LIDA – Research Laboratory in Design and Arts is a research and development unit based in Caldas da Rainha, at School of Fine Arts and Design (ESAD.CR) of the Polytechnic of Leiria, founded by FCT since 2020. Conducts research activities in the domains of Design, Arts and Culture. It is composed by a team of researchers mostly formed by ESAD.CR professors, with fifty PhD members or specialists.

It is LIDA’s mission to develop applied research activities, experimental development and knowledge transfer in its thematic areas, seeking to coordinate and support the scientific activity of its members and to carry out research projects in cooperation with companies, public entities or other national and international research institutions, contributing to greater public awareness of the role of Design, Arts and Culture as forms of knowledge and socio-cultural intervention. 

Its close relationship with ESAD.CR makes priority the promotion and support of scientific work by young researchers in postgraduate studies, as well as the support of advanced training courses that allow the increasing integration of young people in scientific professional activities related to research in the domains of Design, Arts and Culture.

LIDA has a complete and multifaceted team of researchers, with experience in fields such as product design, spatial design, eco-design, participative design, interaction design, communication design, multimedia, visual arts, audiovisual and heritage and cultural management, among others. The various competences in these fields allow LIDA to integrate multidisciplinary projects, developing research focused on the profound transformations of the contemporary world, anticipating and intervening in these transformations at all levels of human behaviour, from the global to the individual scale.