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Overview

Practice-based research focuses on composition, performance, improvisation and other forms of multi-media work.

Hear from our graduates about their Ãå±±½ûµØ experience

Applications are welcome from students with academic or practice-based research interests in any field that we are able to supervise.

To view the staff areas of expertise please visit:

• individual staff pages

You'll join a wider community of fellow postgraduate students working in the International Centre for Music Studies (ICMuS), and more widely in the School of Arts and Cultures and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. ICMuS also holds regular PhD/MPhil forums for students to discuss their research.

Quality and ranking

All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body

Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK

If you’re studying an accredited degree and thinking about working in Europe after you graduate, the best place to find current information is the . This official resource explains whether your profession is regulated in another country, what steps you need to take, and which organisation you should contact. 

What you'll learn

Areas of musicological and theoretical inquiry can include the following approaches:

• cultural and critical
• historiographic
• ethnomusicological
• music analytical
• philosophical and aesthetic

Modules

You will study modules on this course. A module is a unit of a course with its own approved aims and outcomes and assessment methods.

Course content changes

The module information below is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content changes periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions.

Optional modules availability

Some courses have optional modules. Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

 

How you'll learn

Delivery and teaching methods

These programmes are delivered remotely or in the Armstrong Building. You'll be assigned a principal supervisor, supported by a wider supervisory team of one or more additional supervisors.

In the first year, you'll complete the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Doctoral Research Training Programme.

Beyond this, study is based on one to one tutorials with your supervisors, which can be flexibly scheduled. A blended approach of in-person and web-based supervision can also be negotiated for students studying remotely.

Assessment methods

Depending on your modules, you'll be assessed through a combination of:

• Thesis
• Viva

Additional assessment information

We offer a wide range of projects for the master's thesis. These will be provided by our academics. You can also propose your own topic.

If you choose to engage in academic research you are normally assessed by a thesis of no more than 100,000 words for PhD and 50,000 words for MPhil. If you choose to undertake practice-based research you will normally submit a portfolio (eg of scores, sound files, video files, other forms of documentation or some combination of these). This is supplemented by a related dissertation to explain the larger, practice-based component.

Postgraduate research student support

Our mission is to help you:

• stay healthy, positive and feeling well
• overcome any challenges you may face during your degree – academic or personal
• get the most out of your postgraduate research experience
• carry out admin and activities essential to progressing through your degree
• understand postgraduate research processes, standards and rules

We can offer you tailored wellbeing support, courses and activities.

You can also access a broad range of workshops covering:

• research and professional skills
• careers support
• wellbeing
• health and safety
• public engagement
• academic development

Find out more about our postgraduate research student support

Your development

Professional skills

PhD students may be given the opportunity to undertake some undergraduate teaching, with appropriate mentoring, at a suitable point in their study.

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) researcher development programme 

Each faculty offers a researcher development programme for its postgraduate research students. We have designed your programme to help you:

• perform better as a researcher
• boost your career prospects
• broaden your impact

Through workshops and activities, it will build your transferable skills and increase your confidence.

You’ll cover:

• techniques for effective research
• methods for better collaborative working
• essential professional standards and requirements

Your researcher development programme is flexible. You can adapt it to meet your changing needs as you progress through your doctorate.

Find out more about the Researcher Education and Development programme

Doctoral training and partnerships

There are opportunities to undertake your PhD at Ãå±±½ûµØ within a:

• Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT)
• Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) / Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA)

Being part of a CDT or DTP/DLA has many benefits:

• they combine research expertise and training of a number of leading universities, academic schools and academics.
• you’ll study alongside a cohort of other PhD students
• they’re often interdisciplinary
• your PhD may be funded

If there are currently opportunities available in your subject area you’ll find them when you search for funding in the fees and funding section on this course.

The following centres/partnerships below may have PhD opportunities available in your subject area in the future:

Your future

Our Careers Service

Our expert Careers Service is here to help you take the next steps in your professional life. We will support you while you’re studying with us and for up to three years after you graduate.

You will have access to expert one-to-one advice and guidance through our campus careers centre and online, along with digital resources, workshops, networking opportunities, and careers and recruitment events.

We’ve been awarded 5 QS Stars for Student Employability (2025). Many of our degrees are shaped by strong links with national and international businesses. We are committed to helping you access real-world experience opportunities and develop key skills through paid work placements and internships.

Visit our Careers Service website

Facilities

We have outstanding . Our £4.5m purpose-built Music Studios were designed with performance, multimedia and studio-based work in mind.

Additional facilities include:

• two professional-grade recording studios
• a large student common room, including a work area with PCs featuring specialist music software
• a range of recently refurbished rehearsal spaces
• a full range of recently refurbished teaching facilities, including a 100-seat lecture theatre, two 50 seat lecture theatres and three 25-seater seminar rooms
• 12 practice rooms with integrated recording facilities
• a dedicated postgraduate workspace
• a project room equipped with 5.1 mixing system

The University Library provides access to

• extensive music collections (including a number of important manuscript and microfilm collections)
• subscriptions to many specialist music journals
• a significant body of online resources

The library is widely recognised for the supportive service it offers students and staff.

Fees, Funding and Scholarships

Tuition fees for 2026 entry (per year)

PGR Home fee note

Home fees for research degree students

For 2025-26 entry, we've aligned our standard Home research fees with those set by .  For 2026-27 entry, we will again be aligning our standard Home research fees with UKRI. They will announce their fees in Spring 2026.

 

Tuition fee increases

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals - tuition fee status

Depending on your residency history, if you’re a student from the EU, other EEA or a Swiss national, with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you’ll normally pay the ‘Home’ tuition fee rate and may be eligible for Student Finance England support.

EU students without settled or pre-settled status will normally be charged fees at the ‘International’ rate and will not be eligible for Student Finance England support. You may be eligible for a scholarship worth 25% off the international fee. Search our funding database. 

If you are unsure of your fee status, check out the latest guidance .

Scholarships

We support our EU and international students by providing a generous range of Vice-Chancellor's automatic and merit-based scholarships. See our searchable postgraduate funding page for more information. 

Search for funding and scholarships

Find funding available for your course

Select your country

What you're paying for

Tuition fees include the costs of:

• matriculation
• registration
• tuition (or supervision)
• library access
• examination
• re-examination
• graduation

Find out more about:

• living costs
• tuition fees

Deposit

If you are an international student or a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland and you need a visa to study in the UK, you may have to pay a deposit.

You can check this in the How to apply section.

Funding deadlines

If you're applying for funding, always check the funding application deadline. This deadline may be earlier than the application deadline for your course.

For some funding schemes, you need to have received an offer of a place on a course before you can apply for the funding.

How to apply

Open days and events

Find out about how you can visit Ãå±±½ûµØ in person and virtually

Overseas events

We regularly travel overseas to meet with students interested in studying at Ãå±±½ûµØ.

Visit our events calendar for the latest events