Doctoral Curriculum in Musical Arts
In September 2006, the documa alliance* was founded in order to develop an international doctoral curriculum in musical arts and to create a first-class discipline-specific research environment.
The collaboration resulted in a joint curriculum situated within two doctoral programmes for practice-based research in musical arts, designed for musician-researchers (performers, composers, etc.).
As well as stimulating and facilitating artist-researchers, this programme provides a joint, international, English-speaking doctoral curriculum, consisting of research and training. This curriculum allows doctoral students to develop their artistic qualities, broaden their academic knowledge, expand their methodological skills and integrate all those elements.
From September 2008, the doctoral curriculum has been running at the Orpheus Institute and the Royal College of Music London (as an adjunct to its DMus programme). Since September 2009, the doctoral programme will be organised at the Orpheus Institute as the docARTES programme (www.docartes.be). Besides the joint curriculum, both doctoral programmes also include individual research supervision from the start. Flemish or Dutch partners from the documa alliance will award the doctoral title.
Although each doctoral study will be specifically tailored (according to an individually-agreed programme of work, formulated by the student and his/her supervising team) all students will participate in a number of common
elements and stages that comprise the joint curriculum. These stages are set out in a HANDBOOK, which seeks to guide students through them and through the necessary processes and regulations, from initial entry to completing the joint curriculum, with some preliminary notes about the final submission that students need to complete to be awarded a doctoral degree.
STUDENT HANDBOOK 2009-2010