Doctorates

You wish to do a doctorate in the arts?

The HKB makes this possible!
The doctoral programme “Studies in the Arts (SINTA)” is a collaborative initiative between the Faculty of Philosophy and History at the University of Bern and the HKB. The SINTA assists in developing a dissertation and is aimed at both researching artists and scholars. 

In the SINTA, the doctoral students realise their project in a stimulating environment and gain access to artistic and scientific networks. They profit from synergies between the two higher educational institutions and can establish specific areas of competence. 

About us

Graduates from art colleges come with precise questions and topics and want to gain further academic qualifications, while graduates from universities seek practical proximity to the arts. Most of them have dual talents. Some have more artistic and creative experience, while others have more methodical knowledge and writing routine. 

The SINTA is a collaborative initiative between the Faculty of Philosophy and History at the University of Bern and the Bern University of Applied Sciences, Department of the Bern University of the Arts HKB. It is aimed at researching artists as well as scholars who are interested in artistic practice. SINTA is characterised by a combination of different disciplines within the humanities and social sciences, as well as in the arts and thus promotes research and reflection, especially in relation to artistic practices, design and aesthetic issues as well as the connection between art and science. 

The doctoral students realize their own project in a stimulating environment that introduces them into scientific and artistic networks. They benefit from synergies between the two universities and are able to develop specific competencies. Within SINTA, theory and practice are closely intertwined – as are basic and practice-oriented research. In addition to humanities and social science methods, artistic and design research methods also play a role: prototyping and design methods, re-enactment and embodiment, performance studies and historically informed performance practice all come into play in the dissertation projects. 

About 40 doctoral students from the fields of music, theater and dance studies, art history and graphic design, archeology, social anthropology, German studies and Romance studies are currently realising their projects within SINTA. Many are former students or staff members of the Bern University of the Arts HKB, others come from other Art Colleges or Universities – from St. Petersburg to Harvard and from Basel to Zurich. In addition to the work space and the university libraries, students at the HKB have access to the necessary infrastructures such as recording studios, Medialab, media libraries, workshops and printing studios. In 2016, the first graduates successfully completed their doctorates (see completed dissertations). In 2017, the first dissertation was published (Immanuel Brockhaus: Cult Sounds).

Contact

University of Bern
Graduate School of the Arts and Humanities
Muesmattstr. 45
CH - 3012 Bern

E hanna.ambuehl@unibe.ch
T +41 31 631 54 75
 

Artistic-Scholarly doctoral studies

Since 2021, students have the opportunity to realise an artistic-scholarly or a scholarly doctoral project in cooperation with the Anton Bruckner Private University Linz (ABPU). 

The artistic or academic principal supervision takes place at the ABPU, the academic co-supervision at the HKB. The HKB can only provide the academic and no artistic co-supervision. 

Ongoing doctoral projects with participation of the HKB

• Kinda Hassan, composition (2024–2027, artistic supervision: Volkmar Klien ABPU, academic supervision: Cathy van Eck HKB)
• Anda Kryeziu, composition (2024–2027, artistic supervision: Andreas Weixler ABPU, academic supervision: Leo Dick HKB)
• Enrico Coden, traverso (2023–2026, artistic supervision: Claire Genewein ABPU, academic supervision: Annette Kappeler HKB)
• Óscar Escudero, composition (2023–2026, artistic supervision: Carola Bauckholt ABPU, academic supervision: Martin Kaltenbrunner Kunstuniversität Linz, Teresa Carrasco HKB)
• Lara Stanic, composition (2023–2026, artistic supervision: Volkmar Klien ABPU, academic supervision: Thomas Gartmann HKB)
• Hazal Akyaz, Musicology (2022–2025, academic supervision: Markus Neuwirth ABPU, Claudio Bacciagaluppi HKB)
• Santiago Díez-Fischer, Composition (2022–2025, artistic supervision: Carola Bauckholt ABPU, academic supervision: Ellen Fallowfield HKB)
• Karin Hermes, Dance (2022–2025, artistic supervision: Rose Breuss ABPU, academic supervision: Annette Kappeler HKB)
• Wataru Mukai, Composition/Musical Theatre (2021–2024, academic supervision: Carolin Stahrenberg ABPU, artistic supervision: Leo Dick HKB)
• Joanna Wicherek, Piano/Musical Theatre (2021–2024, artistic supervision: Barbara Lüneburg/Till Körber ABPU, academic supervision: Leo Dick HKB)
• Helga Arias, Composition (2019–2022, artistic supervision: Volkmar Klien ABPU, academic supervision: Karin Harasser Kunstuniversität Linz, external third-party supervision: Cathy van Eck HKB)

Admission to the programme takes place once per academic year.

• An online information event is usually held in October.
• February: Application deadline
• April: Admission colloquium in front of the doctoral committee

The number of available places is limited. Interested students are best advised to contact Martin Skamletz as early as possible, who will assist in establishing contact with the supervisors at both universities.

Graduate School Freiburg–Bern for artistic research

In this study program, designed as a three-year integrated bi-national PhD, an MA in Specialized Music Performance (specialization: research) at the HKB is completed in parallel with enrolment in the doctoral program at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, Germany. The artistic supervision of the doctoral students is usually undertaken by HKB teachers within the framework of the MA Specialized Performance. The scientific supervision is provided by HKB researchers associated with the HfM Freiburg or by researchers of the HfM Freiburg.

Current Doctoral Projects with HKB participation

• Pedro d'Avila, Piano (2024–2027, artistic supervision: Edoardo Torbianelli HKB, academic supervision: Manuel Bärtsch HKB in the SNSF project «Nebendarsteller*innen in der Hauptrolle – Pianistische Interpretation um 1900 jenseits der Heroenerzählungen»)
• Tobias Rüetschi, Sound Arts (2024–2027, artistic supervision: Teresa Carrasco HKB, academic supervision: Cathy van Eck HKB)
• Sebastián Alfonso Carrasco Mendoza, lute (2023–2026, artistic supervision: Elena Càsoli HKB, academic supervision: Nathalie Meidhof HKB)
• Cecilia Facchini, Piano (2023–2026, artistic supervision: Edoardo Torbianelli HKB, academic supervision: Manuel Bärtsch HKB in the SNSF project «Nebendarsteller*innen in der Hauptrolle – Pianistische Interpretation um 1900 jenseits der Heroenerzählungen»)
• Arda Yurdusev, Composition (2023–2026, artistic supervision: Simon Steen-Andersen HKB, academic supervision: Nathalie Meidhof HKB)
• Ali Latif Shushtari, Composition (2022–2025, artistic supervision: Xavier Dayer HKB, academic supervision: Nathalie Meidhof HKB)
• Altin Volaj, Composition (2022–2025, artistic supervision: Xavier Dayer HKB, academic supervision: Nathalie Meidhof HKB)

 

 Admission to the Graduate School takes place once per academic year.

• An information session (face-to-face or online) is held in October/November of each year.
  2022 Study Days Artistic Research in Music
• Registration deadline for HKB entrance examination: March 15
• Entrance examination HKB: April
• Acceptance of the dissertation exposé by the doctoral committee of the HfM Freiburg: usually by July

 

Independent doctorates

In addition to the structured doctoral programmes, which have their own curriculum, there is also the possibility of an independent doctorate.

Initial supervision is usually provided by the university awarding the degree, while secondary supervision can be provided by (doctoral) lecturers at the HKB. The doctoral programme takes three to five years to complete. The dissertations can be linked to (and thus financed by) an SNF project based at the HKB or be independent of it. An independent doctorate is based on a topic chosen by the student and within a given project framework. A doctorate co-supervised at the HKB is usually characterised by an interdisciplinary approach and a close connection to artistic or design issues and practices. 
The HKB carries out a wide range of artistic and scientific dissertations. Partnerships exist within a number of Swiss and European universities and colleges in Basel, Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich, Freiburg/Br, Halle, Hildesheim, Salzburg, Paris, Milan, Rome etc.
The conditions for admission, course of study, supervision and graduation vary greatly. Information is available from the heads of HKB Research and the individual research institutes.

PreDoc Research in the Arts

Would you like to apply for a doctorate in the arts? Or are you attracted by the prospect of working in the growing field of art-science collaborations? The PreDoc program Research in the Arts offers the opportunity to develop a first artistic-research project. 

The program: 

• is aimed at people with a background in an artistic discipline or art theory with a curiosity for research processes and practices. It can be studied in two ways: Artists from outside HKB who are curious about research processes and practices are invited to pursue the Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS). Master students at HKB can apply for the program as a specialization within their master studies. The prerequisite is practical experience in the arts and a research idea that can be further developed in the course of the program.  

•  provides a practical and project-oriented insight into artistic research, networks, funding opportunities and various doctoral programs and non-university research contexts,   

• enables students to develop an initial artistic research project that can form the basis for a doctorate or be further developed in non-university practice,    

• aims to develop a concept for your own artistic-research project in a peer group of Master's students and CAS participants from the professional world, which can already be tested to some extent.   

Portrait 

Have you ever thought about doing a doctorate in the arts? Or are you interested in research-based approaches in artistic practice, e.g. as part of art-science programs or research residencies?  

Various doctoral programs, also in cooperation with the HKB, give art school graduates access to a doctorate. In addition, there are more and more opportunities to conduct artistic research outside of universities or to work in transdisciplinary collaborations between art and science.    

The PreDoc program provides an overview of the diverse methodological approaches, discourses and contexts of research in the arts with a specific focus on the doctorate as an emerging field in Switzerland. Participants will gain a practice- and project-oriented insight into various doctoral programs, their requirements and specifics, as well as different research contexts and networks in Switzerland and internationally. It offers orientation in the search for suitable partner universities, doctoral supervisors/mentors, collaborations and funding opportunities. Participants receive individual support in developing their own research ideas. This can serve as the basis for developing a doctoral exposé or research proposal.  

Training objective 

On successful completion of the course, you will acquire the following skills: 

• You will be able to formulate an exposé for an artistic research idea that can be entered into an artistic or scientific doctoral program or implemented for further work in artistic practice 

• You can present a research concept in a comprehensible way and communicate it to different target groups in a suitable format    

• You will be able to formulate a research question for an artistic research project and derive hypotheses  

• You have knowledge of the state of the art in the respective field and the ability to relate this to your own research project  

• You have peer group competence: Be able to put forward their own point of view in a peer group with well-founded arguments and engage with the viewpoints of others; recognize themes and attitudes in the material and review their own stance   

• You are able to research and analyze relevant texts in the respective field of research and critically examine them in their own work    

• You are able to develop research designs for the artistic-scientific research project (problem, research question, objective, theoretical references, suitable methodology, approach, incl. timetable) 

The program starts in September 2025 and includes two block weeks (in HS and FS), 3 get-togethers per semester as well as individual mentoring by the program head and experienced researchers at HKB.    

Depending on the status of the research project, the program can also be completed in a reduced form and/or within one semester after consultation with the program management.  Prerequisites are practical experience in the arts and the submission of a research idea. 

methodology 

Project weeks, individual mentorship, peer-to-peer exchange in the group 

Duration:

September 2025-June 2026  

Application:  

For the second round of the program, there are 5 places available for MA students and 5 places for continuing education students at the HKB. Students from other universities can be considered within existing cooperations with HKB (such as Mastercampus CH in Theatre). 

The following documents must be submitted as 1 PDF:  

Short sketch with a research idea (2 pages), CV with portfolio (3 artistic work samples, f. ex. video, description to be shared via link or QR code) 

Apply using the following link:  

CAS PreDoc Research in the Arts | HKB

Application deadline: May 1, 2025 10:00 AM CET.

Selection interviews will take place on May 21, 2025 hybrid (at HKB or via MS Teams). We kindly ask the applicants to save the date. The decision regarding the invitation to the interview will be communicated on May 16, 2025. 

The events take place in Bern. Attendance on site for the activities is required. For CAS applicants: It is not possible for students from non-EU/EFTA countries residing outside of Switzerland to participate in this CAS. As the programme is part-time, it is not possible to obtain a visa for this CAS.   

Activities:  

 

Kick-off
Fri, September 19, 25, 2 – 4pm (via MS Teams)  

Get-together (HKB, Bern) 
Fri, October 3, 25, 1:30 – 5pm  
Fri, December 12, 25, 1:30 – 5pm  
Fri, January 23, 26, 1:30 – 5pm  
Fri, March 6, 26, 1:30 – 5pm   
Fri, May 15, 26, 1:30 – 5pm   

Y toolboxes (HKB, Bern) 
Research in the Arts I: Exploring: November 10-14, 25  
Research in the Arts II: Sharing: April 13-17, 26