• Offered for Year: 2025/26

• Module Leader(s): Professor Kirsten Gibson
• Lecturer: Dr Julia Partington, Dr William Edmondes, Dr Rob Mackay, Professor Catriona Macdonald, Dr Adam Behr, Dr Mariam Rezaei, Dr Bennett Hogg

• Owning School: Arts & Cultures
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

Researching Music introduces students to a range of different types of advanced music research - scholarly, creative, and sector-facing - and helps them develop the necessary knowledge and skills to independently devise, design, implement and manage the process of undertaking and completing a 60-credit project. Students explore what it means to do music research and how to design, focus, articulate and manage a large-scale project across professional scholarly, creative and sector-facing fields. By the end of the module, students will have developed a proposal for their 60-credit Project, providing the foundations for the next stage of their research or practice. Students also explore ethical and health and safety considerations for undertaking music research will and complete the ethical clearance process for their Music Research or Creative Project as part of this module. In short, the module aims to facilitate students to become postgraduate level researchers and/or practitioners.

Outline Of Syllabus

The topics covered address research development and project management skills for music scholars and practitioners, preparing students for their 60-credit project. They may include the following:

- Introduction to different kinds of research projects within music (creative, scholarly, sector-facing);
- Designing and focussing a 60-credit project;
- Developing relevant research techniques for the chosen field;
- Understanding and applying relevant methodologies or creative approaches;
- Building a relevant bibliography and/or resources list and sourcing research materials;
- Effective research, reading and notetaking techniques;
- Critical thinking and evaluating of others' and their own research/practice;
- Professional writing and citation practices;
- The research/creative process and project management;
- Ethics and health and safety;
- Pitching project ideas for a range of audiences;
- Devising and writing a project proposal.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The present-in-person and non-synchronous lecture materials work together to convey knowledge about designing, planning, and successfully undertaking a large-scale research and/or creative project in music. Non-synchronous materials will include learning materials relevant to different types of final project. (K1–4; S1–4)

Present-in-person small-group teaching consolidates learning from the lectures and supports students to develop the broad research and/or creative skills and issues introduced in the lectures in ways that are relevant to their chosen field of study or approach. (K1–4; S1–4)

The drop-in sessions provide opportunities for students to seek individual guidance from the module leader as they progress through the module. (S1-4)

The assessment strategy allows students to enhance skills needed to conduct a 60-credit research project in music. (K1–4; S1–4)

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Assessment 1 (20%)
The mid-semester project pitch tests oral presentation skills and provides feedforward at the mid-point of the module as students begin to devise and focus their individual final project ideas. The task assessment criteria are as follows:
1) Clear and focussed overview of the underpinning research question or problem, or creative theme or approach, the student will explore in their final project (K3, S1)
2) Demonstration of understanding of appropriate methodological and/or creative approach that will be applied to explore the research question (K2)
3) Explanation of ethical issues that will need to be considered when designing and undertaking the proposed research (K2)

Assessment 2 (80%)
The 3,000-word research proposal must set out a clear rationale for the proposed project including:
1) an abstract summarising the proposed research or creative project;
2) research, sector and/or creative context in which the project sits;
3) research questions that will be explored through the project;
4) methodology or approach to the proposed project;
5) a bibliography and/or, for creative projects, a resources list;
6) a project plan and provisional timeline;
7) ethical approval checklist.



The proposal is assessed as follows:
1) Critical quality and clear articulation of the proposed project including how it aligns to the creative, scholarly and/or sectoral contexts in which the project sits and the underpinning questions or themes it will explore. (K3, K4, S1, S3)
2) Identification of relevant methodological, theoretical and/or creative frameworks that will be applied in the proposed project, and recognition of ethical considerations the research will raise. (K1, K2)
3) For scholarly and sector-facing projects, evidence that the research context, questions and methodological framework are informed by primary and secondary source research, underpinned by professional citation practices and bibliography; for creative projects, evidence that the context, themes, questions and approach are informed by contemporary debate and practice within the field, and that appropriate professional scholarly and creative practices are embedded in the work. (K1, K4, S1, S2)
4) Coherence and structure of the proposal including appropriate academic and/or professional tone for postgraduate research. (S1)
5) Clear and feasible plan, to manage the project effectively, including devising a plan for implementing and producing the proposed project on time. (S4)

Reading Lists

• MUS8020's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• MUS8020's Timetable