Future Design Studies
Design theory, history, criticism, methods, education, and emerging research frameworks.
Publication Date: March 1, 2026
2026 ADW Future Design Scholars Open Call
2026 Application Now Open
Asia Design Week invites applications for the inaugural 2026 ADW Future Design Fellowship under the annual theme, Design Beyond Boundaries: Convergence, Creativity, and Sustainable Futures. The fellowship supports independent research that connects disciplines, examines emerging conditions, and contributes new knowledge through design.
Applications are accepted from March 1 to May 31, 2026. Selected scholars will be notified in late June 2026, following review from June 1 to June 14.
Official Program Notice
2026 Open Call
Official information for applicants and prospective host institutions.
Application OpensMarch 1, 2026
Application DeadlineMay 31, 2026
Review PeriodJune 1 - June 14, 2026
Admission NoticeLate June 2026
Program Administration
The fellowship is established and sponsored by Asia Design Week and administered by the ADW Future Design Scholars Program Committee. Selected fellows will hold the title ADW Future Design Scholar while undertaking their research with an eligible host organization.
Host Organizer and Fellowship Sponsor
Asia Design Week
Program Administrator
ADW Future Design Scholars Program Committee
ADW Partner Network
Regional and international partners connected to Asia Design Week's design exchange, academic outreach, professional visibility, and cultural collaboration network.
University of the Arts Sharjah
Macao Product Design Association
Golden Pin Design Award
Korea Ensemble of Contemporary Design
Hebei International Industrial Design Week
Industrial Designers Society of Thailand
Association of Designers of India
Indonesian Industrial Product Designers Alliance
Industrial Designers Association of Taipei
International Association of Designers
Korea Society of Illustration Research
CEIDA
Art Design Association of Hainan Province
Zhejiang Industrial Design Association
Beijing Design Society
Hong Kong Designers Association
Mongolian National Designers Association
Macao International Design Alliance
Goldreed Industrial Design Award
European Product Design Award
Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association
ixDC
Malaysia Design Council
Malaysian Graphic Design Association
Korea Society of Color Studies
The ADW Partner Network provides a wider context for academic exchange and professional dialogue. Participation in individual fellowship activities is confirmed separately for each cycle.
Application Status
The 2026 application period is open. Complete applications must be submitted to official@asia-design-week.com by May 31, 2026. Applications received after the deadline or without the required materials may not proceed to review.
Why This Fellowship
Many of the defining questions of the coming decades sit between established fields: how intelligence should be designed and governed; how societies can transition toward sustainable systems; how cultural knowledge can remain living and generative; and how complex research can become meaningful in public life.
Design has a distinctive role in this landscape. It can connect analysis with imagination, technical systems with lived experience, and specialist knowledge with forms that people can encounter, test, and use. The ADW Future Design Scholars Program was created to support researchers who treat design as a mode of inquiry and a catalyst for interdisciplinary innovation.
The fellowship welcomes both theoretical and practice-based research. Contributions may take the form of publications, methods, prototypes, films, exhibitions, archives, educational models, digital tools, or other research outcomes appropriate to the question being pursued.
2026 Annual Theme
Design Beyond Boundaries: Convergence, Creativity, and Sustainable Futures
The theme invites scholars to examine how design can connect disciplines, technologies, cultures, and forms of practice. It understands creativity as a capacity for new imagination and collective action, and sustainability as long-term value across environmental, social, cultural, ethical, and institutional life.
Proposals may address artificial intelligence and human-AI collaboration, creative technology and emerging interaction, cultural and educational innovation, public and social design, materials and fabrication, ecological transition, or other questions reshaping future ways of living and creating.
Read the full annual themeWho Should Apply
The open call is intended for emerging and early-career scholars, postdoctoral researchers, visiting scholars, and interdisciplinary practitioners with a well-developed research foundation and a clear independent project.
Applicants may come from design or a related field, provided that design is central to the proposed inquiry. Proposals should demonstrate intellectual clarity, an appropriate method, and a credible relationship with a recognized host institution, research laboratory, academic program, or comparable scholarly platform.
Fellowship Support
Selected scholars may receive a one-year fellowship benefits package through the 2026 ADW Future Design Fellowship. The final support package may be structured within an indicative total range of USD 80,000 to USD 120,000, depending on host-location cost of living, host institution requirements, the proposed research plan, and the Fellowship Committee's funding assessment.
The published range is indicative. The final amount, components, and payment arrangements are confirmed in the fellowship award letter.
Base Living Stipend
Research Allowance
Travel and Relocation Support
Health Insurance or Health-Related Support
Academic Exchange Support
Research Areas
Six areas provide an intellectual framework for the 2026 cycle without imposing fixed disciplinary boundaries.
Design Intelligence and Human-AI Co-Creation
Human-AI collaboration, design reasoning, creative computing, and intelligent design tools.
Creative Technology and Experience Systems
Interaction, spatial computing, media art, digital culture, and experience design.
Sustainable Design and Social Impact
Sustainable systems, public design, community innovation, and social transformation.
Cross-Cultural Design and Cultural Creativity
Cultural knowledge, creative industries, communication, and international exchange.
Research Prototypes and Public Knowledge
Research-driven prototypes, exhibitions, public scholarship, and knowledge visualization.
Eligibility
Applicants and award arrangements must satisfy the following basic requirements.
Degree
Applicants should have received a doctoral degree or equivalent terminal degree before the start of the fellowship research period.
Research Basis
Applicants should demonstrate a strong research basis in academic research, creative practice, design innovation, cultural work, education, or interdisciplinary inquiry.
Research Fit
The proposed project should establish a clear relationship with Design Beyond Boundaries and one or more of the program's research areas.
Host Arrangement
Applicants should have obtained, or be in the process of applying for, a host affiliation, visiting appointment, postdoctoral appointment, research affiliation, or comparable academic arrangement with a recognized institution, laboratory, or scholarly platform.
Fellowship Period
Applicants should be able to conduct and advance the proposed research during the one-year fellowship period.
Compliance and Host Policies
Applicants and any award arrangement must satisfy applicable laws, visa requirements, host institution policies, research security review, export control review where applicable, and other administrative requirements.
Non-Employment
Selected scholars will not become employees, consultants, contractors, or service providers of Asia Design Week or any Academic Supporting Organization by receiving fellowship support.
Application Materials
Applicants should submit the following materials in English as a single PDF file.
- Curriculum Vitae
- Research Proposal, 1,500-2,000 words
- Personal Statement, up to 1,000 words
- Two Representative Works
- Host Affiliation Evidence
- Names and contact information of two referees
Selection Criteria
Proposals are considered for their intellectual and creative quality, relationship to the annual theme, contribution to design, longer-term value, and feasibility.
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Scholarly and Creative Excellence | 25% |
| Originality and Relevance to the 2026 Annual Theme | 25% |
| Contribution to Design Knowledge and Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry | 20% |
| Public, Cultural, or Sustainable Value | 15% |
| Feasibility and Fit with the Host Environment | 15% |
Selection Process
Eligible applications are considered by a committee of scholars and practitioners drawn from the Asia Design Week jury and academic network. Shortlisted applicants may be invited to an online conversation before final decisions are made.
Eligibility Review
Expert Assessment
Shortlist Conversation, if needed
Final Deliberation
Admission Notice
Award Confirmation
2026 Timeline
Dates for announcement, review, admission notice, award letters, and fellowship start.
March 1, 2026Program Announcement; Applications Open
May 31, 2026Application Deadline
June 1-3, 2026Eligibility and Completeness Review
June 4-9, 2026Expert Review
June 10-12, 2026Shortlist Online Interviews, if needed
June 13-14, 2026Final Deliberation
Late June 2026Admission Notice of Selected Scholars
Late June 2026Administrative/Funding Review
Late June 2026Fellowship Award Letters Issued
From September 1, 2026Fellowship Start Date, subject to the scholar's host appointment arrangement
Scholar Recognition and Network
Recognition and exchange opportunities are arranged in relation to the scholar's research schedule and host institution policies.
Scholar Title
Recognition as an ADW Future Design Scholar.
Fellowship Support
One-year fellowship support through the 2026 ADW Future Design Fellowship, subject to final funding assessment, host institution requirements, and award terms.
Academic Exchange
Opportunities, subject to mutual agreement, host institution policies, and the scholar's research schedule, to participate in ADW-related academic forums, seminars, exhibitions, or research exchange activities.
Scholar Network
Long-term participation in the ADW Future Design Scholars Network.
Exchange activities are developed in relation to each scholar's research and arranged in consultation with the scholar and host institution.
Fellowship Terms
The program supports independent scholarly research. Scholars retain intellectual responsibility for their work and conduct it in accordance with the policies of their host institution.
ADW does not claim ownership of research outputs or restrict academic publication. Final support arrangements, payment routes, and documentation are set out in the award letter and may require host-institution approval.
About Asia Design Week
Asia Design Week (ADW) is a design and cultural exchange platform connecting academic, educational, professional, and public communities across Asia and internationally. It maintains program and liaison presence in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, and Seoul.
ADW established and sponsors the ADW Future Design Scholars Program. The Program Committee manages the annual open call, fellowship administration, and scholar network.
Contact
ADW Future Design Scholars Program Committee
Email: official@asia-design-week.com
Website: www.asia-design-week.com