MPhil/PhD in Art

We are pleased to invite applications to the Art Research MPhil/ PhD programme in the world-leading Art Department at Goldsmiths for September 2023 entry. 

In order to be considered for CHASE funding, applications need to be submitted to the department by November 1 2022. For details of the application process, please consult the “How To Apply“ section on our webpage. There is an additional round for applications from self-funded students in spring 2023, dates to be confirmed.

The Art Research Programme in the Art Department at Goldsmiths supports innovative art research in Fine Art, Curating, Art Writing and across disciplines at the highest level in an environment of ambitious speculation and rigorous experimentation. 

The MPhil/PhD in Art is an independent three to four year (full-time) or six to eight year (part-time) research project, the pursuit of which may involve your already-established practice or may require the development of new modes of practice specific to the project.

We welcome proposals for research in any area of Fine Art, Curating and Art writing. We give priority to proposals for research within the areas of interest of our faculty in the Department of Art so we can best support projects. We also support inter-departmental supervision to allow for access to the broad range of outstanding research expertise and supervisory experience Goldsmiths has to offer across disciplines. 

Research degrees on this programme have two interconnected elements: the research work that you carry out individually with support from the supervisory team, and a programme of installations, workshops and seminars which bring you into dynamic dialogue with other research students and a wider community inside and outside Goldsmiths. 

The programme and the department at large support research clusters on the Choreographic, Feminist Duration and Animate Assembly, among others, and champion the ‘Generation Delta scheme for Black, Asian and minority ethnic students’.

Recent and upcoming visitors and guests to the programme include D Graham Burnett, Kent Chan, Tyler Coburn, keyon gaskin, Martin Hargreaves, Vlatka Horvath, André Lepecki, Raimundas Malasauskas, Francesco Manacorda, Harun Morrison, SERAFINE1369, Dorothee Richter, Irit Rogoff, Noémie Solomon, Pieternel Vermoortel, and many others. 

For production, the Department of Art has nine specialist Art Practice Areas providing expert support for a wide variety of processes that complement and extend traditional disciplines, such as metalwork, casting, woodwork, ceramics, textiles, print, photography, 3D printing, graphics, video editing, animation and 3D modelling.

Full time students have access to studio space, and all MPhil/PhD students may make use of bookable spaces subject to availability, and regularly exhibiting practice-based work is encouraged. 

A programme of installations functions as a means of public engagement with research projects. 

Research degrees are further supported by courses and professional development provided by the Graduate School that oversee postgraduate research across College. 

There are three different pathways to pursue postgraduate research in Art on our programme: Pathway 1 offers Thesis by Practice (accompanied by a critical account), Pathway 2 develops a Thesis by Practice and Written Dissertation, and Pathway 3 allows for a Thesis by Written Dissertation alone. To find out more about each of these pathways, please see the Structure section on our webpage. 

If you have specific questions about the programme, its scope and ambitions, or if you need to find out more about our processes, please contact the Programme Director Dr Edgar Schmitz on e.schmitz [​at​] gold.ac.uk or pre-application advisor Prof Michael Newman on m.newman [​at​] gold.ac.uk.