SENSE | EXPERIMENT | SURPRISE | UNDERSTANDING

SENSE | EXPERIMENT |
SURPRISE | UNDERSTANDING
PHD RESEARCH IN PRACTICE
A SYMPOSIUM FOR PHD STUDENTS IN THE CREATIVE ARTS
21-22 JANUARY 2016
NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY in association with CHEAD Research Alliance
This symposium will focus on the challenges encountered by researchers-practitioners when
conducting and presenting research that involves creative practice. It intends to be ‘field neutral’,
relating to work across art, design, media, performance, and writing.
PhDs that involve creative practice present particular challenges that may make themselves
evident as knotty questions in the student’s mind:

• What research tradition am I part of – does it have any rules?
• What precedents can I appeal to in framing my research process?
• How can I do justice to my experiences in reporting my research?
• Are there risks in using ideas from other fields?
• How can I build claims to knowledge from experiences/ artefacts/ actions?
• What are valid material forms for my thesis?

If these or similar questions resonate with you as a PhD researcher join us in Nottingham on 21 st –
22 nd January 2016, to hear keynotes from Henk Slager, Stephen Scrivener and Rickard
Lindqvist, to participate in discussions, to socialise with other PhD candidates and supervisors,
and to experience the city of Nottingham.
If you are a PhD candidate, the presentations and discussions will help you develop your view on
your research – please respond to the Call for papers below. If you are a PhD supervisor, please
come and join us too – the symposium will help you guide your students on their research
journey.
To facilitate travel and reduce costs, the symposium will start after Midday on 21 st and finish by
the early afternoon of 22 nd January. Registration will open on 7 th December.
Symposium rates are: Students £45 (scholarship-funded) and £15 (self-funded). Faculty £55.
This will cover refreshments on both days and lunch on 22 nd January.
Call for papers:
If you would like to present a short paper on your work, please send a 300 word abstract to Dr
Iryna Kuksa (iryna.kuksa@ntu.ac.uk) by 30 th November. To help to shape the symposium,
please address one or more of the questions above. The presentations should be 15 minutes
long and PowerPoint / AV facilities will be available.

NTU-CHEAD_PhD Symposium Flyer [PDF 140.4KB]