Doctoral Programmes

The Degree System in Norway

University degrees in science and art in Norway correspond to the Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees. The Master’s degree is an entrance requirement for all subsequent doctoral studies.

The Doctoral Programme

The Norwegian Academy of Music offers Ph.D. studies in:
 

• Music education and music therapy. The final documentation is a doctoral thesis, submitted for a public defence.
• Historical and contemporary performance practice. This program is addressing musicological and music theory issues related to performance practice. The final documentation is a doctoral thesis, submitted for a disputation procedure, and concerts and/or CD-productions.

Duration and grant system

Doctoral programmes in Norway have a span of 3 years, with an additional year for “work relevant for the doctoral student and the institution”. In this respect, the programme has a 4-year duration for each of its students. Students on the programme will usually have a full-time grant for a period of four years, in a faculty position at the institution.

The programme is also open for students who have funding from other institutions that do not have doctoral programmes. In Norway, several conservatories and other institutions in higher music education do not have doctoral programmes.

The doctoral system relies on a careful selection of applicants. Presently, the Norwegian Academy of Music has 12 positions for doctoral students. When a position is vacant, it is advertised, and applicants have to submit a thorough description of their intended research topic (as well as plans for artistic activities for those who apply for a position in the “Historical and contemporary performance practice” part of the program).

Course work

The course work comprises a little more than half a year’s study, of the three years of the programme itself. The rest of the time is devoted to thesis work (and performance and concerts for those who are in the “Historical and contemporary performance practice” part of the program).

The public defence (Disputation)

The thesis is submitted to a committee of three persons. They accept or reject the thesis for a disputation. If accepted, a public disputation is arranged, where the doctor student will defend his/her work. One of the members of the committee addresses the subject matter of the thesis, and another member addresses its methodological and scientific aspects. There is also opportunity for any person present at the disputation to ask questions. Usually, a disputation lasts for four hours.

In the committee, there are two persons who are external to the institution, and one from the institution. The research adviser is not a part of the committee, and cannot be present.

For more information about the doctoral program, please contact Head of doctoral studies Erlend Hovland ( erlend.hovland@nmh.no) , or Head of Research and development Professor Siw Graabræk Nielsen.
 

Fellowship in artistic research 

In 2003 a new postgraduate programme for performance studies was established, known as Stipendprogram for kunstnerisk utviklingsarbeid (Fellowship programme for artistic development). This programme is run jointly by higher arts education institutions in Norway, and was established through the initiative of the Norwegian Academy of Music, among others. The fellowship program is a parallel to the doctoral program, but instead of research work or a written thesis, artistic development work is the focus of this programme – though both research and some sort of written documentation will be a natural part of some projects. The programme’s intention is to give those students who pursue a performance/artistic career an opportunity to develop their artistic abilities to a high international level.

Those taken up for the fellowship programme will join an interdisciplinary community, the aim of which is partly to build up new networks for the development of knowledge and expertise, as well as to promote qualified and critical debate both within the arts educational world and in the wider community.
 

The fellowship programme is open for candidates who have completed the highest possible artistic education within their fields. The program lasts for three years. Artistic fellows will be recruited from the whole breadth of artistic expression within dance, design, film, theatre and the visual arts.
 

Admission to the fellowship programme will be advertised separately from the doctoral program. For more information, see www.kunststipendiat.no