Research Advancement Initiative
The Research Advancement Initiative (RAI), chaired by Professor Hashim Sarkis, was created with the goal of integrating professional education with the academic pursuits of a research university and addressing emerging topics of common interest. In the spirit of promoting interdisciplinary research, this initiative also seeks to nurture opportunities for collaborative work within the GSD and between the GSD and other units at Harvard and elsewhere in the world.
One of the key aims of this effort is to increase the interface between faculty research and the academic programs, and between research and design. To that end, the GSD has established Research Laboratories. These labs house masters and doctoral students from the various programs working on both lab projects and their theses and dissertations, guided by faculty with shared research interests. In addition to undertaking research projects and supporting advanced student work, the labs will offer pro-seminar courses, build shared databases, and generate public forums and publications. The following labs have been launched so far:
New Geographies
addressing emerging larger-scale design questions around the relationship between the built environment and physical geography
Sustainability in Design/GSD Squared
interfacing between new scientific research on sustainability and design
Social Agency
addressing challenges of social and economic development, disaster relief, and anticipatory planning and design
Responsive Environments & Artifacts (Information+Interaction+Infrastructure)
exploring increased interaction between design and inhabitation at different scales
Urban Theory Lab
Computational Geometry
In addition to their own research projects, these labs will occasionally work together on common endeavors. Last year, the labs collaborated on a project entitled “A School for the Year 2030,” developed with the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
