Partnerships

Forming a research partnership with Emily Carr University

As an international leader in art, media, and design, Emily Carr University welcomes opportunities to connect our students, faculty, and network with external partners from diverse communities and environments.

We pride ourselves on a collaborative approach to learning that is co-created by our faculty and students. Our partnerships follow the same ethos: we consistently partner on innovative, cutting-edge research projects that creatively tackle today's most interesting challenges.

Interested in forming a research partnership with Emily Carr University? Contact us.

Paving the way to a sustainable textiles industry through community-activated programs

Innovative projects that inspire across industries and disciplines

Broadly speaking, we look to partner and collaborate with organizations working on research projects in the following key areas:

  • Sustainability and environmental practices

  • Indigenous research and culture

  • Social justice, innovation, and community

  • Studio art and collaborative projects

  • Design projects from commercial to experimental

  • Media innovation

  • Intersections of culture and technology

  • Experimental forms of practice-based research

Making digital spaces accessible for low-vision individuals

These partnerships can take a number of different forms in the short- and long-term. Examples of partnerships ECU has engaged in before include:

  • Experiential, practice-based, and academic research projects

  • Co-authorship and publication work

  • Faculty exchange and co-instruction

  • Organizational partnerships

  • Volunteering

  • Co-op and student employment

  • Long-term creative projects

  • Sponsored studio courses

  • Collaborative field schools with faculty and students

  • Partnerships with SMEs and non-profit cultural organizations

  • Funded projects via MITACS, IRAP, or any other funding streams

Why partner with Emily Carr University?

A research partnership with Emily Carr University is unlike any other. One of the only free-standing art universities in British Columbia, and ranked among the top 50 universities for art and design worldwide, Emily Carr University merges top academics and artists with contemporary theory and cutting-edge technologies to provide an education that is informed by tradition but unafraid to innovate.

Guided by our commitment to social change and our core strengths as a world leader in art, media, and design, we're uniquely positioned to form dynamic relationships with knowledge producers across diverse communities and industries.

Our partnerships are based on the belief that research in visual arts, media, and design is vital for the well-being of both local and global communities. To this end, our one-of-a-kind research centres are purpose-built and equipped to facilitate important collaborations across industries and art- and media-based practices.

‘Branching Songs’ Aims to Build Empathy for the 1,308 Trees in Burnaby

Collectively, our research centres empower our network of researchers, faculty, students, and industry partners with state-of-the-art digital, fine art, and media-based technologies and facilities. These centres include:

  • The Basically Good Media Lab (BGML): Focuses on imagining new and old media technologies in new forms of performance, creative expression, social and political impact, and community building.

  • DESIS Lab: Devoted to research into how design can drive social change and sustainability.

  • Health Design Lab: Uses participatory design methods to catalyze, support and amplify initiatives that address complex health challenges.

  • Living Labs: Develops and supports creative projects in art, design and media.

  • Material Matters: Explore ways that new technology can enhance and mobilize enterprise, especially in the area of 3D printing, prototyping, and fabrication systems.

  • The Shumka Centre for Creative Entrepreneurship: Fosters the movement of artists and designers into systems and situations where their work and ideas can have the most impact.


Find out more about our cutting-edge research centres and clusters here.

Fostering equity, inclusion, and diversity in research areas

As experts in their fields, our faculty and students are armed with the deep critical thinking skills, technical know-how, and expansive frameworks to innovatively tackle today's—and tomorrow's—most pressing challenges. ECU celebrates work-integrated learning, and we are always looking for new and exciting ways to offer our faculty and students hands-on research experiences in their specialized fields.

To suggest a research partnership with our faculty or students, please email us research@ecuad.ca.

For information on hiring our students, please see the Student Job Board criteria.