Situated Design graduation track master full-time

The graduation track Situated Design recognizes you as a distinct presence in the world. You immerse in modern discourses and focus on prevailing conditions, situated knowledge and design practices.

Apply for this programme

Location

Den Bosch

Starting month

September

Duration

2 years

Language

English

Master Situated Design graduation track

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

Your studies will take place within a diverse community of master's students from different backgrounds. You frequently collaborate with each other, across pathways and outside of the campus. This way you gain experience in a wide range of practices and establish a valuable network. Situated Design maintains strong connections with designers, publishers and institutions in the Netherlands and abroad.

During your study, you can use our dedicated master studio spaces in which we focus on improving your ability to engage with emerging technologies with critical reflection and mindfulness. Our outstanding workshop and technical facilities provide courses ranging from print, wood ceramics and metal, to immersive and iterative storytelling and interactive media.

The graduation track Situated Design is distinguished by the quality of its teaching, research and practice. Our motivated team, strengthened by professors of expertise centre Caradt, is committed to supporting ambitious and diverse creative research practices and approaches.

Discover this graduation track

Situated Design

Programme features

Critical mind-set
Interdisciplinary learning
New perspectives
Practice-led research

More about the master

Your job

Situated Design prepares you for a future in a dynamic profession that demands strong reflexive and adaptive abilities. In a critical and supportive environment, you will learn how to operate independently and as part of a team on complex, research-based projects. Graduates leave the institute with a cohesive body of work. And, more importantly, working methods upon which to build a sustainable, lifelong career in the field of design.

You will be equipped to establish your own future-proof design practices.

In the realm of Situated Design, you will find:

An embodied design practice that enables you to navigate the world as integral part of it.
A design ethos that encourages you to be unabashedly authentic in expressing your perspectives, emotions and connections with others and the world.

At Situated Design, we are committed to helping you become:

A consummate professional designer who excels in presenting your work, engaging with peers in the industry. And connecting with a broader cross-section of society.
A designer who uncovers and embraces your true passion. Embarking on a lifelong pursuit and developing your ways of perceiving, sensing, and collaborating with the world.

Potential careers after the programme

Designer

Artist

Illustrator

This graduation track is right for you if you are a graphic designer, illustrator, urbanist, electronics or software engineer, filmmaker, visual storyteller, artist or data scientist. With an interest in communication and digital cultures.

Student tells

Why did student Tea choose Situated Design?

Study project

Project 'Fleshy Bug' by student Michelle Kanters

Study project

Project 'D@ N@T STAND@ MY GRAVE AND WEEP' by student Yujian Lin

Programme structure Situated Design graduation track master

The graduation track Situated design offers you a unique interdisciplinary programme of art and design activities. Fostering key areas of research and scholarship, while building a bridge with science and technology. The graduation track is delivered across 24 months, comprised of 4 semesters and 6 units of study. Each unit ends with an assessment.

During this graduation track, students from various disciplines learn how to provide meaning to the world, supported by a motivated tutor team.

In the first year you focus on training new skills, methods of research and setting up your research practice for your artistic practice. Situated Design offers you modules, courses and tutorials to explore how to contextualize, expand and integrate your work in the right professional work field. At the end of each semester there is a summative assessment on your individual Studio Practice. All education takes place at the Avans location.

Semester 1 Context & Skills Learning
Semester 2 Co-research and External Enquiry in the Field

In the second year you focus more on writing your thesis and materializing outcomes of your research. You present your final research at the Graduation Research HUB and you get the opportunity to exhibit your work at the graduation ceremony. At the end of each semester there is a summative assessment on your individual Studio Practice. Education takes place in a hybrid programme. It's possible to study remotely or to combine it with residencies or research activities abroad.

Semester 3 Consolidation of Practice-led Research
Semester 4 Graduation Phase

More about admission of this master

With a bachelor's degree from a university of applied sciences (hbo) or a research university (wo), you have access to the program. We invite designers who seek a deeper understanding of the fundamental changes taking place within the profession. And those who are eager to shape its future to apply.

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

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

Curriculum Vitae (max. 1 A4 page)
Personal Statement (min. 1 A4)
Practice 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 Situated 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, artistic 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 .

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

Den Bosch

Parallelweg 23

5223 AL Den Bosch

Tel: +3188 - 525 75 00

Route