Research degrees and scholarships

1 year full-time; 2 years part-time

Our MA by Research programmes offer a unique way to combine the taught content and supervisory support of a traditional Masters course with the flexibility and dynamism of a tailor-made research degree. Whether you choose to specialise in performance, composition, musicology, music technology, or an interdisciplinary combination of approaches, you will receive dedicated group and one-to-one teaching in your specialist area, together with the support and resources needed to pursue your chosen research.

Subject areas

Some of the areas that you could choose to focus on or combine include:

Performance – solo or ensemble performance, historical performance, brass-band music, contemporary music, improvisation

Musicology – cultural, critical, and historical musicologies; studies in performance history, canon, and reception; opera studies; music analysis, including computer-aided analysis; memetics and evolutionary theory in music; audiovisual media studies; popular music studies; computer simulation of musical creativity; issues of gender and identity in music

Composition and Music Technology – composition, live electronics, interactive technologies, improvisation, sound art and installations, popular music composition, software design and audio technologies

Structure

The MA by Research in Music and Music Technology is a hybrid postgraduate course that combines the assessment and supervision structure of a research degree with the classroom and workshop structures typically found in a more conventionally taught Masters programme. The flexible structure of the MA by Research allows for a highly individualised, personalised course of study that is particularly useful for those interested in multi-disciplinary work, and allows for robust interaction between students of various backgrounds and more advanced research students and staff.

Assessment

The MA by Research is assessed by portfolio. The content of the portfolio is flexible and may investigate a number of complementary areas simultaneously. Sample portfolio examples include: major thesis or collection of shorter papers/essays; portfolio of compositions and accompanying thesis or shorter essays; live electronics performance and an accompanying thesis; recital of contemporary works (with or without electronics) and an accompanying thesis; or portfolio of patches, audio examples/compositions and accompanying thesis.
Portfolios with significant creative or practical/applied work (composition, performance, programming, etc.) must be accompanied by at least 5,000 words of written material; portfolios that are text only will be around 25,000 words.

The University of Huddersfield has one of the largest Music and Music Technology postgraduate communities in the UK. With approximately 100 students representing numerous fields of study and well over a dozen nationalities, our postgraduate community is a vital and vibrant part of the life of the department.

Supervisors and support

Each student is supported by a supervisory team that usually comprises at least two academics, as well as by weekly term-time research seminars, workshops, masterclasses, and training sessions. Additional support and resources are offered via the Graduate School, which offers a Research Skills Development Programme including thesis and viva voce preparation, training in postgraduate teaching skills, and workshops on research ethics, data management, and intellectual property rights. Foreign language training is also available. The University has a clear set of progression monitoring tools that support students through the various stages of their degree programme.

Research students are generally affiliated with at least one of our five distinct music research centres: the Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI); the Research Centre for Performance Practices (ReCePP); and the Centre for Research in New Music (CeReNeM). Each of the centres runs a series of events to support the work of its research students, including seminars, workshops, masterclasses, concerts, workgroups, colloquia, and fora.

MA by Research students in Performance also receive instrumental tuition as part of their supervision arrangements, up to a total of 16 hours of individual tuition per year.

Student Successes

Current and recent postgraduate students are establishing themselves with significant international careers including:

Performances at Gaudeamus, ISCM World Music Days, STEIM, CCMIX, Darmstadt, hcmf//, Musica Viva, Transit, Ostrava Music Days, the Seoul International Computer Music Festival, impuls, and numerous university music departments throughout the UK and abroad
Commissions/compositions programmed by IRCAM, Klangforum Wien, Arditti Quartet, duo Contour, BCMG, ELISION, Psappha, Smith Quartet, ASKO/Schoenberg Ensemble, Nieuw Ensemble, MusikFabrik, Caput Ensemble, Quatuor Bozzini, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and numerous soloists
Publications in journals such as Music Analysis, The Soundtrack, Early Music Performer, Music Theory Online, and Axiomathes; a variety of academic book projects and chapters; and recordings on the Durian, NaivSuper, Entr’acte, and HoffArt labels
Awards: Gaudeamus Composition Prize, Henriëtte Bosmansprijs, Buma Toonzetters Prize, Huygens Scholarship, Golden Nica Award, Ensemble Intercontemporain reading panel
Academic appointments:
- Dr Aaron Einbond (Research Fellow, University of Huddersfield, 2012, appointed Lecturer in Music, City University)
- Dr Louise McInnes (PhD, 2014, appointed Academic Skills Development Adviser at the University of Sheffield)
- Luke Reed (MA by Research, 2015; Lecturer, University of the West of England, 2016)
- Scott McLaughlin (PhD, 2009), Lecturer in Composition and Music Technology, University of Leeds
- Richard Glover (PhD, 2010), Reader in Composition, University of Wolverhampton
- Dr Einar Torfi Einarsson (PhD, 2011), Research Fellow, Orpheus Institute Ghent
- Dr Nicolas Bernier (PhD, 2013), Professor of Digital Music, Université de Montréal
- Dr Sebastian Berweck (PhD, 2013), Lecturer, Philipps-Universität Marburg
- Tamara Friebel (PhD, 2013), Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Graz, Austria
- Pedro Alvarez (PhD, 2014), ‘Artist in Residence’, Vienna & Mexico 2014
- Jamie Fawcus (PhD, 2014), Senior Lecturer, School of Informatics, University of Skovde, Sweden

MA by Research

Find out more about our Music MA by Research degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Find out more about our Music PhD

Scholarships

We offer a regular cycle of PhD scholarships in Composition (Jonathan Harvey), Electronic Music (Denis Smalley), Musicology (Steinitz), Performance (Duncan Druce), Musical Multimedia (Lis Rhodes) and Creative Music Production, several of which are named after a recent recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University. CeReNeM offers two scholarships in partnership with hcmf// and Sound and Music as well as a scholarship supporting the Creative Coding Lab.

We are currently inviting applications for the Duncan Druce Scholarship in Performance, and the Denis Smalley Scholarship in Electronic Music. Applications received by 1 March 2021 will be automatically considered for these awards.

Current and previous award holders are:

Jonathan Harvey Scholarship in Composition, Arash Yazdani (2020-23)
Creative Music Production Scholarship, Jan Pietrzak (2020-23)
Steinitz Scholarship in Musicology, Ellen Stokes (2019-22)
Creative Coding Lab Scholarship, Sam Torrubiano (2019-22)
Denis Smalley Scholarship in Electronic Music, James Bradbury (2017-20)
Jonathan Harvey Scholarship in Composition, Hakan Ulus (2017-20)
Duncan Druce Scholarship in Performance, Sophie Fetokaki (2017-20)
Steinitz Scholarship in Musicology, Jennifer Smith (2016-19)
Lis Rhodes Scholarship in Musical Multimedia, Samuel Gillies (2016-19)
Creative Coding Lab PhD Scholarship, Oliver Larkin (2016-19)
NECAH Scholarship, Leah Stuttard (2016-21)
NECAH Scholarship, Lawrence Dunn (2015-18)
Denis Smalley Scholarship in Electronic Music, Tadej Droljc (2014-17)
Duncan Druce Scholarship in Performance, Mira Benjamin (2014-17)
Jonathan Harvey Scholarship in Composition, Cassandra Miller (2014-17)
CeReNeM/hcmf Scholarship, Beavan Flanagan (2013-16)
CeReNeM/Sound & Music Scholarship, Simon Fell (2013-16)

Fee waivers

We also award a limited number of full and partial fee waivers on a competitive basis to suitable candidates. Each fee waiver student contributes up to 80 hours per year of support to teaching and research, including opportunities for classroom teaching. Fee-waiver students are expected to be in residence in the UK, and recipients of scholarships with stipends are expected to be in residence in/near Huddersfield.

All Huddersfield research students can access a dedicated Conference Presentation FundPostgraduate Support Fund with awards of up to £800 to assist with conference travel, data collection, and other research expenses, and have additional opportunities to apply for joint grants to support projects up to the value of £2500.

Criteria used in the assessment of applications for named scholarships and fee waivers can be found in this document.

Full details of the Vice Chancellor's Scholarship Scheme fee waivers and bursaries, and School of Music, Humanities and Media fee waivers, can be found here.

Applications

Applications for MA by Research, and PhD programmes are submitted through an online portal. Up-to-date information on fees, visa requirements, application procedures, and application deadlines can be found here. Please indicate clearly on the online application form if you are applying for a specific scholarship call.

In addition to the online application form, applications should be accompanied by a research proposal of approximately 500 words detailing the proposed plan of study, as well as articles or other examples of written work. We would generally expect this to be around 750 words for MA by Research degrees, and around 1,000-1,500 for PhD study. Composers, multimedia artists and performers should submit sample audio/video recordings, and composers of notated music should submit relevant scores. Folios should be submitted as links to online resources (through Soundcloud, Vimeo, YouTube, and/or the applicant’s personal website) rather than as files for download. Performers will be invited to audition, either in person, or (for overseas applicants) via video.

While January start dates are sometimes possible, the majority of our research students begin in September. Places for MA by Research and PhD students in Music and Music Technology are competitive and are limited by supervisor availability—it is strongly advised that all applications are submitted early in the University's admissions cycle.

Applications for September 2021 and January 2022 study will be considered for any available MMT scholarships and fee waivers if received by 1 March 2021.

Questions about research degree programmes may be directed to the Postgraduate Admissions tutor for Music and Music Technology at mmt.pg.admissions@hud.ac.uk.