Postgraduate Research in Fine Art and Art History
Fine Art at Newcastle supports a wide range of both theoretical and studio-based practice and research in Fine Art, Digital Cultures and Art History and welcomes proposals from prospective students who wish to undertake a PhD with us.
Staff at Newcastle engage with innovative research in contemporary art practice and Art History. This includes digital cultures, digital and time-based art, sound, performance, collaborative and interdisciplinary practices, and critical engagements with approaches to curating contemporary art. The department is strongly committed to supporting artists' individual practices through practice-led research.
We are particularly interested in attracting research proposals from students who will benefit from the specific research expertise of individual members of staff within Fine Art and Art History. Research students can also benefit from the resources and training available through, for example, the Institute for Creative Arts Practice, and the expertise of Culture Lab, a multi-user digital media facility that supports interdisciplinary research at the interface of art, digital cultures, humanities and science.
In addition, we also welcome proposals that would benefit from the extraordinary range of resources, supervision and interdisciplinary research opportunities that are available across the School of Arts and Cultures and the university as a whole. As part of the Northern Bridge Consortium, this potential extends to supervisors from our partner institutions: Durham, Teesside, Northumbria, Ulster, Queen's Belfast and Sunderland Universities.
For both the MPhil and the PhD, students may propose a research project that is practice-based or a research project that is solely research and text-based.
The MPhil is a research degree requiring a year of study full-time or two years part-time. The project for the MPhil can be practice-led or theoretical, and the final submission can be a text (a thesis of not more than 40,000 words) or a combination (50/50) of studio practice and text.
A practice-led PhD would require three years of full-time study (or six years part-time) and the final submission for the PhD would be a combination of an exhibition of creative work made over the period of study/research and an accompanying written text. The written part of the submission would typically be 30,000 words, which constitutes approximately 30% of the degree.
A text-based PhD would require three years of study (or six years part-time) and the final submission would typically be a thesis of 80,000 words.
PhD students should normally have completed a master’s level course prior to their PhD. This requirement, in exceptional cases, may be wavered if it can be demonstrated that the student has equivalent research and other skills.
Supervisors appropriate for your research project are allocated from within Fine Art, and if required, from elsewhere in the university, following detailed discussion with the student about the proposed research project. Your 'supervisory team' usually consists of three members of staff. All staff are research-active professionals, artists, researchers and academics, and thus provide up-to-date practice-led teaching, supervision and professional experience and knowledge.
Throughout your time here, we encourage you to exhibit your work in appropriate venues and attend and make presentations at our regular postgraduate seminars, which aim to encourage intellectual and practical exchange between academic staff, our visiting artists and students. We also very much encourage our postgraduate research students to present at external conferences and symposia.
The Fine Art Research Student Seminar Programme includes subject-specific lectures and an evolving programme of seminars and round-table discussions that inform and contextualise research and provide subject-specific research training. These also offer the opportunity for doctoral researchers to exchange ideas and engage in conversation across disciplines with staff, fellow students and visiting artists, scholars, curators and critics.
Throughout their studies, extensive support and training in research methods is provided by both the Institute for Creative Arts Practice and the Faculty Postgraduate Research Training Programme. This is available to full-time and part-time research students in the humanities and social sciences at Newcastle University throughout their time studying for their research degree. It provides training in professional/key skills, research techniques and supports both personal and intellectual development.
It is essential to bear in mind the staff's research interests (including any cross-disciplinary plans) and the facilities within the department - and the University, when deciding to apply for a research degree at Newcastle.
Prior to submitting the formal application form that is required by the University, we would strongly advise you if possible to contact us in order to discuss your proposed research project. We would ask you to first submit to the Head of Postgraduate Studies visual documentation of your work, if appropriate, and an initial research proposal of 1,000–1,500 words. We can then discuss the feasibility of your proposal and indicate whether we might be able to support your project with the appropriate resources and supervisors. We would also be able to indicate whether there is any specific information, documentation or change to the proposal that we would require before your formal application was submitted.
The proposal needs to be well-written, clear and jargon-free. There is no strict template for the structure of the proposal. However, it is recommended that applicants include the following information:
- A provisional title, which might for example be in the form of a question;
- If appropriate, a short introduction to your current art practice;
- An introduction to the research theme/idea (and, where appropriate, an initial review of other practice-based work or other research in this area) to set the scene;
- A well thought through 'research question' that the research will aim to answer, or a thematic to be explored;
- An outline of the kinds of studio practice or methodology that will be used to achieve the research aims and help answer the research question;
- Clearly defined reasons why the research is important to pursue;
- How have your prior qualifications and/or professional experience equipped you for doctoral study - in terms of the studio practice, research skills and subject knowledge that might be needed to undertake the project;
- Why is your project particularly suited to being investigated at Newcastle? Which staff do you think would be appropriate to supervise your project and what resources are needed for your research?
Please contact our Head of Postgraduate Studies, Dr Ed Juler, if you have any questions.
The Northern Bridge Consortium is a Doctoral Training Partnership funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
It offers up to 67 fully-funded studentships per year to outstanding UK/EU postgraduate researchers across the full range of Arts and Humanities subjects, including Creative Practice disciplines.
The consortium brings together the cutting-edge expertise and exceptional resources of Durham University, Newcastle University, Northumbria University, Queen’s University Belfast, Sunderland University, Teesside University and Ulster University and their strategic external partners.
Please visit the Northern Bridge Consortium website for further information.
For full fee information and other funding opportunities, please visit https://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/degrees/fine-art-mphil-phd/#fees&funding
Please contact our Head of Postgraduate Studies, Dr Ed Juler, if you have any questions.
Having time to reflect upon my work in new ways, while engaging in conversation with colleagues across the University's disciplines, has been incredibly rewarding.