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Music at UCC is a vibrant community of staff and students across a wide range of musical disciplines and research areas. Our faculty members and tutors are active, internationally-renowned practitioners and scholars in their fields. Our rich programme of events includes:

• The FUAIM series of concerts and lectures, hosting musicians and researchers from around the world.
• Danijela Kulezic-Wilson Memorial Postgraduate Symposium. A new annual conference on interdisciplinary arts research, in honour of Dr. Danijela Kulezic-Wilson, who was a member of staff at the ¸£Àû1000ÔÚÏß College Cork Music Department until her passing in 2021.
• Seán Ó Riada Memorial Lecture. An annual lecture on Traditional Irish Music by an invited expert in the field.

Doctoral students in Music are members of Film, Music & Theatre Doctoral Studies: a platform for research excellence in doctoral education within the forward-looking academic and creative ecology of the School of Film, Music & Theatre at ¸£Àû1000ÔÚÏß College Cork.

Overview

UCC offers the MPhil, MRes and PhD by research (composition, experimental sound practice, ethnomusicology, and musicology). Candidates work independently to produce original work, meeting with their supervisor for tutorials regularly and as required. The candidate’s progress is monitored with annual progress reviews as well as through the final examination requirements. The subject area of the research or stylistic leanings of the composition must normally fall within the expertise of current staff of the Department of Music, but in general terms any topic/style, as determined with the agreement of the supervisor, is possible. For information on staff and their research interests, view their profiles: , , , , , , , , , and .

MRes

The MRes (Master of Research) is a one year full-time or two year part-time pathway for experienced musicians who have already identified a topic that they want to research in-depth. Completion of the degree requires a dissertation or other research output as well as a small amount of personally relevant research training.

MPhil and PhD by research

These degrees lead to the submission of a dissertation (MPhil: approximately 40,000 words; PhD: approximately 80,000 words) that demonstrates original research and a very high standard of scholarship.

MPhil and PhD in composition/experimental sound practice

These degrees lead to the submission of a portfolio of original music accompanied by short commentaries. The size of the portfolio depends on the style of the composer and the degree for which they are registered. The Department is open to a very large range of styles and ideas, including ‘conventional’ notated music, computer music, improvisation, performance art, installation work and sound art.

An MPhil candidate whose work shows notable promise may apply, after at least one year registration, to transfer to the PhD degree.

Duration

The minimum registration periods for full-time study are two years for an MPhil and three years for a PhD. Both degrees may be taken part-time.

Research interests

The Music Department fosters a remarkably broad range of research in musicology, ethnomusicology, original composition, performance and other examples of creativity. Thematic strands may include, but are not limited to:

• composition, improvisation, jazz and experimental and creative practice
• critical theory, cultural studies, philosophy and aesthetics
• early modern European music (especially Italian) of the 16th-18th centuries
• ethnomusicology and musicology
• gender and sexuality studies
• music of Ireland
• opera, film and theatre studies
• performance studies and performance as research
• traditional musics
• experimental sound practice

Application Procedure

Applications are accepted throughout the year. Prospective students are advised to complete their applications at least two months in advance of their desired start date, as applications must go through different stages of approval. The four start dates during the year are: January, April, July, and September/October.

Before applying, we encourage you to discuss your project proposal informally with staff.

The application procedure requires a 1,500 word proposal; Composers/sound artists should also submit a portfolio of three works along with a CV. Irish and EU applicants may apply online through UCC's application system. Non-EU applicants should use the appropriate non-EU postgraduate research application form. This is available from the , ¸£Àû1000ÔÚÏß College Cork.

Candidates may be asked by the potential supervisor to fill in a PhD Research Project Proposal Form, which can be downloaded here: FMT Doctoral Research Proposal Form.

Information on funding for postgraduate studies at UCC is available here. Information on the FMT Doctoral Studies is online here.

Enquiries

Dr. Jeffrey Weeter, Chair, Music Department Graduate Studies Committee, ¸£Àû1000ÔÚÏß College Cork, Department of Music, Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland 

Email: j.weeter@ucc.ie Tel:+353 (0)21 490 4530

Further Information

/en/study/postgrad