Music - PhD/MPhil/MSc by Research

The MSc is ideal for students interested in undertaking a small, independent research project in Music. Research training takes place through two selected taught courses alongside a dissertation or portfolio of projects. The programme duration is one year full time study, or two years part time.

Research towards a PhD normally requires a minimum 36 months full-time work under the guidance of a panel of usually two or three supervisors. Candidates submit a dissertation of 80,000-100,000 words which they defend in a viva voce examination. For the MPhil programme, 24 months work culminates in a dissertation of c.60,000 words. Many Music PhD students benefit from multidisciplinary supervision teams involving staff from across the University. Depending on the project, supervision teams may also include private, public or third sector partners.

Please browse staff profiles to learn about the research specialisms and outputs of Music staff.

If you’re applying for a Music postgraduate research degree, it’s because you already have a topic and an approach in mind. All research degrees require students to work closely with a supervision team. We encourage you to approach staff directly to gauge their availability and suitability as a prospective supervisor.

Contact with prospective supervisors can inform decisions you will need to make about how to develop your proposal (essential for competitive funding applications), and with whom you would like to work. When making first contact, it is helpful to prepare a couple of sentences which describe the topic – research area, research questions – and the approach you would intend to use, e.g. archival study, fieldwork, practice-led.

If you are uncertain and wish to seek advice, please do get in touch – either with Prof Raymond MacDonald, Postgraduate Research Director, Music - PhD/MPhil/MScR by Research, or Sophie Ramette (ECA PG Office).