Music PhD

Why choose this course
Surrey is a respected authority in sound technology and musical research. Thanks to our renowned expertise in musicology and composition, and the prestige of the Institute of Sound Recording, we can count many household names in entertainment, audio technology and the recording industry among our partners and collaborators. 

Research in music and sound brings together a broad range of interconnected subject areas, including dance, digital arts, film, music, theatre and sound recording. Facilities include industry-specification sound-recording studios, music-practice rooms and venues for concert performance and musical theatre. 

The School is highly collegiate, with a close-knit and supportive academic environment. It is home to the Institute of Sound Recording, one of the world’s leading centres for research in psychoacoustic engineering and sound perception. 

Our musical research and composition achieves wide international circulation through established scholarly channels and broadcast media. We are also principal organisers of the Guildford International Music Festival. 

Our music programmes were ranked second in the UK by the Guardian University Guide 2019. Academic members of staff are well known internationally for their exceptionally strong research profiles.

What you will study
Our research degrees prepare you for success at each stage of your PhD project development. The structure of our Music PhD is designed to provide intensive graduate preparation for a future career and is suitable for either part-time or full-time candidates. 

As a PhD student within our Department of Music and Media you will conduct a research project within one of our areas of research strength. Completion of the programme entails submission of a thesis, the submission of practice if undertaking a practice-based PhD, and an oral viva with external examiners. 

PhD students in all programmes in the School of Arts can expect three levels of research training: University-level, School-level and subject-specific. 

University-level training is provided by the Postgraduate Skills Development Programme and the University Library including a PhD induction, workshops on writing skills and preparation for the confirmation and viva. There is also an annual student-led University Postgraduate conference. School-level training is offered in the form of interdisciplinary seminars, reading groups, visiting speaker events and conferences. You will also receive subject-specific training that will vary depending on your programme. You may participate in research “intensives” featuring formal presentations of work by students, keynote seminars, study groups on current themes in arts research, and research skills training sessions. You may meet regularly for debate and discussion and participate in annual formal presentations of research.

Research support
The professional development of postgraduate researchers is supported by the Doctoral College, which provides training in essential skills through its Researcher Development Programme of workshops, mentoring and coaching. A dedicated postgraduate Careers and Employability team will help you prepare for a successful career after the completion of your PhD.

Research themes

• Analysis
• 20th-century concert music, especially Bartok, Stravinsky, Mahler, Elgar, Britten
• Popular musics, particularly rock, jazz, electronic dance music
• Aesthetics of sound and music
• Contemporary music and its composition and performance
• Critical musicology
• Music for screen
• Folk music studies
• Composition
• Psychoacoustic engineering
• Acoustic-perception modelling
• Performance studies and techniques
• Improvisation
• Acoustics
• Digital signal processing
• Psychoacoustics (theoretical and experimental)
• Statistical analysis and user-interface design
• Spatial audio: perception and reproduction.