Overview
Creativity in Research Scholars: Bridging PhD Research to Real-World Impact with a Design Mindset
The Creativity in Research Scholars program is a one-quarter studio experience for Stanford PhD students ready to move beyond the lab and into the world. By combining human-centered design with the latest prototyping tools for emerging technologies, this course empowers researchers to translate their academic work into impactful solutions, ventures, and career pathways.
What You’ll Learn
In this fast-paced, experimental studio, you’ll expand the research context from which you operate every day. Through hands-on activities, design sprints, and team-based challenges, you will:
- Apply design thinking to your existing research focus
- Leverage our Emerging Tech Toolbox to rapidly prototype
- Explore real-world applications of your research in industry, policy, health, social impact, and beyond
- Strengthen your intuition for need-finding, user engagement, and storytelling
- Collaborate across disciplines to expand your impact
- Build a portfolio-ready concept or prototype that translates research into action
This program is designed for Stanford PhD students across all disciplines who:
- Have an identified research area or thesis in progress
- Are curious about applied innovation, entrepreneurship, or cross-sector collaboration
- Want to explore how their work can make a difference—through startups, nonprofits, public policy, art, or new research methods
- Are ready to experiment, take creative risks, and stretch their thinking