Research and innovation

Our research

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

The quality of our research (REF 2014), and the funding it attracts, means we’re able to invest in excellent facilities and academic staff who are actively engaged in research.

Our three research clusters provide a creative academic context for PhD student supervision, collaborative research and impact building, and they also identify key themes within our research: Music as Culture; Music and Science and Making Music.

Research themes

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

Music as Culture

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

Music and Science

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

Making Music

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

Speakers and computer with music software on screen.

Music Research Colloquia

A wide-ranging programme of Research Colloquia, 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).

Research projects

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