School of Art, Design and Architecture

PhD Music

Duration

Full time: 2-4 years
Part time: 4-8 years
Course type

Full-time, Part-time route available
Study location Plymouth
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Studying PhD Music at the University of Plymouth will immerse you in a world of cutting-edge research under the umbrella of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research. Our research expertise ranges from musicology and composition to biomedical applications of music and development of new music technologies.

Course details

  • Year 1

  • The University of Plymouth is a world-leader on musical research at the crossroads of arts and science, in particular computing, biology and psychology. This full time or part time doctoral programme is suitable for candidates interested musical research question or topic in mind, and wish to explore this through independent study in order to produce an original contribution to the subject.You will be guided by a small supervisory team of academic experts under the direction of a Director of Studies.
    You will be expected to fully engage with skills development and training and to present your research in a range of scholarly contexts.
    Your PhD will be assessed via submission of either a written thesis (approximately 80,000 words), or one that combines critical writing with artistic, creative and/or professional practice, and a viva voce (an oral examination).
    For full details of what doing a PhD entails at the University of Plymouth, please visit our postgraduate research degrees pages. 

Entry requirements
Although candidates are expected to be conversant with music theory and/or practice and demonstrable experience on the topic of the envisaged research project, they are not required to have a music degree to join this programme. Applicants are expected to have completed a masters level qualification to a high standard as well as either a good 2:1 or first class honours undergraduate degree.If you do not have a masters level qualification, we recommend you consider applying for our ResM Computer Music. Students who are making exceptional progress in a ResM programme, may progress directly into our PhD programme without having to complete the masters.
If English is not your first language, you must have proficiency in written and spoken English (normally a minimum test score of 6.5 for IELTS, or equivalent). Given the nature of the programme, you’ll be expected to read and engage with complex theoretical texts and debates for which fluency in English is essential.
For more general guidelines and application requirements, please visit the @ research degrees applicants page.

Fees, costs and funding
Please visit tuition fees for postgraduate research for information about fees. PhD Performing Arts is in Band 2 for fees purposes.
You are responsible for meeting all of the costs related to your own research project, beyond the resources available in the department.
Please visit our postgraduate research money matters page to find out more about issues related to fees, funding, loans and paying for your programme of study.

How to apply

Apply online

In addition to completing the online application form (which includes space for a personal statement), you must also upload a research project proposal of no more than 1000 words in total. Your research proposal should outline your general topic, your key aims and the research question/problem you are addressing, your proposed methodology, key definitions/thinkers/discourses/practitioners you are drawing upon and an explanation of why this topic is significant or important.
Your personal statement should briefly explain why you have chosen to apply to our programme and what you feel you can offer our research community. 
It is recommended that you contact a member of staff (see people below) to briefly discuss your research idea before you submit an application.
Submitting your application
Complete your application and upload supporting documents to the Doctoral College by completing our online application form.
Questions on the application process?
We're here to help. Please contact the Doctoral College and we'll be happy to assist you.
More information and advice for applicants can be referenced in our admissions policy which can be found on the student regulations, policies and procedures page. Prospective students are advised to read the policy before making an application to the University.
If you have a disability and would like further information on the support available, please visit Disability Services .
Support is also available to overseas students applying to the University from our International Office . 
Find more information about Apply for a postgraduate research programme .
Musical research at the University of Plymouth is truly interdisciplinary: we actively publish our research outcomes in learned journals and conferences in the fields of music, digital arts, computing, engineering, psychology, neurosciences and medicine.

Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR)

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR) develops research combining music, science and technology. Our research expertise ranges from musicology and composition, to biomedical applications of music and development of new technologies for musical creativity.
Eduardo Miranda playing as part of an orchestra

Music of the mind

The ICCMR team developed a musical system which enables people with severe motor-impairments to play music with signals detected directly from their brain, which was featured in a documentary for Volvo and Sky Atlantic.
Film credit: Volvo and Sky Atlantic
BBC Radio 3 presenter, Tom Service, visits ICCMR

BBC Radio 3 presenter, Tom Service, visits ICCMR

ICCMR ground-breaking research on using single-cell organisms to build new kinds of computers for improvising music is featured in Music Matters.
Eduardo Miranda ICCR STARTS prize

Grand prize of the European Commission for Innovation in Technology, Industry and Society stimulated by the Arts, ICCMR award

The composition Biocomputer Rhythms, by Eduardo Miranda, won an Honorary Mention at STARTS, an initiative of the European Commission to foster arts and sciences connections. 
Contemporary Music Festival

Contemporary and experimental music concerts

A showcase of extraordinary new technologies and approaches to composition and performance that are pushing the boundaries of music.
ICCMR organises concerts throughout the year to showcase new technologies and creative practices developed by staff, students and associates.

Collaboration 

Professor Eduardo Miranda collaborates with American beatboxer, Butterscotch, and David Peterson, the inventor of Dothraki language for Game of Thrones, to create a unique compositions for voices.

Read more about the Contemporary Music Festival

Discover Vov: decoding language, encoding music

Butterscotch at the Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival

The sounds of Queen Canute

Former ICCMR PhD student, Nuria Bonet, now a Lecturer in Music at the University talks about her project on musification of data her composition Queen Canute, for seagulls and clarinet. 

RadioMe

 A £2.7 million project, RadioMe uses artificial intelligence to adapt and personalise live radio, with the aim of transforming lives for people living alone with dementia. Funded by The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), it addresses key causes of hospital admission for people with dementia, such as agitation and not taking medication correctly. Led by Professor Eduardo Miranda from the University and including other university partners, it will develop a way to remix live digital broadcast so that listeners will receive personal reminders, information and music to improve quality of life and allow people to remain living independently at home for longer.
Learn more about RadioMe
Eduardo at the EG Conference

EG Conference

EG is an annual gathering and a community of brilliant innovators driving our most creative industries. Professor Eduardo Miranda presented a talk at the EG Conference in California on developing bio-computing technology using components built with organic living material.

Federico Visi

ICCMR PhD student, Federico Visi, receives Santander Universities Scholarship award for his innovative research on the impact of music and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Frederico Visi

People

Funding for postgraduate research students

If you are considering starting a postgraduate research course, you could get help to pay for your course and living costs. 
 
Coastal Processes Research Group Perranporth beach