Admission Procedure

1. The conditions for admission to the Doctoral Programme in Artistic Research are:

a) The completion of an artistic or scientific diploma or master's degree programme or an equivalent degree program that is relevant to the subject at a recognised post-secondary or tertiary educational institution. In the case of an academic degree, artistic experience must be demonstrated.

b) The successful completion of all parts of the commission-led admission examination.

c) The availability of a study place.


2. Admission to the programme is based on a qualitative selection procedure, which is carried out with the applicant in the form of an admission examination by the relevant doctoral committee.

This selection procedure is used to assess the candidate’s suitability for the specific requirements of the doctoral programme. The applicant’s prior knowledge and artistic-scholarly potential will be taken into account along with the quality of the planned research project according to the following criteria: innovation of the research question, clarity of the chosen methodology, feasibility and the positioning of the project within the relevant research discourse.

The applicant must submit the following application documents in German or English:

a) Comprehensive and convincing concept for the intended research project (topic,
research questions, methods, literature) with a maximum of 10 pages

b) Letter of motivation

c) CV

d) Artistic portfolio

e) Description of previous activities/experience in the field of Artistic Research (one A4 page)

f) Written confirmation of supervision (supervision agreement) by the academic supervisor and the artistic supervisor (at least one of the two supervisors must be from the MUK pool of supervisors; external supervisors must have a post-doctorate qualification or post-doctorate equivalent qualification)

g) Copy of Master’s thesis or relevant recent publications (List of Publications)

h) Degree certificates (Master's degree or equivalent)


3. Admission procedure:

a) Based on the submitted documents, the doctoral committee will decide whether to invite the applicant to a commission-led admission examination.

b) During the admission examination, the applicant must present the concept of their planned research project (maximum 20 minutes). This is followed by a discussion between the doctoral committee and the applicant (maximum 40 minutes).

c) The doctoral committee will decide whether the applicant fulfils the admission requirements, by means of a simple majority, based on the submitted documents, the obtained statements of the supervisors and the commission-led admission examination. In the event of a tied vote, the chairperson of the doctoral committee will decide.

d) The doctoral committee may conditionally admit a student to the programme with the requirement to complete additional tasks beyond the study plan (e.g. examinations, courses) related to the research project.