Doctoral Students in Performance Practices

The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 56 000 students and 6 600 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

The Academy of Music and Drama is located in the Artisten building in central Gothenburg and is part of the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts at the University of Gothenburg. The department trains and educates composers; musical artists; musicians in multiple genres; music, dance and theatre teachers; opera singers; performance artists and actors, and has more than 600 students and 200 employees. The Academy of Music and Drama also conducts development work, postgraduate studies and research and engages in extensive outreach activities.

We provide highly specialised degree programmes in an outgoing, international environment – where our unique and broad range of subjects also enables our students and staff to foster a broader artistic perspective, as well as to explore new working models and research fields. Together with our sister department HDK-Valand we form the most broad-ranging faculty of arts in Scandinavia.

Subject description

The doctoral subject Performance Practices explores issues with relevance to the field of performing arts, artistic research, and society as a whole. Reflection on one’s own practice is an important tool for knowledge development and renewal within the field. Doctoral (third- cycle) education within this subject is aimed at performing artists within a variety of disciplines and genres (in theatre, music drama, dance and performance, amongst others).

This call is especially aimed at performing arts practices that examine place, the public sphere and everyday living environments in a critical discussion with society and societal development. This may, for example, be artistic research that in various ways sheds light on gentrification processes in urban development, which works with decolonization of public spaces or which explores how artistic work processes, expressions and venues are affected and can be further developed in a changing world.

Site-specific performance has long sought to highlight and explore sites outside the traditional art arenas, by, for instance, working against dominant discourses within the urban landscape or creating immersive experiences for spectators in places where the real and the fictional overlap. In recent years, discussions about the public sphere and public discourse have taken on a new role in a hardening and increasingly segregated social climate. It also means new challenges and opportunities for performing arts that focus on site-creating and site-critical activities.

From 2021, a new interdisciplinary research platform will be established at our faculty, PLACE (Public Life, Arts & Critical Engagement) which will function as a meeting place and resource for doctoral students and researchers with an interest in place and public spaces from a perspective of critical community involvement.

Job assignments

The doctoral education requires 240 higher education credits (HEC), equivalent to four years of full-time study, and leads to a doctoral degree. This consists of at least 60 HEC for courses and 150 HEC for a dissertation. The courses are organised, in part, through compulsory basic courses, seminars and conferences at a research school operated in collaboration with HDK-Valand at the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts at the University of Gothenburg, and, in part, through subject-specific courses.

As a doctoral student, you will be a member of the performing arts teaching staff at the Academy of Music and Drama and you are expected to be involved through teaching at the first-cycle (bachelor) and second-cycle (master) levels. Similarly, your active participation in the research environment at both the department and the faculty means that you are physically present and participate in daily work.

Doctoral students’ duties, with their consent, may include departmental duties of up to 20 per cent of full-time work distributed throughout the length of the programme. In the event of employment that includes departmental duties, the position is extended by the corresponding amount of time.

A good grasp of English is a prerequisite as the research and doctoral education are conducted in an international setting.

The Academy of Music and Drama encourages its teachers and doctoral students to participate in the university’s courses related to teaching and learning in higher education if equivalent knowledge has not already been attained.

Reserch enviroment

In the last decade, the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts at the University of Gothenburg has built up an environment where research and education are able to cooperate, an environment that allows both cross-subject and cross-faculty research projects strongly focused on artistic exploration. Doctoral students meet regularly in interdisciplinary forums, both within the department and at the faculty level.

The Academy of Music and Drama and the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts participate in several international networks with partners from around the world, including within music, the performing arts, education, and artistic research.

Eligibility

To be considered for admission to postgraduate education the applicant needs to meet the general entry requirements for doctoral (third-cycle) education, and where applicable, the specific entry requirements of the syllabuses.

General entry requirements for third-cycle education are met by those who have:

• been awarded a master’s (second-cycle) qualification, or
• fulfilled course requirements comprising 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits were awarded at master’s (second-cycle) level, or
• on the whole, acquired the equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

The Dean at the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts may grant an exemption from the general entry requirements. However, to meet entry requirements, the applicant must be assessed to have the overall ability required to complete the doctoral (third-cycle) programme.

Specific entry requirements for the subject Performance Practices are:

• at least 120 higher education credits (or the equivalent) in subjects that are assessed as having relevance to doctoral (third-cycle) studies in the subject, (or equivalent knowledge),
• a documented study specialisation including subjects oriented towards relevant issues in the subject,
• a Pass grade in an independent project comprising at least 30 higher education credits (or, alternatively, several projects, which, together, are the equivalent of, or are assessed as being the equivalent of 30 higher education credits) in a subject that is assessed as having relevance to the artistic doctoral programme in the subject,
• documented artistic experience and ability to work with artistic performance on a high professional level.

An applicant also meets the specific entry requirements if he or she has acquired equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

Assessment

Applicants, meeting the general and specific entry requirements, are selected based on their ability to benefit from the education, as specified by the selection criteria in the post graduate subject’s general study plan. In the assessment, applications with research projects addressing the current call's focus on place, public space and everyday living environments will be prioritized.

Interviews are a part of the selection process. These will take place on May 5-6 and are a prerequisite for admission.

For qualifications and preferred merits, see the general study plans for Doctor of Philosophy in Performance Practices and Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Arts in Performance Practices:

https://www.gu.se/en/music-drama/doctoral-studies/performance-practices

The two different degrees are both focused on artistic research. The place and design of the artistic work differs somewhat. The doctoral student's choice of degree will be discussed at the beginning of the study period.

Employment

Form of employment: Temporary four-year position
Scope: 100%
Location: Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg Start: 1 September 2021

After admission to postgraduate education, you will be employed as a doctoral student. Regulations for employment as a doctoral student are outlined in the The Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100) §5 Employment of doctoral students, which is included in the document Rules and regulations for third-cycle studies at the University of Gothenburg Dnr V 2018/603

https://medarbetarportalen.gu.se/digitalAssets/1694/1694636_doktorandregler-engelska--180701.pdf

A new appointment to a doctoral studentship is valid for a maximum of one year. The appointment may be extended for no more than two years at a time. However, the total length of appointment may not exceed the equivalent of four years of full-time doctoral studies.

Applicants seeking admission with external funding should include a funding plan for the entire period of study (four years full-time, or a maximum of eight years part-time). Conditions for places with external funding are given in the University of Gothenburg’s Rules and regulations for third-cycle studies, section 6, pages 6-8 (see above).

Salaries for doctoral students are regulated in a local agreement at the University. 

Appointment procedure

The recruitment group’s work is led by the head of Performance Practices. In addition, the recruiting group includes researchers at the department/faculty, a doctoral student representative, the postgraduate studies officer and one external researcher. Each application is reviewed by several people. Applicants with the highest ranked applications are called for interviews. 

For further information regarding the position

For general questions about the admission, contact:
Anna Frisk, postgraduate studies officer, anna.frisk@konst.gu.se

For specific questions about Performance Practices, contact:
Cecilia Lagerström, Head of Doctoral programme in Performance Practices, cecilia.lagerstrom@hsm.gu.se

Unions

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg:
https://www.gu.se/en/about-the-university/work-at-the-university-of-gothenburg/how-to-apply

Information for International Applicants

Choosing a career in a foreign country is a big step. Thus, to give you a general idea of what we and Gothenburg have to offer in terms of benefits and life in general for you and your family/spouse/partner please visit:

https://www.gu.se/en/about-the-university/welcome-services

https://www.movetogothenburg.com/

How to apply

In order to apply for a position at the University of Gothenburg, you have to register an account in our online recruitment system. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the job advertisement, and that it is submitted before the deadline. The selection of candidates is made on the basis of the qualifications registered in the application.

The application must include:

1. A personal letter in which you motivate your application and summarize your qualifications.
2. A CV including professional experience, along with a list of publications / performances / artistic activities, as well as documentation or links to documentation online. In certain cases, the assessment committee may request access to artistic works
3. Copies of academic qualifications and other certificates relevant to the application. Diplomas in languages other than Swedish and English need to be translated into English. Note that if the applicant applies with "equivalent knowledge", these need to be clearly presented and documented.
4. A research project plan (max. 6 pages) outlining the proposed research. This must include a description of the research project's aim, problem area, methods and implementation, and it should include a time schedule. The description must contain a reflection on the project's relevance and significance for the artistic field. If you write in Swedish, a shorter summary in English is also required.

Additional information about doctoral education at the University at Gothenburg, including university-wide doctoral student regulations, can be found at www.doktorand.gu.se.

Closing date:  March 1 2021

 

The University of Gothenburg promotes equal opportunities, equality and diversity.

Applications will be destroyed or returned (upon request) two years after the decision of employment has become final. Applications from the employed and from those who appeal the decision will not be returned.

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden’s regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.