Meet the Team
This handbook has been prepared to help PhD Researchers and their Supervisors find their way through the various School level administrative stages of the PhD Research Degree. This includes information on where to get help, staff responsibilities, procurement and travel arrangements, services, office safety, demonstration / teaching opportunities and local guidance on initial, confirmation and final assessments.
The handbook supplements the information provided by the Doctoral College in relation to policies and procedures.
Your PhD Researcher Representative is Anjuli Grantham and Mark Donnelly will represent your School on University level committees to ensure that your voice is heard, and any concerns raised.
Your key contacts for subject–specific administrative matters are the subject team, Dr Brian Bridges (Research Director), a Postgraduate Tutor/Director of PhD Studies (Dr Adam Melvin), and Ms. Fiona Bradley (Administrative Support).
Note: Please contact Ms Bradley in the first instance, who will direct your query to the appropriate colleague. Dr Melvin is the academic member of staff who has specific responsibility for PhDs as PG Tutor/Director of PhD Studies. Dr Bridges, as Research Director, has overall responsibility for research in the unit, including PhDs.
Working Environment
Desk space for PhDs is available in Derry in Foyle Arts (MQ) building; rooms MQ215 and MQ205.
Desk space in Belfast will be assigned in BA or BC blocks, depending on availability.
Computer labs are also available on our campuses, and there are a number of specialist lab and studio facilities.
Research seminars take place on a regular basis and will be notified by research unit staff at the start of the relevant terms. Other open forum meetings will be convened by the PG tutor with PhD researchers, generally once or twice per semester.
It is expected that full-time funded PhDs will play an active role in departmental life, including regular attendance (at a minimum, at least two days per week, or equivalent), with the exception of periods of fieldwork or research trips excepted).
It is expected that all PhD researchers will make a contribution to the research community through regular attendance on campus at research seminars, presenting at PhD-led seminars and other events, and also through their engagement with their peers around training events, in addition to engagement with regular supervision meetings. (For specific requirements for international researchers on Student Route Visas, please see the Doctoral College website).
Besides attendance at Research Seminar, any further subject-specific training needs should be discussed with the supervisory team for approval by PG Tutor/Research Director and may be supported on a case-by-case basis, budget permitting.
Please make the effort to engage with your campus library (Derry or Belfast) at an early stage in you PhD research. Our library colleagues are a great support to the PhD and research community, so please work with them so that you can get the best out of the resources available, including inter-campus loan (within Ulster) and Document Supply/inter-library loan (from other research libraries). Please note that you can also access other university and research libraries in the UK and Ireland through the following schemes.
SCONUL
SCONUL: borrowing access for PhDs/PGRs for c. 178 libraries including QUB, Irish universities (other than TCD), and a significant number of UK research or university libraries.
ALCID
ALCID: reading access for the main university and college libraries on the island, including TCD (but note, there is no external borrowing access there), but excluding QUB.
View details of ALCID member institutions
NB: if you are an international Student Route visa holder, you may need a visa to visit the Republic of Ireland; please ensure that you check requirements in advance of your trip.
Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies Research
Welcome to your PhD studies in music, drama, film or heritage/museum studies. We are a vibrant multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary unit of approximately 25 PhDs, covering the subject areas above, in addition to interdisciplinary topics which engage with other subject areas, including Irish, nursing, education, computing and peace and conflict studies.
We have also become a more internationally diverse community in recent years, with regions represented including Europe, the Near East, Asia, and the Americas. We regard equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) as a key part of our work and intellectual and creative community, and we are striving to embody this around providing a supportive environment for all of our PhDs, regardless of background: race, ethnicity and/or cultural/national background, gender and/or sexuality, disability, socioeconomic, etc. PhDs can also access supportive communities via staff and student EDI networks, and if they encounter problems, are encouraged to reach out to relevant staff and/or support services.
We currently work primarily across two schools (Arts and Humanities, Derry-Londonderry, and Communication and Media, Belfast), which are both part of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. PhDs will be registered and assigned office space at the campus of the chair of their supervisory team, but will have the opportunity to meet peers at other campuses through research unit seminars (primarily held at our Derry campus) and Doctoral College training and social events (all campuses). PhDs can also access our integrated library facilities across all campuses, as well as discipline-specific resources (music, drama, and film/screen facilities in Derry, and film/screen facilities and gallery spaces in Belfast).

Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
A unique multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary environment for research across and between the fields of drama, film, music, heritage and museum...
Travel and Procurement
Prior Approvals
All DfE-funded and VCRS PhD researchers are awarded a budget each year to be spent on developmental activities to support their research (for instance a training event, attending a conference, collecting data). Agreement for travel and accommodation must be sought from your supervisor prior to proceeding with any booking. Prior approval for all DfE/VCRS expenditure must be obtained from the Research Director.
To arrange travel or other expenses, PhD researchers will usually need to apply for Prior Approval through the Digital Claimant Portal. Once the Prior Approval is approved, this will generate a prior approval (PA) number and a nominal code. The cost centre, PA number and nominal code can be used to book travel through Selective Travel, the University’s travel agent.
When travelling on university business it is important to secure a prior approval as this triggers the university’s insurance policy.
On return from your trip, an expense reimbursement link should be completed – including inputting the prior approval number and appropriate cost centre. Please upload all receipts and a copy of the exchange rate you have used. The University has rules on hotel room costs and note that alcohol cannot be charged. Retrospective applications for trips cannot be reimbursed as you will not have a prior approval number. Expense claims need to be made within 90 days of trip.
Research Ethics and Integrity
The purpose of the ethical approval process is to ensure that any research involving members of the public is well designed, is led and conducted by suitably qualified people, and complies with all relevant policies and laws. Not all PhD projects require ethical approval. In general, Arts and Humanities PhD students only need to apply for approval if they are engaging with/collecting data involving human subjects through, for example, workshops, interviews, or focus groups.
When applying for ethical approval, the information and required forms can be accessed through the Ethics portal. Choose Arts and Humanities from the drop-down menu.
The website includes access to the required forms, and useful templates for the Participant Information Sheets and the Consent Forms.
The Arts and Humanities Ethical Review Committee receives applications year-round, with no fixed deadlines. You should assume that ethical approval will take approximately 4 weeks, though projects involving children or other vulnerable populations may take longer and may need approval through UREC (Ulster University Research Ethics Committee).
Students normally apply for ethical approval around the time of the Confirmation Viva. The Research Ethics Clearance (RG1A) should be completed in collaboration with your supervisor and at least two months in advance of when you plan to collect data. A participant information sheet and a consent form must also be uploaded. These can be adapted from the templates available via the Ethics portal. The forms should have the UU logo and should provide contact details for the lead researcher (the supervisor).
When the application is fully drafted, the supervisor should request a peer review from a colleague with appropriate expertise, to be documented in the RG2 form, and uploaded with the rest of the application to the website. The application will normally be reviewed by the Chair of the Committee and one other research active member of staff with expertise in the subject area or methodology.
In rare cases, it may be necessary to refer the application to UREC. If this occurs, the supervisory team and the student will be issued with additional help and advice to gather the necessary documentation. UREC meets approximately once a month.

Teaching and Demonstrating Opportunities
It is beneficial from a career development point of view for PhD researchers to obtain some teaching experience during their period of study.
The opportunities for teaching will depend to a great extent on the teaching needs within UUBS at any given time and PhD researchers’ area of expertise.
All PhD researchers will be asked to record their areas of teaching interest with the Research Director and these details will be forwarded to Heads of Departments for consideration, should any teaching opportunities arise.
Please note:
- Teaching allocations are at the discretion of Heads of Department and not the Research Director.
- Full-time funded PhD researchers may only teach a maximum of 6 hours per week.
- Teaching would involve mostly seminars and to a lesser extent lecturing.
- Where PhD researchers have been offered teaching, it would be expected that they are provided with teaching support materials where possible.
Assessment Seminars
Expected timeline:
- c.100 days after initial registration (full-time)
- c. 200 days after registration (part-time)
Requirements:
- c.15 minute presentation on progress to dates
- submission of some initial writing (early–stage literature review, perhaps developed from the original proposal document); c.2000 words plus early–stage creative practice or c.4,000 words without creative practice
- revised project aims/research questions (developed from those submitted in proposal)
- Initial project timeline
- Indication of whether ethical approval is required and why
- Issues to consider in the presentation:
- Aims and research questions
- Context: references to key research literature and/or practices
- Discuss methodological issues, including the form of practice, and supporting practice– based materials which will be required
- Discuss progress since registration
Expected timeline:
- 9 months to 1 year after initial registration (full–time)
- 18 months to 2 years after initial registration (part–time)
Requirements:
- 15–20 minute presentation, including details on progress to date
- submission of representative sample of work, to include sample chapter (indicative maximum 8,000–10,000 words; indicative minimum 4,000 words including practice or 6,000 without practice) and, in the cases of practice, representative samples of practice (e.g. substantive creative studies of a particular technique or equivalent to 1/5 to 1/3 of the overall creative portfolio) such that the candidate can demonstrate that they address the project’s stated research questions; in the case of practice, it is also permissible to submit two shorter sample chapters/sections (one lit review, one analytical discussion of practice)
- revised project timeline and progress report (c.1500 words)
- where relevant, draft ethical approval documentation
- Issues to consider in the presentation
- Restate aims and research questions
- Context: discuss updated literature review/review of practices
- Update on methodology, including the form of practice, and supporting practice–based materials which will be required
- Discuss other progress since initial assessment
- Discuss how the project will proceed towards completion, with timeline
Expected timeline:
within third year of research (full–time) or fifth year of research (part–time)
Requirements:
- An assessed 20–minute research seminar presentation (where relevant, incorporating elements of practice) to a group consisting of the Research Director/Postgraduate Tutor, one other member of academic staff that is not the researcher’s supervisor, and members of the PhD community.
- This presentation should summarise the main contribution to knowledge and significance of your PhD to your chosen discipline (or, in the case of interdisciplinary work, combination of disciplines). It should also provide outline details about methodology and structure of the project and you should also use this presentation to reflect upon any challenges associated with this work.
Extensive guidance on final submission of thesis and viva, including Notification of Intention to Submit, and Approval of Examination Arrangements (including internal and external examiners), can be found on the Doctoral College website.
Thesis Requirements
A PhD must make a substantive, original contribution to knowledge, which is embodied within a research study which has both breadth of coverage (e.g. within the context of a literature review or a similar survey of practice) and depth of engagement with a particular problem/issue.
Especially in cases for which practice is involved, the length and format may vary. The following are indicative guidelines:
- Dissertation-only PhD (‘traditional’ form): university guidelines state the maximum word count to be 100,000 words
- Practice–led PhD (PhD in which practice forms a part of the investigatory process, which is examined for the most part through the dissertation): indicative word count 55,000–80,000 words, plus documentation of practice
- Practice–based PhD (PhD in which the major contribution is to be found in the portfolio of works, thematically related, illustrated by a supporting thesis): indicative word count 30,000- 45,000 words, plus portfolio.
For practice-based PhDs, discussions about the nature and scale of the practice, and the form which its documentation might take, should be discussed with your supervisory team at the earliest possible opportunity, in advance of the initial assessment.
Health and Safety
Office Safety
It is everyone’s duty to ensure a safe working environment. Your first point of contact if you have a health and safety query should be your supervisor. The Faculty’s Health and Safety Co-Ordinator is Mr Billy Scampton. Risk assessments are carried out and updated annually.
First Aid/Defibrillators are available from Security on each campus (extension 22222).
In event of an emergency requiring Police, Fire or Ambulance dial (9)999 directly then contact Security immediately. If working late you should make security aware and let them know when you leave.
Fire Safety
If you discover a fire, you should follow the Fire Safety procedures and activate the alarm immediately using nearest break glass point.
Points of Contact
- Ethical approval: Dr Lisa Fitzpatrick
- Expenditure, materials and travel expenses (if scholarship-funded): Fiona Bradley (routine queries), Dr Adam Melvin (specific queries), Dr Brian Bridges (approval)
- Research seminars and events: Dr Adam Melvin and Fiona Bradley
- Conference hosting queries: Dr Adam Melvin (PG Tutor) and Dr Brian Bridges (RD)
- Concerns about progress: Dr Adam Melvin
- Sourcing research literature: Janice McQuilkin, Subject Librarian, Derry, and Lorna Blair and Patricia Doyle, Subject Librarians, Belfast
- Requests to access to specialist facilities (Derry/Magee): Fiona Bradley (who will direct you to the appropriate staff)