TFRG/UAL - PhD, MPhil Research Studentships
Research Studentships are A Master of Philosophy (MPhil) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) achieved through individual subject specialist research over a period of normally three years full-time. Part-time research degrees are also available.
The University of the Arts London's research is located in all of its six leading Arts and Design colleges across London and within its network of eleven research centres and units focussed on particular specialist fields and cross cutting themes involving the full scope of arts and design disciplines and debates. The Textile Futures Research Group comprises of researchers from across Chelsea College of Art and Design, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London College of Fashion, at the University of the Arts London
Entry Requirements
- A master's degree in an appropriate subject is particularly valuable.
- Minimum entry requirement normally is an upper second class honours degree from a British University or recognised institution of higher education.
- In some instances applications may be considered with appropriate qualifications, professional experience or previous research.
Application
Applicants will need to submit a full application pack, as well as a aCV and proposal to Helen Turner at the Research Support Office at Davies Street. Information here: http://www.arts.ac.uk/research/59976.htm
If English is a second language, applicants must submit copies of proficiency certificates(eg. IELTS) by 1st March.
Applications should be received normally in the Spring term (January - March) for enrolment in October unless otherwise stated. On occasion application is in the form of CV and Research Proposal.
Supervision
Normally a research student will be assigned a minimum of two supervisors including a Director of Studies based at the college(s) appropriate to the area of study, with whom meetings will normally take place twice an academic term.
Academic Support
The Research Network at the University of the Arts London (RNUAL) provides training in research methods and skills and support for research in progress throughout the year, including an Introduction to a Research Degree in Art and Design, which generally takes place in September every year for new students. A research student may participate in the wide range of lectures taking place in any of the colleges at the University and will have access to all librarys/collections.
Fees for the academic year 2010-11
Full-time students:
Home and EU £4,075
Overseas £12,250
Part-time students:
Home and EU £2,040
Overseas £6,125
Funding and Sponsorship
Information on funding opportunities: http://www.arts.ac.uk/research/53244.htm
Sponsorship
Applicants could also explore industry related sponsorship opportunities.
There are also a number of library reference books that cover wide range information on grants, trusts and awards that may be relevant to your study or circumstances.
For further UAL research degree information and funding, please look at http://www.arts.ac.uk/research/24.htm
PhD Application Guidelines
Preparing a proposal for a research degree: informal notes of guidance for applicants
When you apply to enrol as a research student you will need to prepare an outline proposal. This will be used as the basis for discussion at your interview. It should be no more than 1 000 words in length.
The schematic outline below is a guide to the headings it would be wise to cover in your proposal. Some, like the section on theoretical context, may be open to a very wide range of approaches and interpretations and may not - especially in a mainly theoretical based proposal - be really distinguished from the historical or contemporary context. Others, like the survey of the contemporary context, are essential to all submissions.
You may, if you wish, use the headings below to define the sections of your proposal or you may use them just as a checklist for the contents of a proposal made in a different way.
You should avoid over-long or technical words, and phrases such as ‘an investigation into...'. Every time you use a word such as ‘examine', ‘test', ‘investigate', ‘analyse', you should give thought to how this will be done and as far as possible reflect this in the proposal.
• Title: This should express the main area of investigation, implying its questions and potential argument or standpoint. While being a working title, which will inevitably change over time, it is important that you are as specific and precise as possible. The title should be brief, and reflect the main question of the project. You should avoid over-long or technical words, and phrases such as ‘an investigation into...'.
• Subject Area, Aims and Objectives: Define briefly your subject and the main concerns of the investigation, including a set of aims and objectives that will guide your research. It is worth thinking hard about this section, as it will form the basis of your study for the next few years (though it will inevitably evolve as you make progress).
If your proposal is primarily practice-led, you should also use this section to anticipate the practice you will produce for your project and how it will be assessed as research.
After defining your subject, you might find it helpful to think about the main concerns of the project as questions you are asking, to which you hope to find the answer. The aims and objectives are important because they, in a sense, declare the criteria for your investigation, against which the success or failure of your project can be assessed.
If you find it difficult to articulate your aims and objectives you might find it helpful to think of your aim as the most significant questions or problems you hope to tackle.
Your objectives are the steps by which you will meet this aim. Your proposal should normally have one or two aims, followed by a series of around 6 objectives. The idea is that by the time you have met all your objectives, you should have achieved your aim. Breaking down your project into objectives, should help you develop an initial work plan.
• Contemporary Context: It is essential to define, as far as you are able, the contemporary work that relates to your field of investigation. You must do this for the following reasons:
- to demonstrate that you are aware of the field in which you are working
- to demonstrate that your proposed research will have distinct feature which will make it potentially original
- TO FORM THE BASIS OF LINKS WITH OTHER RESEARCH WORK TO WHICH YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE OR ON WHICH YOU WILL BUILD.
• Theoretical Context: There is a great choice of options in this area; none of them exclusive. An element of theoretical context is important for every kind of project, though the degree of theoretical content will vary, particularly for practice-led work You should be able to demonstrate the ways in which you evaluate your own work and that of others, and the sources you use to inform your evaluation. A theoretical context will help you avoid simply asserting a position and support you in the reflective approach that is needed for a research degree.
• Methodology: Your Methodology is the means by which you generate supporting evidence for your claims and overall argument. You may need different methodologies for different objectives. Your research method and approach will need to be indicated in all cases but in practice based areas of study, methodologies are less well established, so you may like to think about the following:
- try to describe the basic methods and procedures you will adopt in discovering and recording research information
- if it is a practice-led proposal, how does the theory relate to the practical experimentation?
- what is the theory for?
- what process of experimentation will you use?
- how will you record what you do and keep track of what you have done?
• Ethical Dimensions of the Research: If your methodologies require the participation of others, you will need to consider the UAL Code of Practice on Research Ethics in the Research Degrees Handbook carefully.
If you feel that there are ethical considerations that need to be taken into account then you must go on to complete the Research Ethics section of this form. The ethical approval process is intended to safeguard researchers, participants and others on whom the proposed research might impact, directly or indirectly. This part of the form prompts the researcher to address legal, moral, and/or ethical issues relating to the proposed research. In broad terms, the University expects all research to respect participants' rights (commercial, intellectual and civil, dignity (including privacy and confidentiality), safety and well being.
A Research Ethics information Pack containing all guidance sheets and forms is available from the College Research Office or University Secretary's Office. Information can also be downloaded from http://www.arts.ac.uk/research and it is available on the Research Blackboard site.
If you do go on to complete the Research Ethics section of this form then you must also submit;
- A Participants Information Sheet
- A Participants Consent Form
• Work Plan: Make a prediction of the major stages of the work (probably not more than 5) and the minor subdivisions (if appropriate). Take care if aspects of the research will run concurrently. In what order do the different Objectives need to be approached?
• Prediction of the Form of the Final Submission:
Think about the form of the final submission, for example:
Written thesis only 80-100 000 words in length
Scholarly edition / Catalogue + written component (30 000 words approx)
Creative, practical work + written component (30 000 words approx)
- On what works will the examiners base their assessment?
- What will each do?
- Is the research contribution in the process, the materials or the items produced?
- How is this recorded, documented and disseminated?
• Main Study List and Bibliography: List the main reference works which you will use for your research (no more than 1 page of A4). These may be films, paintings, TV programmes, curated collections or websites as well as books or journal articles. Use the Harvard method, which can be adapted for non-literary references like paintings. Citation of works using the Harvard method is as follows: surname(s) of author(s)/ editor(s), initials, date of publication (in brackets) title and sub-title(if any), series and individual no. (if any), Edition (if not the first), place of publication (if known), publisher.
