Postgraduate research in Music

Now is a great time to start your postgraduate research degree as loans are now available to help ease the cost of study at this level. For more information please see the following web page: https://www.gov.uk/doctoral-loan.

Currently, the Faculty has three funded PhD studentships avaiable. See the following for details: https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProgrammeDetails.aspx?PGID=3970

Thank you for your interest in pursuing a research degree with the Faculty of Arts. We will be delighted to discuss your area of interest with you but, before doing so, it is important to determine whether or not we can offer research supervision in your chosen area.

The aim of our research programmes is to give each student the best possible foundation from which to launch further research and career development. We help our students to develop the relevant research skills and methods and also support the development of related skills such as IT, presentation and career planning.

This approach, together with the relevant research expertise and resources support the completion of high-quality research degree programmes.

Details of current and recent research degree topics include:

Music

• Musical interaction, particularly the design of digital musical instruments and new interfaces for learning abstract musical concepts and skills; Audio synthesis, particularly analogue/digital hybrid approaches and procedural audio for video games; The histories of live electronic music
• Composition; Compositional analysis; Historical and contextual studies
• Computer Modelling and Auralization/Virtual Acoustics; Acoustic Measurement in situ; Architectural Acoustics; Acoustics in Heritage Sites;
  Acoustics and Psychoacoustics; Perceptual Evaluation of Auralization
• Composition; experimental composition, particularly process-oriented approaches; Experimental music; Contemporary music; Minimalism and reductionism in music, and related perceptual and temporal experiences; Psychoacoustics, perception and cognition; Experimental approaches to notation; Microtonality and tuning systems; Minimal and process visual art; Contemporary performance practice.
• Minimalist Music, particularly archival research into the music of Steve Reich; assessment in Performing Arts.
• The role of Instrumental music teachers in higher education.
• Choral direction; Music Education; Eighteenth Century English Music; Improvisation; Church Music; Song writing (Oxford University Press, Sing Up); Piano performance (Lola Perrin Performance Hub commission 2013)