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Art at Lancaster University - UCAS

There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

Your PhD at Lancaster could focus on one of a wide range of topics within Fine Art or on a subject that crosses different disciplines. As a PhD student you will normally be supervised by a team of two supervisors who will ensure that you receive focused critical feedback and encouragement throughout the programme. In some cases the second supervisor will be based in a different discipline within the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA), or a different department within the university in order to ensure that you have the most appropriate supervisory team for your chosen project. We have supervised PhD projects on an exciting variety of topics within painting, drawing, sculpture, new media, art/science, and socially engaged practice. These have previously included: sculpture and new materialism; relationships between drawing, graphic practices and biomedical imaging; health and therapeutic landscapes; ontological experiments in material activism; Deleuze's transcendental realism in painting; creative communities in online spaces; identity and contemporary Iranian art; transferences and translations between visual languages of indigenous Latin American textiles and geometric abstract painting, improving scientific literacy, agency and resilience with participatory art practice; and new visual languages of landscape. You can take your Fine Art PhD at Lancaster either in the form of a written thesis, or as a project that combines the written thesis with creative practical work. Many of our academic staff are engaged with practice-based research in the fields of art, film, theatre and design, and we have a dedicated team of technicians to support you as well as workshops, editing suites and technical resources for our students. As a PhD student based in LICA and part of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), you will be part of a multidisciplinary community of research students, able to participate in seminars, reading groups, conferences, and research training courses. We also offer opportunities to study for a certificate in higher education teaching.

Assessment method

Original research and thesis and/or creative practice.


Entry requirements

Master’s Degree: Master’s degree or equivalent in an appropriate discipline. Undergraduate Degree: 2:1 (Hons) degree (UK or equivalent) in an appropriate discipline. We may also consider non-standard applicants, please contact us for information. We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously. We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 6.5, and a minimum of 6.0 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.


Fees and funding

Tuition fees

No fee information has been provided for this course

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

For information about fees and funding please visit our website: www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding.
Art at Lancaster University - UCAS