As the only art and design university that operates exclusively at postgraduate level, the Royal College of Art is especially well placed to host practice-based research. The School of Fine Art offers MPhil and PhD by project and thesis. Research degrees in the School of Fine Art are aimed at emerging artists who have worked for some years since their previous studies. It offers the opportunity to develop, realise and present a defined project and thesis within the context of contemporary critical discourses on art and culture. It seeks to explore innovative and speculative models for research within the chosen discipline of fine art and emphasises the formative importance of the role of writing in relation to art-making.
As a research student in the School of Fine Art, you will be based with fellow research students in a subject-specific studio (Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture and Spatial Practice, and Painting), which acts as a centre of gravity for studio discourse. Each research student follows their own programme of research developed in their research proposal under the guidance of their supervisor. As one of our students, you will be expected to produce a coherent and original body of work that combines reflexive art practice with conceptual rigour.
Your research will be self-motivated and independent, enhanced by the following support:
- regular tutorials with your supervisor, who will be a practising artist from our academic staff
- world-class facilities including specialist editing and computing suites, a black box studio, a foundry and a full range of well equipped photography, printmaking, painting and sculpture workshops, all staffed by highly skilled technicians
- a Fine Art Research Programme (FARP) of bi-monthly seminars offering a discursive platform that runs through to the completion of your research. The Fine Art Research Programme has been headed by Senior Research Tutor Yve Lomax since 2002. Key features of FARP include fortnightly seminars, public exhibitions, hosting conferences and creative writing workshops, as well as guest speakers.
- subject-specific workshops
- guest lectures from leading Fine Art practitioners and thinkers
- financial assistance to support the attendance of conferences and for student-run research initiatives
- a weekly Research Methods Course throughout the first year of study, supporting students in the development of their methodology and providing the opportunity to present research to art, design and humanities peers across the RCA.
Current and recent research activities in Painting include work that addresses the discourse, practices and histories of the medium. A significant proportion of research work also extends the language of painting, placing this specialism within an expanded field that includes aspects of installation, object-making, performance and moving image.
Photography seeks research applicants with an interest in theories of representation; the relation between image and language; and the dialogue between the still and the moving image. Current research projects include: photography and trauma; the encounter with the animal; the loop and repetition; depiction and description in photography and literature; ekphrasis; empathy; and faciality.
Printmaking welcomes researchers whose work seeks to extend the language of print through the use of new technologies and innovative uses of traditional methods. Current research activities include: the material image; collage, montage and appropriation; the archive as process of production; print in the public space; digital dialogues.
Research in Sculpture and Spatial Practice considers the partial, situated, relational and decomposed processes and situations of objects. We support research that explores sculptural thinking of bodies, space and time. Current research topics include: the sculptural object in narrative fiction; staging the encounter; transcriptions, scripts and the partial document of performance.
Recent MPhil/PhD graduates include: Runa Islam (Turner Prize nominee 2008); Ian Kiaer (50th Venice Biennale, 10th Istanbul Biennale, 4th Berlin Biennale,10th Lyon Bienniale), Andrea Buttner (Documenta 13, Max Mara Art Prize for Women, 2010) and Katrina Palmer (The Dark Object, Bookworks 2011). There are currently 24 full and part-time research students in the School of Fine Art.
MPhil/PhD Research differs from an MA in that it is a self-directed programme of study based on a research proposal. A well-considered research proposal can take several months to formulate and applicants should bear this in mind as they prepare their application. For full details click here for research degree application guidelines.
The School of Fine Art provides guidance notes for writing a research proposal as well as a proposal workshop in the autumn semester for prospective research students. For further details please contact Richard Makin, Research Administrator (richard.makin@rca.ac.uk), with ‘Fine Art Research Proposal Guidance’ in the subject line of your email.
Dr Patricia Lyons
Research Leader, School of Fine Art
fine-art-research@rca.ac.uk