Design research in the twenty-first century has been a fundamental aspect of national and international design agendas.The design research landscape in the higher education sector in the UK is rather different for a number of reasons, although its national significance has been underlined in the recent national Research Assessment Exercise in which 70 universities and free-standing specialist institutions submitted their research achievements and ongoing strategies in art and design over a six-year period for peer review.

65 per cent of the University of Brighton's research in art and design was classified as either 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent', confirming Brighton and its Faculty of Arts and Architecture amongst the leading research centres in the UK for art and design, with Research Fortnight ranking the submission second nationally in terms of the volume and quality of research.

As an intrinsic aspect of its strategy, the Faculty of Arts & Architecture has also sought to promote and influence the significance of design and design research through the establishment of its Design Research Institute (DRI) in 2007. Under the leadership of Professor Maxine Naylor the DRI is committed to the integration of creativity, innovation, knowledge exchange and research.

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