PhD in Music Psychology and/or Music Information Sciences
supervised by Richard Parncutt at the Centre for Systematic Musicology, University of Graz, Austria
Updated April 2012
Are you thinking about a PhD in music psychology and/or music information sciences? The Centre for Systematic Musicology in Graz, Austria has established a good infrastructure for research students. We have also been receiving regular enquiries from students who are evidently not only talented and motivated, but also diverse with regard to culture and gender. That is promising, because we believe in a positive long-term connection between the quality of research and the diversity of researchers (Allen et al.,. 2006).
Before you can join us you must jump over
the following hurdles.
This page aims to help potential PhD students to solve these problems so that they can join us here in Graz. But first consider some more general issues.
What is it like to do a PhD in Graz, Austria?
Graz is a great place to study
systematic musicology. There is plenty of sysmus research going on
here. There is also a thriving student scene and lots of live music.
Graz has four universities: the University of Graz plus independent
universities of art/music, technology and medicine.
There are many research centres in
the world in the area of systematic musicology, but there is only one
Centre for Systematic Musicology. This may seem like a trivial
observation but the success of our recent grant applications suggests
otherwise. The advantage of the label is that
you can be broadly interdisciplinary in your approach and present the
benefits of interdisciplinarity in grant applications. Then you can
compare the aims of your project and the aims of the centre. We focus
on music psychology, but like also to incorporate approaches,
arguments, materials and methods from acoustics, sociology, physiology,
computer science and philosophy.
There is no German language
requirement for the PhD in Graz. But you probably would not come here
if you did not plan to learn or improve your German. The English
language skills of most students and academics in Graz are very good.
Entrance and course requirements are
similar to other universities (further info below). The Studien- und
Prüfungsabteilung will decide whether you fulfill the entrance
requirements (further info below). You will be required to take a few
extra courses that are relevant to your project. It is usually possible
to find courses in English (e.g. some of the courses that I offer).
Why do a PhD in music psychology or music information sciences?
Much of my music published research has combined psychological and
computational methods. That includes my PhD (University of New England,
Australia, 1987), my 1989 book Harmony: A Psychoacoustical Approach,
and many subsequent articles on music perception and cognition. I
have also published in empirical music sociology. For that reason, my
research students generally work in one of these
subdisciplines and not in other areas of systematic musicology -
although my venia docendi allows me to supervise in any area of
systematic musicology.
Why would an ambitious young researcher today want to do a PhD in music psychology, empirical music sociology or music information sciences?
Answer no. 1: There are plenty of interesting questions to ask in both areas, so there are plenty of opportunities to make an original contribution. Just go to any big international conference and you will be confronted by more questions than answers. That's the hallmark of a dynamic, developing field of research.
Answer no. 2: Contrary to what some people might tell you, there are interesting, rewarding careers out there for young researchers with good ideas, energy, flexibility, international mobility, and persistence. If that is you, I can predict right now that for every ten positions you apply for, you will get one. That may seem like long odds, but after a while it will become a routine. You will start to understand how the system works, and gain confidence. By pursuing this strategy, you can count on getting a chain of different positions after your PhD - some postdoc research positions, some junior university teaching positions - in different countries. If you continue to publish in good journals during that time, and if you apply regularly for professorships, the probability is high that you will eventually get one. You may even get a permanent or tenure-track position soon after your doctorate, but don't count on it! Read more here and here.
What research topics are available?
Students who ask this question are
generally not ready for a PhD. Good PhD students in systematic
musicology generally formulate their your own research question, and
then try to convince their supervisor/s that it is a good one. They
have generally been thinking about that question for some time, and
they are highly motivated to answer it. On finishing their PhD, they
know much more about that question than their supervisors; in fact they
are already something of a world expert on the topic. (Can you imagine
being a world expert on a given topic? Do you want that? These are
important questions to ask yourself!) For your interest, here are some
ideas about research questions that interest me.
Different kinds of doctorate
I can supervise doctorates in
various different programs in Graz, so it is important to be clear from
the outset which programs these are, which are available for you, and -
if there is a choice - which is the right one for you.
This page is primarily for students who are considering the possibility of a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Graz (more) under my supervision in the general area of systematic musicology (that is my venia docendi).
I normally supervise projects in music psychology or music information
sciences, which are subdisciplines of systematic musicology.
It may also be possible for me to supervise a doctorate in psychology (more) if the research project belongs to music psychology and I am accepted as a (music) psychologist on the basis of...
* my publications
* the full-time permanent lecturership that I held until 1998 in the Dept. of Psychology, Keele University
* my
Lehrbefügnis (venia docendi) in systematic musicology, which
includes music psychology. Aus dem Curriculum: Als Betreuer/in sowie
als Mentor/in kann jede/r Universitätslehrer/in mit Lehrbefugnis
aus der betreffenden Doktoratsschule gewählt werden, sofern
deren/dessen Lehrbefugnis jenes Gebiet/Teilgebiet umfasst, dem das
Thema der Dissertation zuzuordnen ist).
A third possibility: I can (co-)
supervise artistic or pedagogial doctorates at the University of Music
and Performing Arts Graz (more).
In that case, and if the project is not based on original quantitative
or qualitative data, it is not necessary for the student to satisfy the
prerequisites below about previous empirical research.
Is a masters degree in musicology enough to start a doctoral project in music psychology or music information sciences?
Not necessarily. This is an important question, so please read the following carefully!
A PhD is an original contribution to international research. Specialists in the same area (the examiners) must agree that it represents a "significant" contribution. This is the main question that is asked, or should be asked, in any PhD examination.
To make a significant contribution in subdiscipline X, you need a good command in advance of that subdiscipline's research methods. I say "subdisciplline" and not "discipline" because of the increasing specialisation that has been happening in all disciplines. That in turn is due to the increasing volume of research in all disciplines: experts know more and more about less and less.The diversity of methods in musicology is enormous due to the mixture of humanities and sciences; even within the humanities, ethnomusicology and historical musicology have very different methods; the same applies for example to acoustics and neurosciences. To do a PhD, you need a command of methods in the specific subdiscipline that corresponds to your research question.
To have a good chance of making a significant contribution in the area of music psychology, you will need to have a good command of the empirical methods of (music) psychology before you enrol for the PhD. If you don't have that background, you risk not finishing your PhD, which could mean years of wasted time. To get the required background, you must first learn about methods and data analysis, which normally happens in a bachelors program. You must then carry out your own small empirical study, analyse and interpret the data and write it up. That usually happens in a masters program and the evidence or your ability is usually your masters thesis. But you can also convince a potential supervisor with a presentation at a good international conference (e.g. ICMPC) or a research report submitted for publication in a good journal (e.g. Music Perception).
Similarly for music information sciences: to have a good chance of making a significant contribution, you need to have a command of the empirical methods of music information sciences before you enrol for the PhD.First, you will need to acquire advanced computing skills in the processing of audio or symbolic files (music notation), or in the implementation and testing of computer algorithms (which incidentally was the core of my PhD and my 1989 book, upon which many further projects were based). Many people acquire these skills in a bachelors program. You then need to demonstrate that you can apply these skills in a small research project of your own. As for music psychology, that usually happens in a masters program, and the evidence of your ability is usually your masters thesis. Again, you can also convince a potential supervisor with a presentation at a good international conference (e.g. ISMIR) or a research report submitted for publication in a good journal (e.g. Journal of New Music Research).
Apart from that you will need:
Incidentally, students who have studied musicology in Graz in Schwerpunkt Musikpsychologie und Akustik in recent years (more) will have automatically satisfied these prerequisites. In that case, you can be sure that I will accept you as a doctoral student.
Enrolment for a PhD at Uni Graz
This is the boring adminstrative part, but don't worry - it will not take much time. The following details may have changed since I wrote them, but they will be roughly correct. At the University of Graz, enrolment applications are accepted twice per year. The deadline is one month before the beginning of the corresponding semester, so the deadline for winter semester (starting on 1 October) is 1 September and for summer semester (beginning on 1 March) is 1 February. Citizens of EU countries can apply up to two months after they start to study, i.e. until the end of November for winter semester and the end of April for summer, but if they apply after the start of semester they are not guaranteed places in courses. The university usually takes a few weeks to process applications (legally the process may take up to six months, so sit back and relax...). If you have a question about this procedure you can contact the administration of the University of Graz directly on +43 316 380-2192 (Studien- und Prüfungsabteilung, student records). If you are having trouble getting information in English and your German is not good enough, I can ask a student assistant to help you enrol.
Funding your PhD
The Austrian government has evidently not yet realised the importance of PhDs for the overall research performance of universities, let alone for national development. There are no Austrian government scholarships for PhDs (please correct me if I am wrong or if the situation changes). PhD students are expected to have rich parents or live on potatoes. This is outrageous, but there is not much we can do about it. While waiting for Austria to come to its senses, try the Erasmus Mundus Masters and PhD scholarships; write a complete draft of your application and visit me to talk about it before submitting. Or look for scholarships and fellowships in the OEAD database: enter your country and see what you can find under the various disciplines that are relevant to your planned research. For example, students from China can apply to the Chinese Scholarship Council, and other bilaterial agreements between Austria (FWF) and different countries are listed here. Finally, the humanities faculty of the University of Graz offers PhD scholarships; in this case, I will must recommend you and you should probably be number one on a list of candidates for a PhD scholarship at the Centre for Systematic Musicology. Applications may be accepted once per year, but funding is unpredictable.
You may also consider the possibility of drafting a grant application for an FWF stand-alone project on my behalf. But remember that I don't have much time for writing grant applications so you might find yourself waiting a long time while I get around to it. To shorten the waiting time, work with me to prepare a complete application whose content I can agree with. I will do this if you clearly satisfy the prerequisites above and I think your idea has potential. We would start by developing and agreeing on the basic idea (that might take some time by itself). In 2009, doctoral students on FWF projects worked for 30 hours per week (longer was not allowed) for two years, and earned 1830 Euros gross per month for 14 months per year (i.e. you get occasional bonuses for Christmas and so on). So your gross yearly income would be about 25 600 Euros. This possibility applies to anyone in the world (including students already in Graz) who would like to do a doctorate in Graz. It also applies to postdocs; for rates of pay click here.
New possibilities might have appeared since this page was written. So it is worthwhile writing directly to FWF Austria and the Research Office of the Uni Graz and asking for suggestions. ***Please tell me if you know about a new source of funding that should be listed on this page.***
Postdocs can also apply for:
I like to apply for funding through the Austrian research fund FWF, because applications are generally written in English, reviewers are generally international experts in the specific area of the application, and the review procedure is relatively fair and transparent. I have no experience with IFK but from their webpage they seem to follow a similar policy. Regarding IEF I have heard that the chances of success are not bad the second time you apply (after you reply to reviewers comments) but applications are only accepted once per year.
The success of any grant application will depend on:
What to do first
Before you start planning a grant application, you need to make sure that your basic idea is good, because if it is not good you risk wasting a lot of time and effort.
The first thing to do is to find, read and understand the most important current and older relevant literature. On that basis, you should then develop and revise your idea and approach. In this process, it is usual to revise your idea many times, so plan time for that and don't be surprised when it happens repeatedly. That's what good research is like!
After that, for most people the best next step is to give a talk to an interested (semi-) expert audience. If you live near Graz or are considering traveling to Graz, please ask me for a timeslot in my research colloquium; the current timetable is here.
When preparing for such a talk, it is important to search the literature again - even more thoroughly and systematically than before. Make a list of possible search terms in English (extend the list each time you find a good literature source, depending on the terminology the authors are using, and look for different combinations of terms) and search a number of different databases including for example Google Scholar, RILM, and databases in relevant parent disciplines of systematic musicology (psychology, computer science and so on). Also, don't forget to search your local university libraries for relevant books, and don't forget to search in language(s) other than English.
After you have digested all that literature, revise your idea and present it against the "state of the art". For any good idea there is always plenty of relevant literature in different disciplines, so if you can't find much, it invariably means that you need to look more carefully and/or broaden your scope. To give you a rough idea of typical amounts of literature: if you give a talk on your planned research that begins with a survey of relevant background literature, you should refer to at least ten good relevant literature sources, which you should have chosen by considering at least a hundred candidates. It is always good if the literature you consider comes from different relevant disciplines, is written in different formats (article, chapter, book, conference proceedings) and possibly languages, and has been subject to peer review procedures.
Of course, the background literature can and possibly should inspire you to move in a different direction. If that happens, go with the flow.
Tips for doing your PhD
Well that is a rather big topic, and if you are only starting it may
seem like a long way away, but let me briefly address some central
issues.
Ultimately your work will be judged according to whether you have made
a significant original contribution to research. So it is a good idea
if you can speculate in advance what that contribution might be.
If you want to make a significant original contribution to science
(as opposed to humanities), you will generally have to balance methods
and content. Why? Without a good command of current methods, it is very
unlikely that you will make a significant original contribution.
But the content is also important, because content is often considered
to be the contribution.
Further information
Feel free to telephone me at work or arrange a time by email to telephone. My contact details are here.
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