"DESMA is a training network including 4 leading universities, 4 design consultancies and 4 product and service organizations in the area of Design Management - an area of research and practice that is concerned with the dynamic intersection of design and management. The great potential of design as a driver of innovation and competitiveness is increasingly celebrated in the popular and scholarly management press, by European policy makers as well as manufacturing and service companies. However, the marriage between design and management is not always easy. The two fields have different historical roots, educational traditions and research foci. A divergence reflected in professional cultures and skills of practising designers, engineers and business graduates.In order to fully exploit the exciting potential of design as driver of innovation and competitiveness, we need researchers who can who can bridge the design and management divide within industry as well as academia. This entails being able to work at the intersection of the two fields, with a deep understanding of their respective languages, epistemologies, and practices, as well as the different perspectives of academia and practice.The overall objective of this programme is to create and support a new generation of design management researchers with this capability.The project is based on close collaboration among the partners through courses, conferences and other common activities, as well as through the research projects. While the consortium represents leading actors in the field of design management today, we have adopted an open strategy aiming to include and collaborate with other universities, companies and interest groups in Europe. The aim is to create a common platform for progressing design management research in Europe that will live long after the end of this project."