Postgraduate study
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Music PhD

Awards: PhD

Study modes: Full-time, Part-time

Funding opportunities

Programme website: Music

Research profile

The Reid School of Music offers an exciting research environment that combines the theory, history, composition and practice of music with the scientific study of sound.

We engage with a broad range of genres and traditions, including:

  • classical and popular music
  • Western and non-Western music
  • professional and amateur music making
  • music for screen

Our research is highly interdisciplinary, with centres and groups spanning other Colleges and Departments within the University of Edinburgh, from Physics and Neuroscience to Informatics, the Humanities, Divinity and the Social Sciences.

We have a large community of postgraduate students undertaking independent research in music.

If you are interested in undertaking a small independent research project in music, the 12-month MSc by Research is ideal. This programme is offered in any area served by the expertise of our music staff. In consultation with your supervisor, you will develop an individual programme of coursework and research training over two semesters. You will submit a dissertation or portfolio of projects equivalent to 30,000 words.

Candidates for larger-scale, doctoral research are normally admitted as probationary students for the first year of study, and on satisfactory completion of this first year are approved for registration for PhD (maximum four years full-time, dissertation of 80,000–100,000 words).

Our research degrees can be studied part-time (for example, MSc by Research can be studied part-time over two years).

Staff have a wide range of research interests, engaging in research clustered around four main themes:

  • History, Theory, and Sociology of Music, including 19th- and 20th-century music, popular music, aesthetics and sociology
  • Music and the Human Sciences, including music psychology and cognition, and music in the community
  • Musical Practice, including composition (electroacoustic, algorithmic, computer music and music for screen), and historical and contemporary performance research
  • Music, Sound and Technology, including musical acoustics and organology

Some of our current hubs of research activity include:

  • Acoustics and Audio Group
  • ECA Digitals
  • Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments
  • Institute for Music in Human and Social Development

Please consult our staff profiles on the programme website to see interests and availability; you may propose projects in any area for consideration.

Training and support

All of our research students benefit from ECA’s interdisciplinary approach and all are assigned two research supervisors.

Your second supervisor may be from another discipline within ECA, or from somewhere else within the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences or elsewhere within the University, according to the expertise required.

On occasion, more than two supervisors will be assigned, particularly where the degree brings together multiple disciplines.

PhD by Distance option

The PhD by Distance is available to suitably qualified applicants in all the same areas as our on-campus programmes:

  • Art
  • Design
  • History of Art
  • Music
  • Architecture
  • Landscape Architecture

The PhD by Distance allows students who do not wish to commit to basing themselves in Edinburgh to study for a PhD in an ECA subject area from their home country or city.

There is no expectation that students studying for an ECA PhD by Distance study mode should visit Edinburgh during their period of study. However, short-term visits for particular activities could be considered on a case-by-case basis.

For further information on the PhD by Distance please see the ECA website:

Entry requirements

These entry requirements are for the 2023/24 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2024/25 academic year will be published on 2 October 2023.

Normally a UK masters degree or its international equivalent. If you are applying for a research degree within Music that involves Composition or Creative Music Practice you must submit a portfolio containing three pieces of composition or examples of work related to your proposed field of study. If you do not meet the academic entry requirements, we may still consider your application on the basis of your portfolio and/or relevant professional experience.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

English language requirements

You must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies, regardless of your nationality or country of residence.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

  • IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.0 in each component.
  • TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
  • C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 169 in each component.
  • Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
  • PTE Academic: total 70 with at least 59 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than three and a half years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

Fees and costs

Additional programme costs

No additional costs

Tuition fees

AwardTitleDurationStudy mode
PhDMusic3 YearsFull-timeTuition fees
PhDMusic6 YearsPart-timeTuition fees
PhDMusic by Distance3 YearsFull-timeTuition fees
PhDMusic by Distance6 YearsPart-timeTuition fees

Scholarships and funding

Featured funding

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK's governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

  • your programme
  • the duration of your studies
  • your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

Further information

  • Postgraduate Research Director, Music, Dr Benedict Taylor
  • Phone: +44 (0)131 650 2423
  • Contact: B.Taylor@ed.ac.uk
  • Edinburgh College of Art Postgraduate Office
  • The University of Edinburgh
  • Evolution House, Grassmarket
  • Central Campus
  • Edinburgh
  • EH1 2LE

Application deadlines

Programme start date Application deadline
8 January 2024 1 November 2023

We encourage you to apply at least one month prior to entry so that we have enough time to process your application. If you are also applying for funding or will require a visa then we strongly recommend you apply as early as possible.

How to apply

You must submit two references with your application.

You should submit a research proposal that outlines your project's aims, context, process and product/outcome. Read the application guidance before you apply:

If you are applying for a research degree within Music that involves Composition or Creative Music Practice, you must submit a portfolio as part of your application. You won't be able to submit your portfolio immediately, but you'll receive an email prompt within a few days of submitting your application that will explain how to upload your portfolio.

Find out more about the general application process for postgraduate programmes:

Further information

  • Postgraduate Research Director, Music, Dr Benedict Taylor
  • Phone: +44 (0)131 650 2423
  • Contact: B.Taylor@ed.ac.uk
  • Edinburgh College of Art Postgraduate Office
  • The University of Edinburgh
  • Evolution House, Grassmarket
  • Central Campus
  • Edinburgh
  • EH1 2LE
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