Research and innovation

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School of Music pianos in the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall. The piano and seat are positioned in front of blue velvet drapes.
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Our research

With over 100 years of research activity, we bring together scholars, performers, and composers.

The quality of our research, and the funding it attracts, means we’re able to invest in excellent facilities and academic staff who are actively engaged in research.

Our four research clusters provide a creative academic context for postgraduate research supervision, collaborative research and impact building, representing key themes within our research: Music as Culture; Making Music; Music, Science and Technology and Pedagogic Research.

Research clusters

Research in the School of Music is clustered around four research themes, each of which is represented by a research group.

Music as culture research group Music as Culture

Music as Culture

Our research explores a rich variety of musicology from the seventeenth century to the present day.

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Music, Science and Technology

Music, Science and Technology

Our research investigates areas including musical imagery, creativity, preferences, audiences, development, identity and listening behaviours.

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Student playing violin Making Music

Making Music

The work of our composers embraces acoustic, electronic and computer composition, and engages with multi-disciplinary approaches to creativity.

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Research student at DJ deck in the School of Music Pedagogic Research in Music

Pedagogic Research in Music

We pursue research which seeks to advance understanding of teaching and learning processes, experiences and contexts in music.

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Image depicting seating in the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall.More on Centre for Practice Research in the Arts

Centre for Practice Research in the Arts

The Centre for Practice Research in the Arts (CePRA) brings together practitioner-researchers from across the arts disciplines whose work employs practice research methodologies.

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Moral psychologyMore on Music Psychology at Leeds

Music Psychology at Leeds

We are leaders in the field of music psychology. Our research investigates areas including musical imagery, creativity, preferences, audiences, development, identity and listening behaviours. We explore the intersections between music and wellbeing and undertake real-world research into the impact of music on physical and mental health. Our researchers actively collaborate with organisations as diverse as Opera North, the Science Museum and the National Health Service. 

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Impact and Engagement

We produce individual, collaborative and interdisciplinary research that generates impact in a broad range of real-world, academic and non-academic contexts.

Our research explores the interaction of music with people, cultures and technologies and seeks to advocate for the historic and continued significance of music in society.

Our work, at local, national and global scale, supports a variety of cultural, social, educational and charitable organisations and we are committed to bringing benefit to those with whom we collaborate.

In addition to opportunities for engagement presented by our ongoing research projects, we offer extensive public engagement opportunities through our Music Research Seminars, Public Lecture Series and International Concert Series programmes.

A collage of animals around a clarinetMore on Public Lecture Series

Public Lecture Series

Watch and listen to Public Lectures by researchers at the School of Music

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Student using a synthesiser during a workshop in the School of Music's Multimedia Cluster.More on Music Research Seminars

Music Research Seminars

A wide-ranging programme of Research Seminars, featuring invited guest speakers and staff, covering a broad view of current musicology and interdisciplinary research, including composition and technology; music and social sciences; music management; new approaches to music history; music psychology; and performance (analysis, history, pedagogy, practice).

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News and events

Postgraduate research student playing at grand piano.More on Postdoctoral opportunities

Postdoctoral opportunities

The School of Music supports applications for British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships, Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships and other schemes as they are announced.

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Research degree 18More on Research projects

Research projects

Our research projects explore a wide range of contemporary issues within the music industry, working with partners on a global scale.
 

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