| Program start date | Application deadline |
| 2023-10-01 | 2023-09-01 |
| 2024-10-01 | - |
| 2025-10-01 | - |
Program Overview
Invest your time and follow your passion to create original research. We know the commitment you will making so you'll get expert supervision from our internationally recognised researchers. We encourage you to identify a potential supervisor to discuss your proposal with as early as possible.
We have particular strengths in four core areas.
Explore all our research themes and projects in detail
There's plenty of opportunities to play and perform:
"The music I grew up with and enjoy listening to was not part of the music history I was studying. So when I did a PhD, I decided to move away from opera (which I also like) and focus on musicals."
Hannah Robbins, Assistant Professor in Popular Music and Director of Black Studies
Normally taken full-time over three years or part-time over six years (with an optional extra year for writing up, submission and viva).
You will:
Their Dreams and Ours: Britten, Film, and 'The Turn of the Screw' - Peter Auker
Intermezzo under Hapsburg rule (1707-1734): new theories of composition and musical meaning - Eric Boaro
Changing the record: reassessing effectiveness and value in prison music projects - Sarah Doxat-Pratt
A critical and reflective commentary on a portfolio of compositions (audio) - Angela Slater
A range of optional music modules are available in consultation with your supervisory team. Examples include:
Explore a range of musical cultures beyond the traditional canon of Western art music.
Introduce the fields of ethnomusicology and popular music studies. You'll look at different:
from a diverse range of cultures and communities.
We delve into musical traditions and popular culture from around the world, including case studies from Asia, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Pacific.
As well as ethnomusicological theory and method you'll get an overview of key issues and debates in Anglophone popular music. You will also develop critical skills for the analysis of musical practice in diverse contexts.
This module is worth 10 credits.
This module centres on participation in primary school music teaching in partnership with the Nottingham Music Hub. Students attend weekly in-school sessions throughout the autumn and spring semesters, assisting with Nottingham First Access mentoring (In Harmony and/or Whole Class Ensemble) or contributing to the direction of post-first-access ensembles. In the spring semester, fortnightly classes will supplement the in-school experience with sessions on topics such as: the national music plan and music hubs; different teaching and learning styles; Musical Futures; musical inclusion and teaching in inner-city schools; and special educational needs.
See our BA Music year two and three modules for more examples of modules available to you.
The department's lively research culture offers the chance to hear visiting scholars from elsewhere in the UK and from overseas. Events include:
These sessions for staff and postgraduates give you the space to present your developing work in a friendly and constructive environment. They also allow you to broaden your knowledge of the subject and gain a better sense of how research develops as part of an interactive process.
There are numerous opportunities to play and perform for both players and singers including:
Find out more about performance opportunities
The department hosts two research centres that you are encouraged to get involved in. They offer opportunities for research, performance and event support.
NottFAR features performances and composers from our staff and high profile guests from around the UK and abroad. Performances take part both on-campus and at major venues in Nottingham such as the Royal Concert Hall and Rough Trade.
Promotes the interaction of history, theory and practice in the study of opera, ballet, melodrama, film, video and other multi-media performance genres. It encourages multi-disciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration.
If you are funded through the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership you will complete a portfolio of research training, devised in consultation with your supervisors and Head of Postgraduate Studies.
You can make full use of the Language Centre facilities for both research-specific learning and personal interest.
Find out more about our postgraduate support and community.