Design Museum awarded Independent Research Organisation status

London’s Design Museum has become the first independent museum to be granted Independent Research Organisation (IRO) status.

Other cultural institutions to have received this accreditation include the Science Museum, Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

IRO status is awarded to by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) on behalf of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). 

Design Museum director Tim Marlow said: “To be the first independent museum to receive IRO status signifies the museum's evolving position in the cultural landscape. We have always been a place where the range and impact of design has been explored, through our exhibitions, displays, events and learning programming. 

“Our newly granted research status will give us the opportunity to explore the potential of design to give shape to the future in greater depth. It will also give creative energy to the museum and be a catalyst for change well beyond the walls of our landmark building.”

Institutions with IRO status are on the same footing as universities, and are eligible for a range of funding from UKRI to sustain further research. 

The Design Museum’s flagship research platform is Future Observatory, a national research programme related to environmental issues. Future Observatory: Design the Green Transition is a £25m three-year programme delivered in partnership with AHRC. 

Justin McGuirk, the director of Future Observatory at the Design Museum, said: “With Future Observatory’s national remit to support design research for the green transition, research is now a core part of the museum’s mission, and that is reflected across the board, from the curatorial and learning teams to our work on low-carbon exhibition-making. It is deeply rewarding to see that culture recognised.”

In the last three years, AHRC has worked with Future Observatory to distribute more than £18m to at least 60 design research projects across academia and industry. The bulk of that funding has supported the Green Transition Ecosystem grants, which are multi-partner multi-sector awards based at universities across the UK. Funding has also supported dozens of research projects looking at issues from waste reduction to climate resilience. 

A new Future Observatory display space was opened last year at the museum to introduce visitors to ongoing design research across the UK.

The Design Museum first opened in1989. It relocated to its current home on Kensington, west London, in 2016.