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Conservatoire Research Degrees - PhD

Currently viewing course to start in 2024/25 Entry.

A PhD at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire will help you create opportunities to develop research skills that support performance, composition or a scholarly career....

  • School Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
  • Faculty Faculty of Arts, Design and Media

This course is:

Open to International Students

Overview

A PhD at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire will help you create opportunities to develop research skills that support performance, composition or a scholarly career. Whether you are interested in music (including composition, music technology, musicology, performance and jazz) or performing arts (theatre, acting, directing, applied drama, dance and interdisciplinary performance practice), you will be supervised by leading experts in the field.

Choosing to study in a conservatoire environment allows you access to top-level performers, enabling you to situate your research in an environment of practical music making and acting.  

This course is open to International students.

What's covered in this course?

A PhD enables you to follow a programme of self-directed, independent study, supported by experienced supervisors who are themselves experts in their area.

Whilst you will be developing as an independent researcher, you will be supported both by your supervisors and the wider Conservatoire research community. There are regular opportunities for you to present and share your work with other research students. 

The staff are extremely supportive. My supervision team and the research degrees co-ordinator are always there to answer my questions and give me a nudge in the right direction.

Johan Eriksson, former PhD student

Why Choose Us?

  • Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has a thriving research community, with particular specialisms in composition, music technology, musicology, performance and performing arts.
  • Regardless of your specialism, you will benefit from access to top-level performers and a state-of-the-art, £57 million building with recording facilities, concert venues and practice rooms.
  • We have close links with the city’s musical and theatrical organisations such as the CBSO, BCMG, The Rep Theatre, Midlands Arts Centre and The Royal Shakespeare Company.
  • Music students are eligible to audition for our ensembles, and in addition both Music and Performing Arts students can take part in a range of practical activities and audit lectures.
  • Our programme offers the flexibility to present your research in a range of formats, depending on the nature of your research, whether it be fully text-based (80,000 words) or practical (composition, performance or scholarly edition) with a written element. 

Open Day

Join us on campus where you'll be able to explore our facilities and accommodation in person, and chat to staff and students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Booking isn't open yet for our next event, register your interest and we’ll email you as soon as booking goes live.

Next Open Day: 5 December 2024

Register Interest

Research Interests

PhD Supervisors and Specialisms

Professor Jamie Savan is the Director of Research for Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, whilst Dr Carrie Churnside is Research Degrees Coordinator. They are supported by a team of supervisors (appointed from our Research Staff) who have a wide range of specialisms and expertise including:

  • Composition
  • Music technology
  • Music Performance as Research
  • Performing arts
  • Musicology

 Composition

 Our fields of expertise in composition include: 

  • experimental and conceptual approaches to existing genres
  • interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary work
  • jazz composition
  • electronic composition
  • composition involving live electronics
  • queerness and queering in performance

Supervisors include:

  • Prof. Joe Cutler (Head of Composition)
  • Dr Andrew Hamilton
  • Howard Skempton
  • Prof. Michael Wolters (Deputy Head of Composition)
  • Dr Simon Hall
  • Prof. Lamberto Coccioli
  • Dr Edmund Hunt
  • Dr Joe Wright
  • Dr Mike Fletcher

Musicology

Our fields of expertise in musicology include:

  • French Music (within our French Music Research Hub), notably:
    • 17th- and 18th-century French music from Lully and Charpentier to Rameau and Chevalier de Saint-Georges (Prof. Shirley Thompson, Prof. Graham Sadler, Christopher Dingle)
    • 20th-century French music, notably: Messiaen and his pupils, Dutilleux (Christopher Dingle)
  • 17th- and 18th-Century Music (within our Forum for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Music), notably:
    • Performance Practices of the Early Baroque (Prof. Jamie Savan)
    • 17th- and 18th-century French music from Lully and Charpentier to Rameau (Prof. Shirley Thompson, Prof. Graham Sadler) (intersecting with our French Music Research Hub)
    • Italian Baroque Music (Dr Carrie Churnside)
    • British Music in the Eighteenth Century (Dr Martin Perkins)
    • Late 18th-century Austro-Germanic music, notably Beethoven (Dr Siân Derry, Dr Matthew Pilcher)
  • Performance Practices of the Renaissance (Prof. Jamie Savan)
  • Early Music Theory and Fifteenth-Century Music (Dr Adam Whittaker)
  • Music Critics and Criticism (Christopher Dingle)
  • Music Education (Dr Adam Whittaker, Dr Luan Shaw)
  • Piano Performance Practice and Pedagogy in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Dr Siân Derry, Dr Matthew Pilcher, Prof. John Thwaites, Dr Daniel Tong)
  • 19th-century Vocal Music (Dr Matthew Pilcher)
  • Jazz Studies (in collaboration with Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research) (Prof. Tony Whyton, Dr Pedro Cravinho, Dr Mike Fletcher)
  • Arts organizations and new music, especially the BBC; 20th-century British music and culture (Dr Chris Marshall)
  • Ethnomusicological approaches to urban musical practices since 1900 (Dr Pedro Cravinho)

Music Technology

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire hosts the Integra Lab, the music interaction design research centre led by Prof Lamberto Coccioli, and supports research in:

  • Electronic Music Composition and Performance
  • Musician-centred Interaction Design
  • Music and Audio Software Development
  • Accessible Digital Musical Instruments

Supervisors include:

  • Prof. Lamberto Coccioli
  • Dr Simon Hall
  • Dr Joe Wright
  • Dr Edmund Hunt

Performing Arts

The Interdisciplinary Performance Research has research interests including Theatre, Digital Media, Dance and Applied practices, and can support PhDs relating to:

  • The contemporary actor
  • Histories of actor training
  • Interdisciplinary and multimedia performance
  • Theatre making and devising
  • Dance performance making
  • Choreographic practices
  • Embodiment studies
  • Eco-somatics
  • Ecology and performance
  • Spirituality, spiritual traditions and performance
  • Applied theatre and performance
  • Contemporary drama
  • Theatre and politics
  • Spatial dramaturgies

Supervisors include:

  • Prof. Aleksandar Dundjerovic
  • Dr Polly Hudson
  • Dr Paola Botham
  • Dr Gareth Somers

Find out more information on the Centre for Interdisciplinary Performance Research.

Performance as Research

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire welcomes applications from professional-level performers who wish to explore research questions arising from or related to their own performance practice. Proposals in historical performance practice and/or contemporary practice (including jazz) are particularly welcome. The doctoral programme at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire allows for a mixed mode of submission including recordings and live performance alongside a written thesis, the balance and relative weighting of these elements to be determined by the nature of the project.

Fees & How to Apply

Please select your student status to view fees and apply
  • UK Student
  • International Student

UK students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.

Award: PhD

Starting: Feb 2025

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Full Time
  • 3-4 years
  • £4,786 in 2024/25
  • Part Time
  • 4-7 years
  • £2,393 in 2024/25

International students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.

Award: PhD

Starting: Feb 2025

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Full Time
  • 3-4 years
  • £14,675 in 2024/25
  • Part Time
  • 4-7 years
  • £7,338 in 2024/25
  • Distance Learning
  • 4-7 years
  • £9,180 in 2024/25
The University reserves the right to increase fees in line with inflation based on the Retail Prices Index or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament up to a maximum of five per cent.

Entry Requirements

To apply for our Conservatoire PhD research degree we usually expect you to have, or to be working towards, a Masters in a relevant subject area. Exceptional candidates without a Masters but with a strong undergraduate degree in a relevant subject area may be considered.

We also welcome enquiries from potential PhD researchers without formal academic qualifications but with appropriate levels of professional experience.

Please send us an initial PhD enquiry containing your brief PhD research proposal (max. 500 words), and/or any questions or queries you may have.

We will review your initial enquiry to ensure your research proposal complements one of our PhD research interests and if so we will ask you to make a full application.

English Language Requirements

Please refer to our English Language Requirements.

Research proposal guidance

Your research proposal in the full application should address the following areas:

The Working Title of Proposal

Context of the Research

Provide a succinct summary of what has already been done in the field. In the case of practice-based projects this will include compositions and performances as well as literature. How does your previous experience equip you to undertake this project?

Research Question(s)

What is it that your project sets out to discover? What are your aims and objectives?

Methodological approach

How will you go about undertaking your proposed project? Which methodological approach(es) will you employ? Provide a provisional timeline.

Resources Required

Indicate here if you require any specialist resources (e.g. access to studios, performers, specialist software, etc.)

Potential application and impact of your research

What will be the outcome of your project? How will it benefit the research community? Will the findings be applicable outside of academia? 

Bibliography

If your project includes practice (composition or performance) you will be asked to provide a portfolio of recent work and may be required to audition.

Course in Depth

Why study a PhD?

Are you keen to contribute innovative ideas to your field? Looking to solve problems, discover something new, and make a difference to society?

We have a vibrant research community here at Birmingham City University, with many talented postgraduate researchers developing and exchanging knowledge across their fields.

Conducting a PhD will allow you to develop cutting-edge research in your area of interest, with the support of your research supervisor and fellow research community.

The PhD journey

Full-time students are expected to complete within 3-4 years, whilst part-time students may take 4-7 years. In your first year, you will spend some time reviewing the field and refining your research proposal and projected plan. You will be supported in this through attendance at the PGCert in Research Practice, which runs for the first semester of your studies.

At the end of your first year (second year for PT students) you will complete a Progression Assessment Panel, at which you will present your work to the Conservatoire research community and undergo a viva. Throughout the doctorate you will be undertaking in-depth research in your chosen area, writing as you go. Towards the end of your course (year 3 for FT, years 5-6 for PT students) you will bring your research together and present it in a suitable format (whether that be through composition, performance, or entirely written).

Modes of study

Our PhD programmes are offered full-time or part-time. These modes of study ensure that we can create a PhD research plan around your lifestyle needs.

Full-time PhD Research: three to four years
  • You will be expected to complete your research and submit your work for examination within 36-43 months.
Part-time PhD Research: four to seven years
  • You would chose part-time PhD research if you opt to study whilst in employment or if full-time study is impractical.
  • You will be expected to complete your research and submit your work for examination within 48-72 months.

Examples of classroom activities

As each doctoral project is unique, so is each student’s day-to-day experience. A typical day might include reading, analysis, composition, performance, or critical editing, or any combination of the above. Whatever the nature of your project, all doctorates require independent study and require you to manage an extended, self-directed research project.

We support a range of thesis submissions, including composition portfolio supported by a short written commentary, or a combination of written and performance elements, as well as a traditional written thesis of 80,000 words.

Employability

The value of a PhD to employability

The Doctor of Philosophy or PhD is recognised worldwide and is often requirement for those wishing to follow an academic or research career in the field. Our Conservatoire PhD research degree has been designed to help you achieve a career in music and performing arts research or academia. Many of our PhD graduates have also gone on to have successful careers as practitioners.

Graduate Jobs

Dr Fang Fang completed her PhD in composition in 2016 with a portfolio of works integrating Chinese folk songs into new music. She now works as a lecturer in composition at Sichuan Conservatory of Music, China, teaching composition, analysis of music and musical form. 

Placements

PhD researchers funded under the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership have the opportunity to undertake industry placements as part of their research.

For those students not funded by Midlands4Cities, the PhD still allows you the opportunity to work with other institutions and companies as part of your research. You can discuss your options with your potential supervisors, if you feel a placement would benefit your research.

International

Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.

The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.

Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:

Facilities & Staff

RBC concert hall

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s £57 million music building opened in September 2017, and is located on Birmingham City University’s City Centre Campus in the Eastside ‘learning quarter’ of the city.

This state-of-the-art music facility includes five public performance venues – a 440-seat Concert Hall, 150-seat Recital Hall, Organ Studio, Eastside Jazz Club and the experimental black box performance venue known as The Lab. As well as these stunning performance venues, we have nearly 100 practice spaces, including 70 small practice rooms and larger ensemble rooms and workshops.

Our home is the first conservatoire built in the digital age, and as such it has been vital to ensure that the technical infrastructure installed is on par with any advanced commercial facility. We have seven recording studios, a mastering suite, a distance learning hub, and all of our performance venues feature high specification audio-visual equipment that enables interconnectivity and advanced functionality throughout the building.

These impressive modern facilities guarantee that we are able to excel in our unique dual purpose of providing the highest standard of music education deserved by our students, as well as meeting our role as a concert and performance venue for the people of Birmingham, taking our place in the vibrant cultural landscape of the UK’s second city.

Our staff

Dr Carrie Churnside

Associate Professor in Music & Research Degrees Coordinator

Carrie Churnside is Associate Professor in Music and Research Degrees Coordinator. She is also Director of the Forum for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Music, and Chair of the Programme Committee for the 19th Biennial International Conference on Baroque Music.

More about Carrie

Professor Jamie Savan

Director of Research, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

Jamie Savan is a performer and musicologist, whose work focuses on the intersection of these twin disciplines and the ways they can inform one another. This synergy has aided his work as cornettist, performing in ensembles including the Gonzaga Band and His Majesty's Sagbutts & Cornetts, for which he has directed and researched numerous...

More about Jamie