Research Degrees Programme

PhD study gives you the opportunity to engage with an area of drama, theatre, scenography or performance in depth and at the highest level of scholarship.

At Central we believe that research into our disciplines often involves exploration in and through the media that we are concerned with. We are well-set to facilitate practice-based research by virtue of our high-specification performance and rehearsal spaces, design studios, workshops, technical infrastructure and specialist support staff. Such activity always has its contexts, and our academic staff are expert in the connections to be drawn between exploratory practice and advanced conceptualising, process and product, making and articulating. We also support conventional academic scholarship into drama, theatre and performance.

Research at Central takes place in a lively environment where advanced thinking, laboratory-style exploration and cutting-edge practice go hand in hand. Central is also committed to enhancing your professional development as future academics in the field, and has a teaching assistant scheme that will give you the opportunity to learn the skills required for teaching. Central’s culture is one of enquiry, innovation and experiment, where staff and students alike are engaged with new and pioneering ideas and practices, and seek to understand these within a wider field of performance and cultural production.

If you are interested in continuing your studies by embarking on a research degree, please review the research proposal guidance document on the How to Apply to Research/Doctoral Degrees page.