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Research Postgraduate Programme

Introduction

The Graduate Division of the Department of Music welcomes students to pursue our research Master and Doctoral degrees in four different areas. Ethnomusicology programme features a strong emphasis on Chinese Music, but thesis and dissertation topics on other music cultures can also be considered. Students wishing to research in Historical Musicology or Theory will, most likely choose Western Music topics. Those who enter in the Composition programme will turn out creative music compositions.

Master's and Doctoral Degree Programmes

  • MPhil (Historical Musicology, Music Theory, Ethnomusicology), MMus (Composition)
    • The 2-year Masters degree programmes are designed to bridge the gap between undergraduate and doctoral studies, and to prepare students for further advanced studies either locally or abroad.  They are also stand-alone programmes that can equip graduates for careers as research associates, adjunct university teachers and professional composers.
    • The MPhil programmes are emphatically research-oriented, with the completion of a thesis/portfolio as the major degree requirement.  In addition, students are required to take core and elective courses within their specialized fields, and a foreign language (aside from English and Chinese) and IT competency are also required of students in selected fields.  These requirements are specifically designed to help students lay the groundwork for carrying out up-to-date research in the field.
  • PhD (Historical Musicology, Music Theory, Ethnomusicology), DMus (Composition)
    • The 3-year doctoral degree programmes are highly specialized to prepare students for full-time academic appointments in their selected fields.  The PhD programmes are emphatically research-oriented, with the completion of a thesis/portfolio set up as the main degree requirement.  Additional course work is required in selected fields.  Apart from fulfilling credit requirements, students are also required to pass qualifying examinations before they formally start working on the dissertations/portfolios.

Areas of specialisation

  • Composition
    • There are three full-time faculty members (one Professor, one Assistant Professor, and one Senior Instructor) within the field. Required classes for the MMus (Composition) include Research Methods and Bibliography, Advanced Composition I and II, and Advanced Analysis I and II. Students are also responsible for producing a portfolio consisting of musical works written after registering in the programme.
    • There are no course requirements for the DMus (Composition) and the study scheme focuses on the creation of a portfolio of new works.
  • Ethnomusicology
    • There are three ethnomusicologists in the Department (one Associate Professor and two Assistant Professors). They all perform research in more than one area, including but not limited to the musics of China (from historical and anthropological perspectives), Sufi music, popular music, Bollywood film music, and the material culture of music.
    • The MMus programme includes intensive training in the theory and methods of ethnomusicological research.
    • Doctoral students are expected to complete additional coursework as part of their doctoral studies, and are often encouraged to pursue relevant postgraduate classes outside of the Department when relevant to their dissertation topic.
  • Historical Musicology
    • The Department has three historical musicologists (one Professor, one Associate Professor, and one Instructor) whose primary areas of range from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe to twentieth-century North America. 
    • The coursework for both MPhil and PhD students encourages them to acquire broad knowledge of music history and its methods, while simultaneously cultivating their own field of interest and expertise.
    • Students may be required to take additional foreign language study, if their research topic requires it.
  • Music Theory
    • There are two full-time faculty members (one Professor, one Associate Professor) within the field of music theory. The former specializes in set theory and the music of Olivier Messiaen, while the latter is a Schubert scholar with experience in Schenkerian analysis and semiotic theory. Their complementary training and interests ensure comprehensive coverage of research areas in music theory, and can provide supervisory support to research postgraduates on a diverse range of thesis and dissertation topics.
    • The core courses in the MPhil Theory programme (Research Methods and Bibliography, Advanced Analysis I and II, Seminar in the Theory of Music) offers training in research and analytical methodologies, and familiarizes students with the state of research within the field. Students will also be directed to take elective courses and study foreign languages that are relevant to their thesis areas.
    • There are no coursework requirements in the PhD programme in Theory, and the study scheme is primarily centered around the dissertation. Upon admission to the programme, students immediately begin working with their supervisors towards the refinement of their dissertation proposals, and are directed to undertake a comprehensive literature review relating to their research areas. As their work on the dissertation progresses, students are also encouraged to present their preliminary findings as conference papers and journal articles. Thus the dissertation, when completed, would have benefited from peer review and professional exposure.

Admission


Entrance Examination : English | 中文