PhD Art and Social Practice / Overview

Year of entry: 2024

Degree awarded
Doctor of Philosophy
Duration
3 years [full-time] 6 years [part-time]
Entry requirements
  • Bachelor's (Honours) degree at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent); and
  • Master's degree in a relevant subject - with an overall average of 65% or above, a minimum mark of 65% in your dissertation and no mark below 55% (or overseas equivalent)

Full entry requirements

How to apply
Apply online

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  12 January 2024.

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 2024 entry:  30 June 2024
  • For January 2025 entry:  30 September 2024

Programme options

Full-time Part-time Full-time distance learning Part-time distance learning
PhD Y Y N N

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Programme description

Arts and Social Practice is a broad term referring inclusively to any form of arts practice seeking to engage or intervene in social, educational and/or community contexts.

Our pioneering PhD Arts and Social Practice doctoral programme is specifically designed for people working in applied practice, arts and health, community arts and related contexts across visual, creative and performing arts who want to undertake advanced research which builds on their professional knowledge and practice.

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 aims to engage experienced professionals in advanced research, and reflects the need for structured forms of professional development and reflective practice across the arts sector.

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

We support the development of reflective practice that can respond to and influence the complex unpredictable and shifting social and cultural contexts within which arts practitioners operate.

The programme will introduce you to a range of dynamic and challenging concepts and methods with which to reflect critically and constructively on your professional practice. A further feature of the programme is the opportunity to join a cohort of peers on professional practice PhD programmes through bi-annual residential workshops and events.

Open days

Find out what it's like to study at Manchester by visiting us on one of our open days.

Fees

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2024, the tuition fees are as follows:

  • PhD (full-time)
    UK students (per annum): £4,786
    International, including EU, students (per annum): £21,500
  • PhD (part-time)
    UK students (per annum): £2,393

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

Please note for the majority of projects where experimentation requires further resource: higher fee bands (where quoted) will be charged rather than the base rate for supervision, administration and computational costs. The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive and, therefore, you will not be required to pay any additional bench fees or administration costs.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of the course for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees. Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your project.

Scholarships/sponsorships

There are a range of scholarships, studentships and awards to support both UK and overseas postgraduate researchers, details of which can be found via the links below. 

To apply University of Manchester funding, you must indicate in your application the competitions for which you wish to be considered. The deadline for most internal competitions, including AHRC NWCDTP and School of Arts, Languages and Cultures studentships is 12 January 2024.

All external funding competitions have a specified deadline for submitting the funding application form and a separate (earlier) deadline for submitting the online programme application form, both of which will be stated in the funding competition details below. 

For more information about funding, visit our  funding page to browse for scholarships, studentships and awards you may be eligible for.

Contact details

School/Faculty
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
Contact name
Humanities Doctoral Academy Admissions
Email
Website
https://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/
School/Faculty

See: About us

Programmes in related subject areas

Use the links below to view lists of programmes in related subject areas.

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The University of Manchester is regulated by the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS aims to help students succeed in Higher Education by ensuring they receive excellent information and guidance, get high quality education that prepares them for the future and by protecting their interests. More information can be found at the OfS website.

You can find regulations and policies relating to student life at The University of Manchester, including our Degree Regulations and Complaints Procedure, on our regulations website.