University of the Arts Bremen attains right to award doctorates

After a successful four-year pilot phase of the binational Artistic Ph.D. programme, the University of the Arts Bremen (HfK) has attained the right to award doctorates in June 2024. The HfK Bremen has thereby become one of the first German art universities that is privileged to independently and exclusively award the academic degree of Ph.D. in Arts (Doctor of Philosophy) through the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design as part of a hybrid, artistic-scientific doctoral programme. 

The binational Artistic Ph.D. programme at the HfK Bremen is structured to run over four years as a postgraduate course in most cases. As they study for a artistic-scientific doctorate, participants acquire the ability to demonstrate a special scientific qualification, in conjunction with an artistic-design qualification. Given the privilege of the right to bestow doctorates, the HfK Bremen can from now on independently award the academic degree of Ph.D. in Arts (Doctor of Philosophy) for artistic-scientific work in Fine Arts and Design (Integrated Design and Digital Media). 

“The binational artistic-scientific Artistic Ph.D. programme is sustainable, future-oriented and in exceptionally high demand. The award of the right to bestow doctorates confirms the HfK's course of strengthening and advancing artistic-scientific research in Bremen,” says Prof. Dr. Mirjam Boggasch, Rector of the University of the ArtsBremen.

The Artistic Ph.D. programme is primarily taught in English and enables Ph.D. candidates to independently carry out artistic-scientific research projects, to critically reflect on methods and discursive or theoretical approaches, and to establish and present their work in international contexts. They can thus contribute their work to an international network, present it for discussion and develop important starting points and connections for the future. 

The head of the Artistic Ph.D. programme, Prof. Dr. Andrea Sick, emphasises the social dimension of the new effort: “The artistic-scientific doctoral programme at the HfK aims to explore the connections and areas of tension that emerge at the encounters of art/design and science/theory to let these spaces resonate and develop them further.” The Professor of Media Theory continues: “A wide variety of artistic research projects with different methods, topics and questions are and will be part of the programme. They all pursue the common goal of clarifying the social relevance of their artistic research work and also to tackle critical questions about social, economic and cultural developments in an artistic and scientific context.” 

The programme is carried out in cooperation with internationally renowned partner universities as a “Joint Degree”. Participants include Leiden University/ACPA (as well as the Royal Academy of Art The Hague/Royal Conservatoire The Hague), the University of Groningen(together with the Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen/Minerva Art Academy Groningen) and the University of Gothenburg (together with the HDK-Valand Academy). Further partnerships are in the works (including with the ZHDK Zurich).

The doctorate at the HfK Bremen is designed as a structured doctoral programme: In addition to individual, scientific and artistic-practical supervision, candidates take part in scientific-artistic Ph.D. colloquia, courses on artistic research, as well as in workshops with changing thematic focusses every semester, while they also attend equivalent events at the partner universities. Small groups of doctoral students conceive and organise joint exhibitions and symposia: in 2024, the focus was and will be on, among others, on activities at the HfK, in the GAK/Society for Contemporary Art (April 2024), on the HfK exhibition and on the event vessel MS “Dauerwelle” (June 2024), as well as at the Venice Biennale (Summer School September 2024) and also in Groningen (September 2024).

Lead coordinator of the doctoral programme, Dr. Kathrin Gollwitzer-Oh, underlines the significance to attain the right to confer the title on the institutional, operative and strategic level: „HfK Bremen views this as a confirmation of its consistent efforts to further develop the existing Ph.D programme in its dynamic interweaving of theory and artistic practice. This also means strengthening the third cycle at HfK Bremen at large and sustainably. A next step to consolidate and expand this could be an application for a graduate school (DFG Research Training Group).“