Research for the Degree of Ph.D.
The PhD in Music is available as a full-time programme lasting three years, or a part-time programme lasting five years. It is currently available in all areas in which we can offer supervision, with the exception of Composition.
Doctoral research in the Faculty of Music is centred on individual scholarly activity in fields such as historical musicology, analysis, performance studies, ethnomusicology and music cognition. The overwhelming majority of graduate students in the Faculty are undertaking research that is directly connected with the particular research interests of specific members of the Faculty, and for this reason the best starting point for an application is often to get in touch with whoever’s interests seem most in line with yours.
Here you can find some specific areas in which Faculty members are happy to supervise, and here an overview of the principal areas of the Faculty’s research. You may also want to explore the publication lists of individual Faculty members, who are listed here.
Because of the diversity of research topics pursued, the Ph.D. programme in music at Cambridge does not involve a core taught component: there is a variety of training in a range of skills, and some incoming research students audit courses offered within our M.Phil. programme, but in general you will be working mainly with your individual supervisor. Your formal studies will be complemented by attendance at Faculty colloquia and seminars, where you will meet other graduate students and members of the wider community centred round the Faculty, while membership of a college will enable you to socialise with students and others from a wide variety of disciplines. As you will quickly realise as you explore this website, studying for a Ph.D. at Cambridge gives you access to facilities and a range of research resources that compare favorably with anywhere in the world.
We realise that for many potential applicants, funding is a major issue; click here for information on costs and funding options, with links to the University’s graduate funding pages. You can make your application online, and details are available here. Please include with your application an outline (approximately 750 words) of your proposed research, and one or two samples of your recent work. If you live in UK, you will probably be invited to an interview; if you live elsewhere we can usually conduct the interview by phone. The deadline for graduate applications is 20 January 2012. Further information about how to apply can be found here.
We can accept applications to work towards a PhD on a part-time basis over five years instead of full-time over three. This is not a distance degree: although you won’t need to live in Cambridge, you will be expected to attend supervisions in person and participate in some Faculty activities. If you come from outside the EU, please note that it is not possible to obtain a student visa for part-time study. Further details of part-time study may be found here.
Further details of graduate life at Cambridge may be found on the University’s Graduate Admissions website (the Music pages are here).