Artistic Research PhD

The Doctoral Programme in Artistic Research is a postgraduate degree program in the arts culminating in the international “PhD” degree.

Up to 8 doctoral students per year are given the opportunity to participate in the 6 semester-long English-language programme. The program emphasises artistic practice, conceived as a foundation for knowledge production. The themes and practices of artistic research guide the programme.

Reflexively examining specific methods and production processes based on one’s artistic project will be an integral part of the research project. For the purposes of comprehensive knowledge production, research is understood to be open-ended. The programme enables its graduates to perform independent artistic research in line with international standards and to assume coordinating and executive roles in the future. The program enables artists to generate new insights on specific issues in the arts, contextualise their artistic research, and communicate the knowledge gained appropriately. They will acquire the necessary skills to successfully compete nationally and internationally in artistic fields.

Admission to the program is contingent upon satisfying the university’s admission requirements and passing the entrance examinations. Besides evidence supporting the applicant’s artistic trajectory by submitting a curriculum vitae and a portfolio of artistic works, applicants are required to submit a comprehensive written proposal outlining their artistic research project. In particular, the research context, methodology, and project goal should be explained. Additionally, the proposal should provide a schedule for the project in terms of work packages and timelines.

Selections are made especially according to the topicality, innovative potential and societal relevancy of the project, as well as knowledge of the national and international research context. Doctoral students will be supervised by professors of the university, who will be recommended by the committee. This committee is also responsible for selecting the candidates, assisted by the Zentrum Fokus Forschung.

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Zentrum Fokus Forschung

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the research proposal?

The research proposal (maximum 1200 words, including footnotes) should describe the proposed artistic research project. It explains the research context, methodology, project aims, and the modes of reflexive documentation. Additionally, the proposal contains a schedule of the project’s work packages and timeline. The proposal is preceded by an abstract of the research project (maximum 300 words) which should also contain the explicit research question.

Is the doctoral programme open to candidates from all artistic fields?

Yes, the program is open to graduates from all artistic fields of study. Admission requires fulfilling the university’s entrance criteria for doctoral studies.

Which costs arise during the doctoral program?

All relevant information regarding financial issues can be found on the website of the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

How are doctoral projects funded?

Candidates are expected to arrange their own funding. Furthermore, to ensure the feasibility and quality of the research project, candidates are expected to explain in the proposal their funding plans for the three years in their application: Whether through PhD funding programmes, fellowships, or their own resources. Further information can be found on the website of the University of Applied Arts Vienna > Scholarships, grants.

Other helpful websites might be: https://dasfundus.net/, https://grants.at/en/, https://newsbase.at/.

Will participants have access to a studio?

Within the available resources, Support Art and Research administrates and provides temporary work- and research spaces for project employees and doctoral students.

All relevant information can be found in the infosheet.

What foreign language skills and credentials are required?

The doctoral programme is taught in English. Therefore, good command of the language is essential for successfully participating in the program. Language skills need not be demonstrated in the application.

Is residency in Vienna necessary?

Most courses and activities of the doctoral programme take place in Vienna. We seek to offer seminars in a block format spread throughout the semester. Participation in these block seminars is obligatory. During the remaining semesters, participants can also participate in the program from abroad.

Should I contact a supervisor for my project before submitting my application?

No. A committee of several members selects up to 8 candidates and assigns a suitable supervisor based on the applications. A supervisor’s prior endorsement is unnecessary and will not factor into the committee’s decision.

However, in your application, you are expected to suggest a supervisor with some relation to your topic. You can suggest more than one supervisor. Suggesting a supervisor serves as a tool to localize your project at the Angewandte and start researching where your project would connect to.

Which rules apply to citations in written work?

The ZFF guidelines serve as a reference for any submission within the Artistic Research PhD programme and may be used for abstracts, handouts, or papers. These are recommendations based on standard academic publishing practices and exemplify stylesheets commonly used for peer-reviewed publications. We recommend these guidelines especially for your written reflections. PDF ZFF Guidelines

Doctoral Projects

Currently running and completed research projects of the doctoral programme artistic research:

Projects Artistic Research