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Victorian College of the Arts
40 Years of VCA
Graduate studies program
The VCA is committed to providing outstanding research training for our PhD and Research Masters researchers across the creative disciplines of Art, Film and Television and Performing Arts as well as in Community Cultural Development (CCD) and Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development (The Wilin Centre). The Centre for Ideas (CFI) supports a range of interdisciplinary PhD researchers and focuses on experimental individual or collaborative projects where opportunities for interdisciplinary research exist between the creative arts and the sciences, humanities and other fields of knowledge.
There are two modes of graduate study available to prospective graduate researchers; graduate coursework programs and graduate research degrees.
Graduate coursework programs
The VCA offers a range of fee paying graduate coursework programs for students who wish to deepen their undergraduate specialisation in a discipline or alternatively develop a new discipline specialisation.
Our graduate coursework programs are taught programs that enable you to engage in specialized studies whilst offering you a cohort experience within a structured program of study. Our graduate coursework programs have been designed to strengthen your area of undergraduate expertise and provide a depth of specialisation that is only possible at the graduate level. As a coursework student, you will have the opportunity to undertake practical training infused with intellectual, reflective and critical enquiry.
Discover a coursework program that suits your needs by visiting the relevant graduate coursework area:
Art, Community Cultural Development, Film and Television, Indigenous Arts Management, Performing Arts.
For more information, contact:
Nic Boileau
Coursework Coordinator, Student Centre
T: +61 3 9685 9349
E: nboileau@unimelb.edu.au
Research Higher Degrees
Research programs, such as a Masters by Research or a PhD (known as Research Higher Degrees or RHDs) allow you to undertake a sustained research project under the mentorship and academic supervision of our expert staff, many of who are practicing, established artists and/or internationally recognized academic researchers in their field. Research at the VCA is characterised by a spirit of enquiry, collaboration and a willingness to cross multi-disciplinary boundaries. The VCA’s practice-led research and creative outputs explore issues of modernity, postmodernity and cross-media experimentation, while performance is known for its innovative interpretation. A productive tension exists between tradition and experimental approaches to research.
We provide a range of research support for our students including research training and two research symposia a year that provide our candidates with a chance to present their research in an interdisciplinary creative forum. We provide funding through the Conference and Creative Research Activity Fund (CCRAF) to assist scholars, performers and practitioners to attend national and international conferences, symposia, performances, exhibitions, and other events at which they present research or creative work that meet Excellence Research Australia (ERA) definitions for research in quality-assured settings. We aim to provide students with accommodation appropriate to their research needs, whether this is studios or traditional research resources. This support is combined with some of the most outstanding research supervisors – both in traditional research and practice-led research modes - in Australia.
If you are an outstanding and creative researcher interested in a graduate research degree (PhD or Masters by Research) from a leading research university located in the cultural heart of a wonderful city, we encourage you to register your interest for a place in our program. Discover a RHD program that suits your needs by visiting the relevant graduate research area:
