PhD Art and Social Practice

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Please ensure you include all  required supporting documents  at the time of submission, as incomplete applications may not be considered.

Application Deadlines

For consideration in internal funding competitions, you must submit your completed application by  13 January 2025.

If you are applying for or have secured external funding (for example, from an employer or government) or are self-funding, you must submit your application before the below deadlines to be considered. You will not be able to apply after these dates have passed.

• For September 2025 entry:  30 June 2025
• For January 2026 entry:  30 September 2025

Before you start your application, you should:

1. Develop your own research proposal and project title.
2. Find a supervisor by browsing our academics' profiles, and reach out directly to discuss if they are interested in supporting your research.
3. Consider how you plan on funding your research and discuss this with your supervisor.

When you submit your application, you must include each of the below required documents:

• A 1,500 word PhD research proposal ; Please state the word count on page 1 of the document.
• A copy of your Bachelor's academic transcript and certificate.
• A copy of your Master's academic transcript and certificate. If your Master's degree is pending, please provide an interim transcript.
• If you have completed more than one Bachelor's or Master's degree, please provide evidence for each. If your transcripts are in a language other than English, you must provide an official English translation. If your weighted average mark or GPA is not included on these documents, please also include an official document from your university verifying this information.
• An up-to-date academic CV summarising your academic record, employment history, publications and highlighting experience demonstrating your research potential.
• The names of two academic referees, including one from your most recent institution. Your referees will be contacted directly via the Referee Portal following the submission of your application form. You may wish to notify your referees to submit their references promptly, as this is part of the review process.
• A certificate or evidence demonstrating your English language ability and proficiency. Applications can be considered without this evidence but any offer would be conditional on meeting minimum requirements.

Art and Social Practice is a broad term. It is inclusive of any form of arts practice seeking to engage or intervene in social, educational and community contexts.

Our pioneering PhD Art and Social Practice is designed for people who want to undertake advanced research which builds on their professional knowledge and practice. Professional practice may include:

• applied practice,
• arts and health,
• community arts,
• performing arts,
• other related contexts across visual and creative media

The structure of the programme is devised to enable you to develop your career while simultaneously undertaking a research project that leads to a doctoral qualification.

This professional practice-focused doctorate will engage experienced professionals in advanced research. This programme matches the need for structured forms of professional development and reflective practice across the arts sector.

We take explicit account of the professional practice-base of the student, integrating this as a central knowledge base for the research project. We support the development of dynamic knowledge outcomes that can have an impact across academic and non-academic contexts.

Furthermore, we underpin the development of reflective practice. This practice can respond to and influence the complex, unpredictable and shifting social and cultural contexts in which arts practitioners operate.

The programme will introduce you to a range of dynamic and challenging concepts and methods. These methods enable you to reflect critically and constructively on your professional practice. Another feature is the opportunity to join a cohort of peers on other professional practice PhD programmes. Our students will have the ability engage with other research professionals through bi-annual residential workshops and events.

Pioneering programme

Our PhD draws on the supervisory expertise of Manchester's Drama staff, who have long been at the forefront of research in applied theatre and performance, socially engaged, participatory and community arts, both nationally and internationally. The programme also benefits from working closely with sister programmes and supervisors in the Institute for Cultural Practice on the PhD in Arts and Cultural Management and PhD Museum Practice. Researchers in Drama at Manchester founded the TiPP Centre (Theatre in Prisons and Probation) in the 1990s, and key research initiatives since include 'In Place of War' (an international arts project engaging with artists working in war zones), Performance, Learning and Heritage (exploring theatre in museums and heritage sites) and Poor Theatres (researching and documenting theatre and economic justice initiatives). Staff research includes:

• work on the heritage and influence of the British Community Arts Movement
• arts work with community groups and with people from refugee and migrant communities in particular
• arts and climate change
• arts and care

Students join together in a learning environment to investigate the principles of reflective practice and practice-based research, and to engage in research methods training and group learning about relevant areas of social and cultural theory.

This pedagogical approach enables students' professional contexts to become their primary research resource.

Students receive individual supervision from an academic supervisor with a specialism related to their field of research, as well as opportunities to develop reflective enquiry into practice via group-based learning exercises with other practitioners at two three-day-long meetings per year.

Researchers work towards key milestones over the course of the programme. Progress is also supported via attendance at two three-day-long meetings per year, in autumn and spring (Thursday to Saturday).

Written and practical work produced for each milestone is revised for the final thesis submission.

Assuming that the PhD is undertaken part-time over a six-year period, the key milestones are:

• Year 1: literature review (12,000 - 15,000 words in total);
• Year 2: revised research proposal and portfolio of reflective practice (10,000 words in total);
• Year 3-5: individual targets appropriate to the completion of the thesis research, including practical work, draft chapters, reflective writing;
• Year 6: work towards submission of thesis of 80,000words or practical outcome accompanied by a 20-50,000 word thesis.

The programme is structured on the basis that the most suitable pathway is the part-time route.

However, there is a negotiable full-time route in special cases (which may be more desirable, for example, for students who have accessed funding to support an extended break from their profession, or for retired professionals).

Full-time students will have 12 individual supervisions per year, twice-yearly 'research panels' and access to additional support at twice yearly workshop meetings to ensure that they can meet key milestones.

Find out more about libraries and study spaces for postgraduate research students at Manchester.

We also have one of the largest academic IT services in Europe - supporting world-class teaching and research. There are extensive computing facilities across campus, with access to standard office software as well as specialist programmes, all connected to the campus network and internet.

Every student is registered for email, file storage and internet access. If more demanding computer access is required, our specialist computing division can provide high-end and specialist computing services.

The skills gained through the PhD process are wide-ranging and varied. These include critical engagement, investigative thinking, effective communication, project management and reflexive practice.

Several of our graduates have moved on to academic positions in the UK and abroad, including Canada, Iran, and Singapore. Others are working in the arts, education and not-for-profit sectors, as artists, filmmakers, practitioners, teachers, librarians, curators, writers, and editors, and among others!

The University has its own dedicated Careers Service that you would have full access to as a student and for two years after you graduate. At Manchester you will have access to a number of opportunities to help support you with your goals for the future.