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Postgraduate

MA Biodesign

Sheathed pink beads on a bed of pink grain
Malu Luecking
College
Central Saint Martins
Start date
September 2024
Course length
Two years (60 weeks)
Extended full-time

MA Biodesign explores bio-informed design strategies as a driver for sustainable innovation.

Course summary

Applications closed 2024/25

We are no longer accepting applications for 2024/25 entry to this course. Applications for 2025/26 entry will open in Autumn 2024.

Applying for more than 1 course

From September 2025, you can only apply for a maximum of 3 postgraduate courses each year at UAL (excluding online or low-residency courses and Graduate Diplomas). Find out more in the Apply Now section.

The course incorporates the inherent life-conducive principles of biological living systems into the design process. It is part Jewellery, Textiles and Materials programme.

Why choose this course at Central Saint Martins

  • Emergent discipline: You can be part of the emergent biodesign movement, targeting contemporary challenges such as climate change, low energy manufacturing, natural resources depletion, human and environmental health.
  • Grow Lab: You will have access to the Grow Lab, a new bio laboratory facility at Central Saint Martins with full technical support.
  • Research networks: You will benefit from the College’s pioneering, extensive body of research and international scientific networks, including the Design and Living Systems Lab.
  • Knowledge exchange: There will be opportunities to work with industry partners on knowledge exchange and research-oriented projects in the rapidly emerging field of biodesign.

Open days

Upcoming open days for this course will take place on the following dates:

Recordings

Watch a recording of the recent MA Biodesign open day.

Scholarships, bursaries and awards

Course overview

Biodesign is a rapidly evolving cross-disciplinary design field, often involving professionals from diverse fields such as biology, chemistry, biotechnology, computation and design. Due to its interdisciplinary nature and evolving applications, biodesign can be defined by other terms and practices such as bio-inspired, bio-integrated, biomimetic or biophilic design with the common goal of an integration of biological systems into design processes and technologies. As a result, there may be variations in how different individuals, organizations, or disciplines interpret and define “biodesign”. 

While they vary in definition, they all relate to how we might create ecologically driven and socially conscious design with less environmental impact originated by patterns and behaviours associated with human consumption of resources, and interactions with the environment.  

The MA Biodesign at Central Saint Martins specifically understands biodesign as a cross-disciplinary design approach, a means to incorporate intrinsic principles of biological living systems - to redefine the use of energy, water, air, waste and materials and thus foster a more holistic, regenerative and symbiotic future.  

The course prompts students to consider: 

  • How they might design towards coexistence of human and non-human systems? 
  • How they might design biocompatible solutions with surrounding biodiversity and ecosystems?  
  • How they might design for climate adaptation? 
  • How they might provide answers for material scarcity? 
  • How they might contribute towards natural and cultural resilience in design? 
  • How they might implement strategies to catalyze environmental and racial and social justice? 

The course will introduce students to ecological literacy, bio-ethics, whole systems thinking, lab experimental work, living systems integration, synthetic biology and genetic engineering, data acquisition and visualization, bio-craft and biofabrication and biocomputation design techniques, regenerative design and circular design, amongst others.  

You will apply these principles to the design of systems and interfaces, new materials, products, services, urban ecology, landscape design and architectural propositions.   

What to expect 

An interdisciplinary and international course cohort: Students come from global backgrounds and diverse disciplines. They collaborate across the cohort to complement, develop, and enhance their skillsets and interests across science and design domains.  

A strong emphasis on learning through doing with deep experimentation and iterative prototyping. 

Independent practices: Ethical considerations, theoretical, global cultural and socio-environmental contexts will inform and situate the development of your personal biodesign agenda. The units are designed to enable you to become increasingly independent in the development of your design practice.  

Industry experiences: the course values collaboration with a network of both internal and external partners, giving students the opportunity of working to real life biodesign briefs or on industry informed projects.  

Contact us

Register your interest to receive information and updates about studying at UAL.

Contact us to make an enquiry.

Course units

MA Biodesign gradually guides you towards a design enquiry by developing a biodesign agenda in a topic related to your interests, knowledge and skills in agreement with your tutors. You will be expected to engage with relevant theoretical, scientific, design, and cultural references aligned with the course emphasis on eco-literacy, eco-activism, bio-aesthetics and bio-ethical issues related to responsible use of living organisms, potential impacts on ecosystems, and the implications of manipulating biological systems. 


Unit 1: Introducing Biological Systems  

This unit establishes the foundations of biodesign with the integration of the living sciences in design practices. The discipline is introduced by looking at complex systems, natural and artificial intelligence alike across multiple scales and time dimensions to help understand interactions between living and non- living systems. This understanding of complex interconnectedness and relationships between the living and the non-living is a core component of the unit’s overall agenda.  

The unit is structured with a series of taught sessions where you will be introduced to laboratory protocols and explore a range of bio-informed design strategies in design briefs. The unit will include field work and lab sessions that teach students how to investigate, collect, observe and monitor biological systems. These are then grown and manipulated in the lab where design strategies will emerge that drive new forms of seeing, thinking and making. 

The design briefs vary in duration and require team-based learning, development, and submissions. Some projects in this unit may incorporate external scientific or industrial partners. Teaching will introduce you to fundamentals of biology and scientific protocols relevant to cross-disciplinary design research.  

Unit 1 concludes with the submission of a biodesign portfolio that illustrates and documents all the assignments and design briefs. You will also complete an oral and visual presentation communicating your work. The projects will require predominantly group work and you will be expected to be proactive, responsive, and collaborative in your learning.   

Unit 2: Collaborative Practices for Common Good 

This unit provides opportunities for cross-course creative and collaborative practices in relation to global challenges. The unit explores a range of thematic, experimental, and applied approaches to cross-disciplinary research, enquiry and knowledge exchange. The aim is to establish a framework for co-operation across the College in relation to our shared values in relation to social responsibility. 

This unit explores the potential of collaborative practice and equips you with the ability to apply cross-disciplinary approaches through collective agency. It supports you in building temporary communities of practice and interest that combine different expertise, sources of knowledge and working methods beyond the single discipline or subject. The unit explores how relational and networked-based practices can create positive impact, based on a shared concern for a specific scenario, context or place relating to humans and non-humans. The focus is on how we might create or enable common and shared well-being.  

Unit delivery will include teaching and learning in cross-course groups to enable a deeper level of debate and peer critique.  

Unit 3: Exploring Biodesign Practices 

Unit 3 aims at exploring a spectrum of practices in the Biodesign field, supported by the development of design research through interdisciplinary methods. The unit is punctuated by expert sessions covering a range of resilient design strategies that involve integrating principles from biology and ecology to create sustainable and adaptable solutions that address environmental and societal challenges. The unit will require both group and individual work and you will be expected to be proactive, responsive and collaborative in your learning.   

Phase 1 – Making Biodesign Systems (10 weeks) 

The first phase of Unit 3 will be structured in group work and focused on physical model making, experimentation and testing prototypes. The overall teaching framework is supported by thematic workshops by staff and experts, demonstrating a variety of biodesign practices, bio-craft techniques and bio-fabrication methods. Projects in this phase may incorporate collaborations with industrial partners. 

Phase 2 – Situated Biodesign Proposal (10 weeks) 

Working individually or collectively the second phase of Unit 3 requires you to develop a clear design methodology, situating your hypothesis in a specific context, environment, scenario, scale and community that provides the foundational research for the Biodesign project in Unit 4 to be materialized.   

You will be required to position and define your design inquiry through a bio-design narrative with evidence of data gathered through field work and interviews with experts; iterative prototyping featuring a range of experimental bio-design pieces demonstrating early testing of biological or design materials. This work will provide the content to shape, inform, and guide your research inquiry agenda.  

You will advance the experimental work developed previously by demonstrating the integration of biological systems into your design strategy and contextualising theoretical knowledge into informed outcomes. 

We encourage you to be proactive and to seek relevant external expertise or collaborations. This will allow you to test your ideas and enrich your learning against external stakeholders. 

Sessions designed to help you discuss your work may be delivered during phase 2.  

Unit 3 concludes with the submission of a proposal for your biodesign project in the format of a design portfolio that illustrates your topic of choice and documents all the assignments for both phases of the unit. You will also deliver an oral and visual presentation which will test how you articulate and communicate your work.   

Unit 4: Biodesign Project Realisation  

Unit 4 is dedicated to the creative production and communication of your final MA Biodesign project. The unit further expands and refines the work developed over the course, culminating with the materialisation and dissemination of your project to a large audience at the end of the year.  

The project can be submitted individually or as group with other MA Biodesign students. The work must evidence a positive interaction with natural environments, ecosystems contributing to human and planetary health. The major project outcome can be materialised in various scales and formats, from objects, systems, processes and interfaces. Students are expected to demonstrate rigour in the creation and development of viable design outcomes and materials. 

In this unit, there is a strong emphasis on communication. You will be expected to submit a short film or animation which will articulate the planetary issues you are addressing. This will also showcase your research, development and final design outputs.  

You will also present your project in an oral and visual format, where you will be expected to clearly situate, and debate related to a biodesign practice agenda in response to questions and comment.  

While self-directed study will be prominent in this unit, peer-learning activities will also encourage you to articulate and discuss your personal agenda. 

There will be a range of visual and verbal communication workshops designed to support and challenge the development and delivery of your project proposal. You will discuss and report on your progress in regular tutorials and group critiques.   

Important note concerning academic progression through your course:

If you are required to retake a unit you will need to cease further study on the course until you have passed the unit concerned. Once you have successfully passed this unit, you will be able to proceed onto the next unit. Retaking a unit might require you to take time out of study, which could affect other things such as student loans or the visa status for international students.  

Mode of study  

MA Biodesign is offered in extended full-time mode which runs for 60 weeks over two academic years. You will be expected to commit 30 hours per week to study, which includes teaching time and independent study.   

The course has been designed in this way to enable you to pursue studies, while also undertaking part-time employment, internships or care responsibilities.  

Central Saint Martins offer a vibrant learning and working environment. The teaching and learning methods on MA Biodesign are designed to make best use of the context of the school setting. You will move fluently between group work in smaller learning groups or with the entire year cohort to one-to-one tutorials. We regularly hold lectures, peer reviews, workshops, making use of the many technical workshop at Central Saint Martins. A culture of curiosity and experimentation informs the way learning takes place throughout the units.  

Credit and award requirements  

The course is credit-rated at 180 credits.   

On successfully completing the course, you will gain a Master of Arts (MA degree).   

Under the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, an MA is Level 7. All units must be passed in order to achieve the MA but the classification of the award is derived from the mark for the final unit only.   

If you are unable to continue on the course, a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) will normally be offered following the successful completion of 60 credits, or a Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) following the successful completion of 120 credits.  

Learning and teaching methods

The learning and teaching methods devised for this course include:

  • Unit and Project briefings 
  • Inductions, Lectures and Seminars  
  • Lab Demonstrations 
  • Workshops 
  • Field Work  
  • Data collection, Analysis and Documentation 
  • Visual and Verbal Communication 
  • Interdisciplinary Study Teams 
  • Collaborative and Peer Learning 
  • Group and Individual Reviews 
  • Group and Individual Tutorials 
  • Guest Lectures 
  • Organisation, Curation and Public Dissemination of Course Work 
  • Projects with External Partners 
  • Dissemination Events  

Assessment methods

  • Unit Portfolios 
  • Final Project Portfolio 
  • Video Work 
  • Prototypes 
  • Collaboration and Teamwork Practices 
  • Lab Work Practice and Scientific Protocols and Documentation 
  • Reflective Journals 
  • Verbal and Visual Presentations 
  • Annotated bibliographies 
  • Self and Peer Assessment 

Graduate Showcase

Explore work by our recent students on the UAL Showcase

  • Make Like a Leaf: Architecture as Atmosphere
    Make Like a Leaf: Architecture as Atmosphere, Lucia Giron, 2023 MA Biodesign, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • MELWEAR
    MELWEAR, Maca Barrera, 2023 MA Biodesign, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • The Alginator
    The Alginator, Jessica Evans, 2023 MA Biodesign, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • SOUNDWALL the rooted frequencies
    SOUNDWALL the rooted frequencies, Mathilde Wittock, 2023 MA Biodesign, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • The Sweeeet Side
    The Sweeeet Side, Liv Tsim, 2023 MA Biodesign, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • Phytonet - the Internet of water
    Phytonet - the Internet of water, Maria Li, 2023 MA Biodesign, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • Pearlescence of the Future
    Pearlescence of the Future, Mia Luong, 2023 MA Biodesign, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • GROWN BLUR
    GROWN BLUR, BOQUN HUANG, 2023 MA Biodesign, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • Bio-invasive Texitle Library
    Bio-invasive Texitle Library, Xue Chen, 2023 MA Biodesign, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • Frankenflowers
    Frankenflowers, Millicent Sutton, 2023 MA Biodesign, Central Saint Martins, UAL

Facilities

Staff

Associate Lecturer in Sustainability and Circular Economy: Dr Anouk Zeeum Van Der Lann
Director of Maison/0: Carole Collet
Multimedia Designer, Associate Lecturer: Vassilis Skandalis

Fees and funding

Home fee

£7,680 per year

This fee is correct for 2024/25 entry and is subject to change for 2025/26 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Home fees are currently charged to UK nationals and UK residents who meet the rules. However, the rules are complex. Find out more about our tuition fees and determining your fee status.

International fee

£20,505 per year

This fee is correct for 2024/25 entry and is subject to change for 2025/26 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Students from countries outside of the UK will generally be charged international fees. The rules are complex so read more about tuition fees and determining your fee status.

Additional costs

You may need to cover additional costs which are not included in your tuition fees. These could include travel expenses and the costs of materials. For a list of general equipment needed for all UAL courses, visit our living expenses and additional costs page.

Accommodation

Find out about accommodation options and how much they will cost.

Scholarships, bursaries and awards

If you’ve completed a qualifying course at UAL, you may be eligible for a tuition fee discount on this course. Find out more about our Progression discount.

You can also find out more about the Postgraduate Masters Loan (Home students only) and scholarships, including £7,000 scholarships for Home and International students. Discover more about student funding.

If you’re based in the UK and plan to visit UAL for an Open Event, check if you’re eligible for our UAL Travel Bursary. This covers the costs of mainland train or airline travel to visit UAL.

How to pay

Find out how you can pay your tuition fees.

Scholarship search

Entry requirements

The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:

  • An honours degree in a relevant design subject area, for example, product design, architecture, textiles, fashion, science communication, building sciences, environmental science, ecology, 3D, media studies, graphic communication, gaming, data visualization, robotics 
  • Or an equivalent EU/international qualification

And ideally with at least one year of professional experience.

AP(E)L – Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

Exceptionally applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:

  • Related academic or work experience
  • The quality of the personal statement
  • A strong academic or other professional reference

Or a combination of these factors.

Each application will be considered on its own merit but we cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

English language requirements

IELTS level 6.5 or above, with at least 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking (please check our main English language requirements webpage).

Selection criteria

We select applicants according to potential and current ability in the following areas:

  • Whose personal and professional aspirations are compatible with the aims and objectives of MA Biodesign (Personal Statement/Interview)
  • Who possess the necessary skills and fluency in their own design discipline  to benefit from the course and preferably demonstrate some prior professional experience (Portfolio Review/Personal Statement/Interview) 
  • Who can demonstrate prior experience and a strong personal commitment to cross-disciplinary and teamwork collaboration (Portfolio review/Personal Statement/Interview). 
  • Who hold a strong personal commitment to sustainable change and an ability to articulate and reflect on issues relating to sustainability (Portfolio review/Personal Statement/Interview). 

These criteria are assessed through a review of the Personal Statement, Portfolio and Interview. Interviews are only arranged on the basis that the Portfolio demonstrates the applicant’s ability to skilfully generate and communicate a range of ideas addressing problems relevant to the discipline of biodesign.

What we are looking for

We are looking for people who are personally committed to contributing to ecologically driven design strategies  through their own design practice and who are excited about the potential of biodesign practices to contribute to this. Successful applicants will be able to embrace iterative, speculative and experimental approaches and will relish the opportunity to articulate and debate how their work can contribute to the wider issues relating to symbiotic and environmentally conscious design.

Information for disabled applicants

UAL is committed to achieving inclusion and equality for disabled students. This includes students who have:

     
  • Dyslexia or another Specific Learning Difference
  • A sensory impairment
  • A physical impairment
  • A long-term health or mental health condition
  • Autism
  • Another long-term condition which has an impact on your day-to-day life

Our Disability Service arranges adjustments and support for disabled applicants and students.

Read our Disability and dyslexia: applying for a course and joining UAL information.

Apply now

Application deadline

Deadline

Round 1:

13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)

Round 2:

3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)

Digital portfolio deadline

Round 1:

16 January 2024

Round 2:

16 April 2024

Decision outcome

Round 1:

End of March 2024

Round 2:

End of June 2024

Round 1
Round 2
Deadline
13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)
3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)
Digital portfolio deadline
16 January 2024
16 April 2024
Decision outcome
End of March 2024
End of June 2024

Applications are now closed for 2024/25 entry. Applications for 2025/26 entry will open in autumn 2024.

Read more about deadlines

Apply now

Application deadline

Deadline

Round 1:

13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)

Round 2:

3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)

Digital portfolio deadline

Round 1:

16 January 2024

Round 2:

16 April 2024

Decision outcome

Round 1:

End of March 2024

Round 2:

End of June 2024

Round 1
Round 2
Deadline
13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)
3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)
Digital portfolio deadline
16 January 2024
16 April 2024
Decision outcome
End of March 2024
End of June 2024

Applications are now closed for 2024/25 entry. Applications for 2025/26 entry will open in autumn 2024.

Read more about deadlines

How to apply

Follow this step-by-step guide to apply for this course

Step 1: Initial application

You will need to submit an initial application including your personal statement and CV.

Personal statement advice

Your personal statement should be maximum 500 words and include:

  • your reasons for choosing the course
  • your current creative practice and how this course will help you achieve your future plans
  • any relevant education and experience, especially if you do not have any formal academic qualifications.

Visit our personal statement page for more advice.

CV advice

Please provide a CV detailing your education, qualifications and any relevant work or voluntary experience. If you have any web projects or other media that you would like to share, please include links in your CV. If English is not your first language, please also include your most recent English language test score.

Step 2: Digital portfolio

We will review your initial application. If you have met the standard entry requirements, we will ask you to submit a digital portfolio.

You’ll need to submit this via PebblePad, our online portfolio tool.

Digital portfolio advice

Your portfolio should consist of recent work that reflects your creative strengths.

It should:

  • be maximum 25 pages
  • demonstrate your skills and fluency in design thinking and processes
  • demonstrate a personal commitment to sustainable change
  • illustrate your ability to articulate and reflect on issues relating to biodesign practices, climate change and sustainable innovation.

For more support, see our Portfolio advice and PebblePad advice.

Step 3: Interview

You may be invited to an interview following our review of your application. All interviews are held online and last 15 to 20 minutes.

For top tips, see our Interview advice.

You also need to know

Communicating with you

Once you have submitted your initial application, we will email you with your login details for our Applicant portal.

Requests for supplementary documents like qualifications and English language tests will be made through the applicant portal. You can also use it to ask questions regarding your application. Visit our After you apply page for more information.

Applying to more than 1 course

From October 2025, you can only apply for a maximum of 3 postgraduate courses each year at UAL. This excludes online or low-residency courses and Graduate Diplomas, which you can apply to in addition to 3 other postgraduate courses.

If you apply for more than 3 postgraduate courses between October 2024 and August 2025, we won’t accept the 4th application. It’s not possible to withdraw an application to replace it with another.

You need to tailor your application, supporting documents and portfolio to each course, so applying for many different courses could risk the overall quality of your application. If you receive offers for multiple courses, you'll only be able to accept 1 offer.

Visas and immigration history check

All non-UK nationals must complete an immigration history check. Your application may be considered by our course teams before this check takes place. This means that we may request your portfolio and/or video task before we identify any issues arising from your immigration history check. Sometimes your history may mean that we are not able to continue considering your application. Visit our Immigration and visas advice page for more information.

External student transfer policy

UAL accepts transfers from other institutions on a case-by-case basis. Read our Student transfer policy for more information.

Alternative offers

If your application is really strong, but we believe your strengths and skillset are better suited to a different course, we may make you an alternative offer. This means you will be offered a place on a different course or at a different UAL College.

Deferring your place

We do not accept any deferral requests for our postgraduate courses. This means that you must apply in the year that you plan to start your course and you will not be able to defer your place to start at a later date.

Application deadlines

Most of our postgraduate courses have 2 rounds of deadlines: one in December and one in March.

As long as you apply ahead of each deadline we will consider your application alongside all the other applications in that round. We always make sure to hold enough places back for round 2 to make sure we can consider your application fairly, no matter which round you apply in.

If there are still places available after the second deadline, the course will remain open to applications until all places have been filled.