Health by Design graduation track master full-time

During the two-year graduation track Health by Design you co-design with students from various disciplines in practice-led design research. And in art thinking projects in health and wellbeing.

Apply for this programme

Location

Breda

Starting month

September

Duration

2 years

Language

English

Master Health by Design graduation track

This is a graduation track of the master of Arts in Fine Art & Design.

As a health designer, you'll develop skills to achieve a transdisciplinary and co-design approach. Adding value to complex health and wellbeing challenges, and propelling your career in a rapidly evolving field.

As a society, we encounter increasing challenges in delivering accessible and honest 'holistic health for all' services. A global paradigm shift is underway, recognising individuals beyond their illnesses. And emphasising the crucial role of art and design in collaboratively shaping ethical innovations. During the graduation track you learn how to respond to the current challenges and opportunities.

Engaging with people from art and design, technology, ethics, research, and healthcare backgrounds enriches your practice. And allows you to build a support network of peers and professionals. Learn from experts, lead co-design processes and immerse yourself in a practice-based design approach to conduct design research. Individually and in teams.

Health by Design is offered in Dutch and English. Disclaimer: the programme is based on the Dutch healthcare system and Dutch is spoken in some situations.

Discover this graduation track

Health by Design

Programme features

Cross-over health and visual cultures
Transdisciplinary co-design
Situated design research
Art thinking and prototyping

More about the master

Your job

We deliver artists and designers that are able to expand their career based on value-driven motivations to become part of creating a better world. You are able to step into complex societal questions related to health and wellbeing. And take part in co-design with cross-sectoral professionals and stakeholders of different disciplines to become part of future solutions.

After the graduation track Health by Design you will be equipped with the skills and qualities essential for a range of work environments. Such as 3D labs and studios in hospitals, health technology start-ups, design research firms and creative technology labs at health organizations. Examples of career opportunities are product designer, design researcher/strategist, UX designer, curator, and design consultant in the field of health and wellbeing. You are also invited to define your own future profession, expanding to new roles such as inclusive design artist, health-centered designer, health data designer or health system hacker.

This graduation track can also be a stepping stone to a research-oriented career towards a Professional Doctorate (PD) or a PhD research at a university (PhD).

Potential careers after the programme

Product designer

Design researcher/strategist

UX designer

Design consultant

You are welcome with various backgrounds such as:

Artists and designers: product and service designers, visual storytellers, and digital artists interested in design research and health and wellbeing.
Health- and wellbeing professionals: nurses, social workers, and therapists interested in artistic practices, technology and design research.
Engineers: urbanists, engineers and data scientists interested in artistic practices, design research and health and wellbeing.

Programme structure Health by Design graduation track master

Health by Design is a unique transdisciplinary program of activities taking place within the domain of health and well-being. It is designed to promote practice-based research from the broader spectrum of art and design practice, with a bridge to science and technology. The graduation track combines practice and theory. This allows you to generate knowledge related to current, urgent social and societal issues by employing critical design as a key to social change.

During the graduation track, you will mainly work in multidisciplinary teams. In the first year, you will get acquainted with the broad context and complexity of the healthcare system. And learn about themes such as Context and Policy, Art Thinking and Prototyping, and Co-design and Design Research. Coaching will assist you in choosing modules to (re)define your role as a designer and develop it.

Subjects/projects:

Elective Design & Research Practice
Health System
Design Thinking
Design & Technology
Co-design for Health and Wellbeing projects

In the second year, you can specialize in either Experience-Centered Design or Social Situated Design. While simultaneously working on your graduation project. Here, you learn to design with a focus on ergonomics, and physical and digital interaction with products and services. Or you concentrate on the relationship of the user with the system and the context. Additionally, you work on building your design and research portfolio.

Subjects/projects:

Elective Design Research Focus: Experience-Centered Design and Social Situated Design
Design & Research Portfolio and Thesis
Graduation Project

More about admission of this master

You need a certificate or diploma demonstrating that you have successfully completed a bachelor's degree in the field of technology, healthcare and welfare, education, arts and design, or research.

Spoken and written proficiency in English is required (ie. IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge).

Are you a third or fourth year bachelor student and curious if design for healthcare and welfare is something for you? Or do you want to build a design and health portfolio to apply for this graduation track? Then consider signing up for a minor course related to health and design, or multidisciplinary innovation and design, via www.kiesopmaat.nl.

These assignments are part of the preparation. You must submit the following documents via our assignment site:

Curriculum Vitae (max. 1 A4-pagina)
Personal statement (min. 1 A4)
Portfolio
Research proposal (max. 2 A4)

You will receive the login codes for the intake dashboard after you have enrolled in Studielink. Please be aware that these assignments must be completed and uploaded before the application deadline. Only after approval of these assignments an assessment interview will be conducted.

An admissions interview via TEAMS is conducted after approval of the assignments by the admission committee. During the admission procedure we test your study motivation, research goals, artistic skills, and theoretical knowledge in regard to the specific Master program you applied for.

Practical information master Health by Design graduation track

If you have decided to pursue this study programme you will need to register for it. Before you do, make sure you have informed yourself about our rules and regulations.

Please apply via our Dutch website if you are a Dutch student.

Application procedure

You must apply for this master's degree programme via the Studielink website. Studielink is the Dutch portal used for all educational programmes. All students studying in Netherlands use Studielink to register for their programme.

In addition to the application procedure via Studielink you must also send us several documents.

If you apply, first select the Master's program in Fine Art & Design. In the next step you choose the graduation track you want to follow. You will also receive an e-mail with instructions to upload your admission assignments: curriculum vitae, portfolio, personal statement and research proposal.

Register via Studielink

Registering for a programme is done via Studielink. You do this by logging in with your DigiD. Requesting a DigiD takes 5 days.

Starting month	Location	Deadline
September	EEA	August 31, 2026
September	Non-EEA	May 1, 2026

After application we will contact you to inform you on the further procedure.

Scholarships

Scholarships are much sought after nowadays: nearly every student who decides to study abroad considers applying for one. Information about scholarships specific to Avans University of Applied Sciences can be found on our scholarship page.

More information

For more information please contact Student Support on +31 (0) 88 525 75 50 or via this contact form.

In the overview below you will find the tuition fee amounts that have been set for new students at Avans University of Applied Sciences.

Which of these 3 fees applies to you depends on the category you are in. In general, students from the European Economic Area (EEA) pay the statutory fee, while other students pay the institutional or non-EEA fee. Exchange students generally pay their tuition fees to their home institution and not to Avans.

Please check the tuition fees page for detailed information.

Tarif	Year	Amount
Statutory fee	2026 - 2027	€ 2.694,-
Institutional fee	2026 - 2027	€ 10.308,-
Non-EEA fee	2026 - 2027	€ 10.308,-

Contact

Would you like to contact us? You can reach us through the contact form and WhatsApp. You can also call us at +31 88 525 75 00.

Location of your programme

Breda

Hogeschoollaan 1

4818 CR Breda

Tel: +31 88 - 525 75 00

Route