PhD in Music Psychology or Music Cognition 
Richard Parncutt, Centre for Systematic Musicology, University of Graz, Austria
November 2019

The Centre for Systematic Musicology at the University of Graz, Austria has good infrastructure for research students. Here is what you need to get started:

•	Experience carrying out and writing up an empirical study (introduction, method, results, conclusions, references). This might be a master’s thesis or an article of which you are first author. Please send me this document electronically, even if it is not in English.

•	Qualifications required by the University of Graz for entry to the PhD in humanities. This happens in two stages: (i) Studien- und Prüfungsabteilung and (ii) doctoral program of the Faculty of Humanities. (You can also apply for the PhD in Psychology at Uni Graz or the academic or artistic doctorate program at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, with me as second or informal supervisor, and someone else as main supervisor.)

•	Money. Our tuition fees are low relative to Britain and the USA. Sometimes, our Faculty of Humanities offers fellowships. Please ask. Other possibilities are at stipendien.at and oead.at. If you have time to (co-) write an FWF grant application (fwf.ac.at) with yourself as research assistant, I could be the lead applicant.

If this seems realistic, the next step is to give a talk in our weekly research seminar. If you can’t come physically to Graz, you can present virtually. Please ask.

What is it like to do a PhD in Graz, Austria?
There is plenty of systematic musicology research going on in Graz - more than you would expect for a town of 300,000 people. There is also a thriving student scene and lots of live music. Graz has four universities: the University of Graz plus independent universities of art/music, technology and medicine. 

The label “Centre for Systematic Musicology” allows us to be broadly interdisciplinary in our approach and present the benefits of our interdisciplinarity in grant applications.  We focus on music psychology, but like to incorporate approaches, arguments, materials and methods from areas like acoustics, sociology, physiology, computer science, ethnology, history, anthropology, philosophy, music theory, music performance, music education, music therapy, and music medicine. 

There is no German language requirement for doctorate programs in Graz, and the English language skills of most students and academics in Graz are very good. Our weekly research seminar is in English.

Enrolment for a doctorate in humanities at Uni Graz

To be admitted to the program “Doktorat der Philosophie in den Geisteswissenschaften”, the Studien- und Prüfungsabteilung will ask you for grades of courses that you consider equivalent to those offered in the Musikologie curriculum (BA and MA) in Graz. If your application passes the initial screening, it will be considered by the Curriculum Committee (Curriculakommission) of the doctoral program (Doktorat) of the Faculty of Humanities (Geisteswissenschaftliche Fakultät, GEWI-Fakultät). The Dean of Studies will ask for something like the following:

•	"Meldung zum Doktoratsstudium". Your major subject (Pflichtfach) will normally be systematic musicology and your minor or elective (Wahlfach) will usually be a relevant discipline in which you are already qualified (e.g. "developmental psychology", "historical musicology").
•	Your supervision agreement "Betreuungsvereinbarung" should give you three years to complete. 
•	Your research plan (Skizze des Dissertationsprojekts) should be 2-3 pages long. It should clearly explain your main question, and something about relevant theory, methods, and literature. 
•	Your student transcript (Studienbuchblatt) should indicate when you were enrolled in what course at what university and what grades you got for what subjects. 

If you prepare a complete draft of these documents and send them to me, I will comment so you can revise. After you will need my signature. 

Postdocs can also apply for:
•	Lise Meitner fellowship
•	IFK Senior Research Fellowship (IFK = international research centre for cultural studies)  
•	Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development (IEF)
Other possibilities are listed on the FWF homepage. 

The success of a grant application will depend on:
•	The success rate of applications in the previous round. 
•	The reviewers' evaluations of the content. 
•	The expertise of the applicants and how well it matches the proposed research with recent good publications.