Lund University, Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts,

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world’s top universities. The University has around 47 000 students and more than 8 800 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard gender equality and diversity as a strength and an asset.

The Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts is one of eight faculties within Lund University and includes Malmö Art Academy, Malmö Academy of Music and Malmö Theatre Academy, also Inter Arts Center and Choral Centre South. The Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts offers Bachelor and Master programs in visual art, music and drama, and various courses of different extent. The Faculty also runs third cycle (postgraduate) studies in artistic research and music education.

Malmö Academy of Music announces two positions in the field of Artistic Research in Music, each focused on a separate musical area.
We are looking for (1) a practitioner in the dialogue surrounding the intersections of art and science, with an emphasis in music and/or sound, and (2) a practitioner engaged in any musical activity which may benefit from reflective research, such as composition, performance, systematic musicology or aesthetics, amongst others. 

The positions as Doctoral Students are placed at the division of Performance and Church Music Programs, Malmö Academy of Music of Lund University. The third cycle studies start November 1, 2023. The interviews will be held during week 13, March 27 – 31, 2023.

Job assignment 
Carry out doctoral studies within the frame of employment leading up to PhD examination. The program will allow the PhD candidates to produce artwork and to conduct research that involves, leads to or results from artistic outputs. Malmö Academy of Music is deeply invested in the future of artistic research in music and will actively work closely with each candidate to drive practice-led outputs. The candidates will be expected to produce highly regarded artwork, while conducting research leading towards peer-reviewed publications. The PhD degree in artistic research is awarded upon successful completion of a substantial original contribution prepared over the course of the PhD program, which amounts to 240 credits during four years of full-time studies, or up to eight years when part-time.

PhD Position 1: Art and science
The candidate shall be an active practitioner with a broad international profile of high standing. Especially desired are candidates who are engaged in the dialogue and intersections between art and science, specifically with a focus in music and/or sound. The media that these works inhabit may include acoustic composition, electronic music/sound in combination with video, performance, theater, dance, installation, text and scientific instrumentation. We welcome candidates working from diverse influences and methods, who wish to expand their creative practice and underlying technical knowledge to spur artistic innovation.

This position opens a new line of inquiry in which the PhD candidate will have the opportunity to engage with the European Spallation Source (https://europeanspallationsource.se/). Organized by a senior scientist, the communications team, and MusAR program director, the PhD candidate will be mentored by a scientist at ESS. The mentor will offer dialogue, discussion and education regarding the work and the instrumentation carried out at ESS. Collaboration resulting from such discussions may be presented in the ESS & Max IV science park, at the Inter Arts Center, the Malmö Academy of Music and on the Lund University campus. 

For this position, we are especially interested in candidates who develop research initiatives that explore the complexity, materiality or expectations of music/sound in relation to science, in order to critically assess the boundaries of technique and expression. 

Merging research with their creative practice, the PhD candidate will conduct advanced inquiry into cultural, theoretical, technical, and aesthetic issues surrounding the intersection of art and music, in consultation with faculty researchers and other PhDs.

PhD Position 2: Music, any practice
The candidate shall be engaged in any musical practice with a broad international profile of high standing. For this position, we encourage applications from practitioners engaged in any musical activity which may benefit from reflective research. 

We are continuing an initiative allowing musicians to conduct practice-led research designed to investigate the boundaries and limits of their practice. In addition to creative outputs, the expectation is that the candidate will conduct focused research projects leading to publication. 

For this position, we are especially interested in candidates who have an intersection with contemporary music and who may be involved with interdisciplinarity that impacts or interfaces with their musical practice.

Merging research with their creative activity, the candidate will conduct advanced inquiry into the cultural, theoretical, technical, and aesthetic issues surrounding music in consultation with faculty researchers and other PhDs.

Facilities at Malmö Academy of Music
We offer PhD candidates in artistic research
- first-rate facilities for creative work and production
- active networks across Lund University to conduct practice-led and collaborative research
- excellent opportunities to share and present research to peers and the wider academic community
- higher level research seminar series 
- participation in national and international interdisciplinary research labs
- fully equipped practice facilities, electroacoustic and recording studios 
- facilities at Lund University for empirical research in the psychology of music and experimental research in voice
- programs inviting internationally recognized performers and composers to present practice-led research
- masterclasses and performances with experts in the field
- personalized skills training and expert career advice
- the opportunity to become part of an inspiring, collaborative group of researchers from across the disciplines

PhD candidates will be assigned a supervisor and a co-supervisor for meetings on a regular basis. They will also benefit from the advice and support of other members of the faculty who will be involved in their progression through the stages of the degree, and can draw on the expertise of scholars and colleagues throughout the faculty and university.

The practice and sharing of research is supported by the platform Inter Feral Arts for artistic and experimental research in music (https://www.iac.lu.se/projects/inter-feral-arts-7/)

For examples of recent outputs in the artistic research program at Lund University, please see the following archive at https://www.youtube.com/@artisticresearcharchivemalmoac/videos 

Eligibility/Entry requirements
Applicants with basic eligibility for third-cycle studies are those who
- have completed a second-cycle degree
- have completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from second-cycle courses, or
- have acquired largely equivalent knowledge in some other way

Specific admission requirements
Eligible to be admitted is the applicant who has
- international standing within applicants’ field
- an active artistic career
- high level of technical expertise
- aptitude and ability to conduct independent research
- practical experience with the aesthetics and development of contemporary art music (broadly defined)

Artistic research in music is international in character. Proficiency in English is therefore a requirement for successfully completing the program.

Basis of assessment
The employment of doctoral students is regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. When an appointment to a doctoral studentship is made, the ability of the student to benefit from PhD-studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral studentships may be required to work with educational tasks, research, and administration, in accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance.

Eligible applicants' proposals will be evaluated according to assessments of the following criteria, stated in the General Syllabus 
- the applicant’s suitability for artistic research
- the quality and viability of the presented project within the given time frames
- the quality of the research proposal considering relevance, originality, research questions, connection to the collective field of knowledge, and methods.

Type of employment
Limit of tenure, four years at full-time employment according to HF 5 kap 7§.

The application should contain 
- a plan and aims for the development of a PhD project in artistic research in music (including methods and expected outcomes), 5 pages maximum in English
- a portfolio which could take various forms, such as compositions, performances or other projects, accompanied by supporting commentaries and materials
- degree certificates and transcripts, translated into English
- detailed CV in English
- contact information for two referees 

Qualifications: please see the general study plan for third cycle artistic studies in Music.

Type of employment Temporary position
First day of employment 2023-11-01
Salary Monthly salary
Number of positions 2
Full-time equivalent 100
City Malmö
County Skåne län
Country Sweden
Reference number PA2023/11
Contact
  • Michael Edgerton, professor, +46738021961,michael.edgerton[at]mhm.lu.se
Union representative
  • OFR/ST:Fackförbundet ST:s kansli, 046-2229362
  • SACO:Saco-s-rådet vid Lunds universitet, kansli@saco-s.lu.se
  • SEKO: Seko Civil, 046-2229366
Published 13.Jan.2023
Last application date 22.Feb.2023 11:59 PM CET

Return to job vacancies