Students in the PhD in Musicology submit an original research thesis on any topic in musicology for which supervision is available in the Department of Music. Applicants should consult the Department of Music webpages for details of staff expertise. The thesis takes the form of a written text of 80--100K words, subject to a viva voce examination with two examiners (one internal and one external) and an independent chair.

The Computer Music programme allows students to choose between two forms of Thesis submission: (1) by dissertation: a 40-50,000 word thesis together with the proof-of-concept of the technologies developed/discussed, which might include an original composition component together with the technical documentation (e.g. hardware designs, software sources); (2) by publication: 6 -- 8 papers, published (or fully accepted for publication) in international peer-reviewed conference proceedings and recognized journals in the field, with at least two journal items, plus a 15,000-18,000 introductory essay binding the published work. One of the published items might be an original composition work. In both options, the final examination is via a viva voce examination with two examiners (one internal and one external) and an independent chair.