Paul Minifie

Paul Minifie is practicing architect and Associate Professor of Architecture in the School of Architecture and Urban Design (A_UD). He is currently serving as Interim Director of the Design and Creative Practice Enabling Impact Platform, in the college of Research & Innovation, where he provides strategic leadership to advance interdisciplinary research and impact across the design and creative practice disciplinary domains.

His work focuses on research leadership, design-led innovation, and the translation of creative practice into real-world impact. He has extensive experience building research culture and capability, fostering collaboration across disciplines, and supporting projects that connect academic research with industry, community, and institutional partners. A particular interest is the leveraging the role of design in helping complex ideas move from discovery to implementation, especially where outcomes depend on a strong understanding of users, context, and systems.

From 2018 to 2022, Paul was Associate Dean, Research & Innovation in A_UD, where he led a comprehensive research plan and strengthened competitive grant activity, research groups, and interdisciplinary collaboration. He established mentoring and peer review processes to support both senior and emerging researchers, and helped build a stronger pipeline of ARC and other research funding. He also championed the development of research concentrations later consolidated into formal labs and groups, supporting capability in areas such as cities, Indigenous knowledges, robotic fabrication, digital media, and social practices.

Paul has also served as Chair of the Practice Research Symposium Europe (PRS), expanding its scope across architecture, design, and fashion while supporting more than 35 higher degree research candidates. Under his leadership, the symposium strengthened mentoring, intellectual exchange, and international collaboration, particularly with European partners. Earlier, he was Director of d__Lab and Director of the Future Fabric of Cities Flagship, where he helped consolidate RMIT’s strengths in practice-based design research, urban futures, and emerging technologies.

He has supervised more than 21 PhD completions, including many senior practitioners and academics, and his supervision has supported work that extends from computationally enabled design to robotics, AI, urbanism, and flood adaptation. He has also contributed to research governance, impact frameworks, and the development of new approaches to recognising creative practice outputs.

Paul is a founding principal of MvS Architects responsible for many internationally recognised and award-winning projects and his career has combined design practice, research leadership, teaching, and mentoring across professional and academic contexts.