hosted data should be ‘wake-up call’ for scientific community, conference hears
www.timeshighereducation.com
July 3, 2025 at 8:01 AM
The launch of ChatGPT polluted the world forever, like the first atomic weapons tests.

Academics mull the need for the digital equivalent of low-background steel.

www.theregister.com/2025/06/15/a...
ChatGPT polluted the world forever, like the first atom bomb
Feature: Academics mull the need for the digital equivalent of low-background steel
www.theregister.com
June 16, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
A paper trying to quantify the extent to which LLMs 'copy' books? (quite a bit in some cases (and although 1984 is in the public domain in the UK, it's not in the US until 2044)) arxiv.org/abs/2505.12546
Extracting memorized pieces of (copyrighted) books from open-weight language models
Plaintiffs and defendants in copyright lawsuits over generative AI often make sweeping, opposing claims about the extent to which large language models (LLMs) have memorized plaintiffs' protected expr...
arxiv.org
June 6, 2025 at 1:14 PM
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

Our amazing colleague and head of Fashion, Zowie Broach, was one of those who conceived a film – thought lost – that is on show at the Tate

www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tat...
UK AIDS Memorial Quilt | Tate Modern
www.tate.org.uk
June 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
We're now just 250 short of 37,000 signatures on our petition 🤏

That's tens of thousands of voices from every part of the UK delivering one clear message: if the government wants national renewal, they should invest in the arts and culture 🌱

HELP US HIT 37K 👉 campaignforthearts.org/petitions/sp...
June 2, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
Citizens from every parliamentary constituency in the UK have come together, ahead of the forthcoming Spending Review, to urge the Chancellor to protect and grow public investment in the arts and culture. 🎶💃🎭🎨✍️📸🎥🧵🏛️

www.campaignforthearts.org/news/citizen...
Citizens from every UK constituency urge Chancellor to grow arts funding in Spending Review | Campaign for the Arts
Every MP in the House of Commons has a constituent who has signed the Campaign for the Arts' petition, urging the Chancellor to grow public investment in the arts and culture.
www.campaignforthearts.org
June 4, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
«Leiden University’s announcement that it will ‹phase out› the funding for its Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) is not just a bureaucratic decision; it is a profound and short-sighted blow to the intellectual, cultural, and artistic fabric of the Netherlands.» chng.it/WNDNWTQxsq
Sign the Petition
In Defense of Art Research: A Call to Support ACPA, PhDArts, and docARTES
chng.it
May 6, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
KLAXON 🚨: Indie SAGE has come out of retirement to release a new short report standing up for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the sciences!

DEI is not just the right thing to do, it *improves* the quality of the science. Please read and share.

independentsage.org/wp-content/u...

1/2
March 17, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
Other countries are fully targeting US academics with social media ads now, basically of the form "we still have inclusive liberal democracy and academic freedom here"
March 13, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Royal College of Art celebrates 11th consecutive year as the world’s leading university for art and design

www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
Royal College of Art celebrates 11th consecutive year as the world’s leading university for art and design
www.rca.ac.uk
March 13, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
Royal Society urged to expel Elon Musk as fellows sign open letter

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Royal Society urged to expel Elon Musk as fellows sign open letter
More than 1,700 academics complain about X owner’s behaviour, citing his ‘assault on scientific research’
www.theguardian.com
February 14, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Three fifths (61%) of internships undertaken by recent grads were unpaid or underpaid.

Most of these internships are likely illegal under existing regulations, but the system relies on interns themselves reporting non-paying employers…
🚨 NEW: The gap in access to internships between working-class and middle-class graduates has almost doubled since 2018.

Our new research reveals a growing gap in access to increasingly important internship routes, with many opportunities under and unpaid 🧵⬇️
January 26, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
The University of Leeds has become the first Russell Group university to officially announce that it is quitting Elon Musk’s social media site X.

It will, however, be alive and well on Bluesky.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
January 23, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
We are deeply concerned to hear about proposed cuts and programme closures at the University of Northampton and the University of Sheffield.

In solidarity with our colleagues, please join us and sign and share the two petitions below requesting URGENT action. 🚨 1/3
January 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
🚨🚨 Major and very welcome exodus news: Over 60 German universities quit social media platform X accusing platform of failing to uphold values of diversity, freedom, and scholarship. 🧵
www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/ov...
Over 60 German universities quit social media platform X
Platform accused of failing to uphold values of diversity, freedom, and scholarship - Anadolu Ajansı
www.aa.com.tr
January 13, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
Our drama schools are facing a financial crisis, shutting down opportunities for the next generation.

On @theguardian.com today, Campaign for the Arts trustee Samuel West calls for "urgent action to protect and expand everyone’s access to the arts".
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
‘National catastrophe’: drama school funding crisis in England sparks concern
Actors Samuel West and Paapa Essiedu join calls for urgent action to protect and expand access to arts
www.theguardian.com
January 11, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Bristol Old Vic theatre school: the capping of student fees, restrictions to international student visas, cuts in grants and increases in costs of living and teaching had all influenced the decision to shut down the undergrad programme from September 2025.

www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
Bristol Old Vic theatre school to stop its undergraduate courses
Renowned drama school says ‘unprecedented funding challenges’ make degrees unviable from September 2025
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Depressing reading but sadly unsurprising…
Did you see this experiment my colleague Kristina conducted not just at my university but *in my department*? She and the male instructor assumed eachothers’ names for an online course: and the difference in feedback they received was horrifying.
Student Evaluations Can’t Be Used to Assess Professors. They’re Discriminatory.
And that means they’re illegal.
slate.com
December 30, 2024 at 4:52 PM
Also…
December 11, 2024 at 9:21 PM
Some good comments add to the wisdom of this post.
It amazes me how tech bros can just say stuff like, "In five years, your brain will be on wifi and you'll be able to subscribe to designer dreams and your shoes will mine bitcoin while you walk and there will be a hotel on the surface of the sun," and people take them seriously.
December 11, 2024 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by RCA Design Research
BLUESKY MEGA-THREAD

Altmetric is thrilled and also LITERALLY RELIEVED to officially announce:

We are now tracking research attention as it happens on Bluesky!

We have been picking up posts on the site since late Oct.

Our team is on Bluesky all day answering questions.

Let's get into it!
December 3, 2024 at 2:00 PM