60 PhD programmes in Visual Arts in United Kingdom

 Our PhD Film Studies (Creative Practice) at University of Essex draws on this unique tradition, offering supervision for students in all fields of our wide-ranging staff research expertise, including an exceptional variety of approaches to mainstream and experimental practice, global cinemas, and comparative media.

The School conducts high-quality significant national and international research and offers excellent opportunities for graduate studies, successfully combining modern engineering and technology with the exciting field of digital media.

The Fine Art (DFA) programme of the University of East London has been running for over 20 years. It is designed for artists working across a range of media and methodologies who wish to make their practice the basis for doctoral study.

The Film Studies MPhil/PhD programme from The University of Exeter is  part of a vibrant research culture at Exeter. Staff and research students regularly present their research in the Centre for Research into Film Studies forum, which also hosts visiting speakers. 

A PhD in Art and Design from Birmingham City University, will help you create opportunities to develop research skills that support professional practice, research and/or academic careers within the fields of art, design and the creative industries.

The Doctor of Philosophy programme offered by York St John University enables students to conduct independent, original research that advances knowledge and contributes new insights, policies, practices, or approaches within their chosen field.

The Practice-led Doctor of Philosophy programme offered by York St John University combines creative practice and academic research, enabling artists, writers, and performers to generate new knowledge through their professional work and critical inquiry.

While studying for an MPhil or PhD in Art programme at University of Lincoln, students are expected to undertake independent research in an area of their choice, supervised and supported by a team of academics.

​​This Cultures and Creative Practice programme from University of Nottingham will be particularly relevant to creative practitioners from a broad range of fields who wish to utilise the time and resources offered by doctoral study to develop and critically reflect on their practice and enhance their careers in a relevant creative sector.

The Dramatherapy programme offered by Anglia Ruskin University explores therapeutic practices that use drama, performance, and creative expression to investigate psychological, social, and cultural experiences through advanced research.

The Art programme at Manchester Metropolitan University will help you advance or change your career, deepen your expertise, and expand your research and practical skills.

The aim of the Art and Design (Postgraduate Research) programme offered by the University of Wolverhampton is to give each student the best possible foundation from which to launch further research and career development. 

This Yugoslavism in Contemporary Art PhD degree at Robert Gordon University call seeks an art/cultural historian or practising artist or curator, to conduct research into an aspect or aspects, of the persistence of the Yugoslav past in present post-Yugoslav visual culture.

A University of Hertfordshire PhD degree in Creative Arts is an internationally recognised research degree signifying very high levels of achievement in research, and an original contribution to knowledge in the student’s chosen field.

This Contemporary Art and Activism PhD at Robert Gordon University would examine aspects of the vexed relationship between art and activism.

The Art History discipline at The Open University UK has a strong specialisation in Early Modern Art and Visual Culture that extends from Byzantine art to Northern Europe and the Italian Renaissance.

The Arts, Memory and Communities programme offered by Coventry University investigates the relationships between arts, culture, memory, heritage, identity, and community engagement through interdisciplinary and practice-based research.

The School of Arts at the University of Westminster is home to the Centre for Research and Education in Art and Media (CREAM), one of the most successful and highly rated Arts research centres in the UK. The University of Westminster and its courses are located in London.

The Digital Art and Technology course at University of Plymouth involves creating new experiences through the design and construction of networked, sensing and intelligent ‘things’ and software. Digital Practice is central to exploring the significance that data, its harvesting, processing and manifestation, can play in contemporary culture.

The Aberystwyth University DProf programme combines taught modules with research conducted by students under the supervision of staff who have expertise in the topic of study.