University of the Arts Bremen attains right to award doctorates
After a successful four-year pilot phase of the binational Artistic Ph.D. programme, the University of the Arts Bremen (HfK) has attained the right to award doctorates in June 2024. The HfK Bremen has thereby become one of the first German art universities that is privileged to independently and exclusively award the academic degree of Ph.D. in Arts (Doctor of Philosophy) through the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design as part of a hybrid, artistic-scientific doctoral programme.
The binational Artistic Ph.D. programme at the HfK Bremen is structured to run over four years as a postgraduate course in most cases. As they study for a artistic-scientific doctorate, participants acquire the ability to demonstrate a special scientific qualification, in conjunction with an artistic-design qualification. Given the privilege of the right to bestow doctorates, the HfK Bremen can from now on independently award the academic degree of Ph.D. in Arts (Doctor of Philosophy) for artistic-scientific work in Fine Arts and Design (Integrated Design and Digital Media).
“The binational artistic-scientific Artistic Ph.D. programme is sustainable, future-oriented and in exceptionally high demand. The award of the right to bestow doctorates confirms the HfK's course of strengthening and advancing artistic-scientific research in Bremen,” says Prof. Dr. Mirjam Boggasch, Rector of the University of the Arts Bremen.
The Artistic Ph.D. programme is primarily taught in English and enables Ph.D. candidates to independently carry out artistic-scientific research projects, to critically reflect on methods and discursive or theoretical approaches, and to establish and present their work in international contexts. They can thus contribute their work to an international network, present it for discussion and develop important starting points and connections for the future.
The head of the Artistic Ph.D. programme, Prof. Dr. Andrea Sick, emphasises the social dimension of the new effort: “The artistic-scientific doctoral programme at the HfK aims to explore the connections and areas of tension that emerge at the encounters of art/design and science/theory to let these spaces resonate and develop them further.” The Professor of Media Theory continues: “A wide variety of artistic research projects with different methods, topics and questions are and will be part of the programme. They all pursue the common goal of clarifying the social relevance of their artistic research work and also to tackle critical questions about social, economic and cultural developments in an artistic and scientific context.”
International Networking
The programme is carried out in cooperation with internationally renowned partner universities as a “Joint Degree”. Participants include Leiden University/ACPA (as well as the Royal Academy of Art The Hague/Royal Conservatoire The Hague), the University of Groningen (together with the Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen/Minerva Art Academy Groningen) and the University of Gothenburg (together with the HDK-Valand Academy). Further partnerships are in the works (including with the ZHDK Zurich).
The doctorate at the HfK Bremen is designed as a structured doctoral programme: In addition to individual, scientific and artistic-practical supervision, candidates take part in scientific-artistic Ph.D. colloquia, courses on artistic research, as well as in workshops with changing thematic focusses every semester, while they also attend equivalent events at the partner universities. Small groups of doctoral students conceive and organise joint exhibitions and symposia: in 2024, the focus was and will be on, among others, on activities at the HfK, in the GAK/Society for Contemporary Art (April 2024), on the HfK exhibition and on the event vessel MS “Dauerwelle” (June 2024), as well as at the Venice Biennale (Summer School September 2024) and also in Groningen (September 2024).
Future perspective
Lead coordinator of the doctoral programme, Dr. Kathrin Gollwitzer-Oh, underlines the significance to attain the right to confer the title on the institutional, operative and strategic level: „HfK Bremen views this as a confirmation of its consistent efforts to further develop the existing Ph.D programme in its dynamic interweaving of theory and artistic practice. This also means strengthening the third cycle at HfK Bremen at large and sustainably. A next step to consolidate and expand this could be an application for a graduate school (DFG Research Training Group).“
About the University of the Arts Bremen / Hochschule für Künste Bremen (HfK)
Around 1.000 students from more than 50 countries, 59 professors, 88 staff members in administration and over 150 teaching associates make the University of the Arts Bremen (HfK) a vibrant place.
The HfK is a university of seeming opposites. While deeply rooted in the region, the institution is extremely international in its basic orientation. The HfK is spread out over a number of locations throughout the city with significant differences among them, ranging from classicist to floating to contemporary. The HfK is an art university and a university of music at the same time. These parameters form the foundations of the university and create a framework that allows to strengthen artistic development among its students on a collective, as well as on the individual level.
The range of studies offered include Fine Arts, Integrated Design, Digital Media, as well as Musical Education for Artists and Teachers. Since 2020, the HfK also offers a post-graduate programme of study, an art- and science-based PhD programme with a special focus on Integrated Design and Digital Media.
Open courses, shared conduct of exams, as well as work shops, studios and projects on specific themes all are focussed on fostering dialogue and collaborations. With some 400 events annually the HfK is a pillar of cultural and communal life in the City of Bremen
The relationships among members of the university community, their multi-facetted collaborations, the close knit support provided to students by faculty and staff, as well as the plethora of regional and international cooperations help students grow into strong and distinct personalities. All of this produces works with high impacts on society at large.
Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
Prof. Dr. Andrea Sick, Head of the binational Artistic Ph.D. programme
Phone.: +49 (0) 421 95 95 10 96, Email: a.sick@hfk-bremen.de
Dr. Kathrin Gollwitzer-Oh, Lead Coordinator of the binational Artistic Ph.D. programme
Phone.: +49 (0) 421 95 95 10 28, Email: k.gollwitzer-oh@hfk-bremen.de
Die semantisch ähnlichsten Pressemitteilungen im idw
