Dr Brian Dixon

Overview

Teaching and Learning

Brian is Head of Belfast School of Art at Ulster University, where he leads the largest art and design school on the island of Ireland, comprising over 80 academic staff, 20 technical staff, and more than 50 doctoral researchers. His leadership spans strategic oversight of curriculum development, including full undergraduate and postgraduate revalidation, alongside responsibility for operational delivery, student experience, and staff development and wellbeing. He supervises doctoral researchers and sustains an active teaching and research profile.

Dixon’s pedagogic leadership is grounded in extensive experience across leading institutions. At Ulster, he designed and established the island’s first integrated MA (now MDes) in UX and Service Design, extending partnerships with key industry stakeholders, as well as leading MFA Design provision through the pandemic. Prior to this, at the Glasgow School of Art, he led studio teaching across a portfolio of Masters programmes in Design Innovation, spanning Service, Interaction, Environment, Citizenship, and Transformation. His teaching practice emphasises interdisciplinary learning, real-world engagement, and the integration of design methods with societal challenges. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and contributes extensively as an external examiner and academic reviewer across the UK, Ireland, and internationally.

Research

Dixon is an internationally recognised design researcher whose work explores the role of philosophy in design practice and the contribution of design to public policy and societal transformation. He currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator on the €4 million HEA-funded Shared Island project, CO-CREATE, leading a major all-island research network focused on co-creation in public services, climate action, health, and inclusive heritage. This represents the largest exchequer-funded investment in art and design research on the island of Ireland.
He has also held significant roles across major UKRI and AHRC-funded programmes, including Green Transitions Ecosystems and Design Innovation and Land Assets, where he has led research on design for policy and sustainable transitions. His earlier work includes collaborative, place-based research across Scotland’s Highlands and Islands, addressing SME innovation, digital health, and community-led development.

Dixon has published extensively in leading journals such as Design Studies, Design Issues, and CoDesign. His monographs include Dewey and Design (Springer, 2020) and Design, Philosophy and Making Things Happen (Routledge, 2023), and most recently Philosophy through Design (Bloomsbury, 2026). His work advances the integration of pragmatist philosophy within contemporary design research methodologies. He is regularly invited to deliver keynote presentations at major international and national conferences and seasonal schools.

Civic and Leadership Roles

Dixon plays a significant civic and leadership role within the design research and higher education sectors. He is a member of the AHRC Peer Review College and regularly reviews for major funders and publishers, including the Leverhulme Trust, Bloomsbury, Routledge, and MIT Press. He serves as an Associate Editor for CoDesign and sits on the editorial board of the journal Designing, contributing to the shaping of international research agendas.
Within Ulster University, alongside his term as Head of School, he has held key strategic roles, including Interim Research Director for Art and Design. He contributes significantly to committee work, having chaired the Strategic Research Support Committee, chaired the Health and Safety Committee, co-chaired the Ethics Committee, and convened an ongoing Art and Design AI steering group. He has also contributed to institutional strategy around practice research and early career development, including delivering doctoral training arising from this work.

Externally, he has served as a QAA subject benchmark reviewer for the Art and Design 2026 statement and acts as a subject expert for the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment in Northern Ireland, while also sitting on national and international academic review panels. He is a Board Director of the Institute of Designers in Ireland and has been nominated as its President for the 2027–28 term. Through these roles, he actively shapes policy, standards, and the future direction of art and design education and research.