Outline
Reid School of Music boasts a large and successful community of postgraduate research students. Our supervised research programmes suit candidates who have a particular project and approach already in mind.
We consider applications relating to any specialism which staff members have the expertise and capacity to supervise. Please browse our profile pages to learn about the research specialisms and outputs of Music staff.
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.
PhD
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. 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.
Your choice of topic
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.
Staff
