ELIA's activities are funded with support of the European Commission. The website reflects the view only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 

Overview of research in the arts in Europe

Institutions and Programmes



This overview presents the outcomes of a survey initiated by Gothenburg University and conducted within the framework of Strand 3. It is the first comprehensive - though by no means complete - overview of programmes and institutions in Europe engaged in research in the arts.

Research in the arts in this overview is used to mean research programmes for artists hosted by institutes of higher arts education, sometimes in cooperation or association with other academic institutions. The more conventional, but more problematic term for this is artistic research, and when it does not give rise to ambiguity this term will be used.

The overview will mainly focus on third-cycle programmes.
This is a pragmatic choice: in the debate that has been going on for the last decade, artistic research has mainly been identified with PhDs in the arts, even though research could also be pursued by senior researchers or independent artists, and MA programmes are required to be research-based.
However, the sheer abundance of MA programmes, most of which do not present themselves as ‘research programmes’, would make the overview unwieldy if included; and for lack of a substantial body of senior researchers, most research in the arts is indeed being practiced by third-cycle students. A number of MA programmes that play an important role in discussions and existing networks have been included.

From the large number of PhD programmes in the United Kingdom, only a sample has been selected. What has been patently excluded is conventional academic research, mainly in philosophy and the humanities, that is hosted by art academies. Also excluded are non-degree postgraduate programmes without a specific research profile, that were largely already there before the emergence of PhDs in higher arts education, and the advent of the ‘artistic research’ debate.

For a more extensive presentation, please consult the artesnet handbook, pp. 97-103.
A bibliography is at pp. 104-112.

Institute degrees 3rd level students type
FAK (formerly IvOK)
Brussels et al,* Belgium		 doctoraat (PhD) 27 association
associatie.kuleuven.be/fak/
Orpheus / DocARTES
Ghent, Belgium et al.**		 PhD 28 network
www.orpheusinstituut.be
www.docartes.be
 
GradCAM
Dublin, Ireland		 PhD 36 national institute
www.gradcam.ie/
Gothenburg University
Gothenburg, Sweden		 PhD, AD 45 graduate school /
national research school
www.konst.gu.se/english/doctoral_studies/
Malmö Art Academy
Malmö, Sweden		 PhD 6 graduate school
www.khm.lu.se
Norwegian Fellowship Programme
Bergen et al,*** Norway		 diploma 44 national institute
www.kunststipendiat.no
Aalto School of Art and Design (formerly TAiK) Helsinki, Finland DA 202 graduate school
www.taik.fi/research/
Sibelius Academy Helsinki, Finland Lic, PhD, Dmus 70 graduate school & network
www.siba.fi
HfG Offenbach
Offenbach, Germany		 PhD starting PhD programme
www.hfg-offenbach.de
Berlin University of the Arts
Berlin, Germany		 diploma 8 graduate school
www.udk-berlin.de/graduiertenschule
ENSBA / La Seine
Paris, France		 diploma 12 postgraduate programme
www.ensba.fr/laseine/
IRCAM
Paris, France		 PhD 26 research institute
www.ircam.fr
ESADSE
St. Étienne, France		 diploma 8 postgraduate programme
www.esadse.fr/postdiplome/
PhDArts
The Hague, Netherlands		 PhD 6 association
www.phdarts.eu
MAHKU
Utrecht, Netherlands		 MA, PhD 2 graduate school
www.mahku.nl
Academy of Fine Arts
Vienna, Austria		 PhD starting graduate school
www.cak.akbild.ac.at
HKB Bern /
Y - Institute for Transdisciplinarity
Berne, Switzerland		 MA   association
www.hkb.bfh.ch/y
ZHdK
Zurich, Switzerland		 MAS, PhD 44 graduate programmes
www.z-node.net
sceno.zhdk.ch
www.interface.ufg.ac.at
AFAD Bratislava Slovak Rep. PhD 27 PhD programme
www.vsvu.sk
University of the Arts London
London, UK		 Mphil, PhD 170 graduate school & programmes
www.arts.ac.uk/research
RSAMD
Glasgow, UK		 Mphil, PhD 20 association
www.rsamd.ac.uk/postgraduate/research
University of Brighton CRD Brighton, UK Mphil, PhD 70 graduate school
artsresearch.brighton.ac.uk
CultureLab Newcastle, UK MA, PhD 20 graduate programme
www.ncl.ac.uk/culturelab/
Slade School of Art
London, UK		 Mphil, PhD 12 graduate programme
www.ucl.ac.uk/slade
Royal College of Art
London, UK		 Mphil, PhD 134 postgraduate institute
www.rca.ac.uk/research
  
* The Faculty of Art and Architecture is part of the K.U.Leuven Association; associated HAE institutes are in Ghent, Brussels, Louvain, and Genk.
** The DocARTES programme has 8 partners in Flanders, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; it is co-ordinated by the Orpheus Institute, Ghent.
*** The Norwegian Fellowship Programme involves all Norwegian art academies and several university departments; it is co-ordinated by Bergen National Academy of the Arts.
       
 
Site by Gopublic