Digital Media Arts PHD
Why choose this course
Our PhD in Digital Media Arts is an innovative programme that cuts across art, technology, and science, bringing together new forms of interactive storytelling and immersive experiences with contemporary film-making and game design, as well as film, media, and games history and criticism. The fast changing world of digital media means this study is more relevant than ever, with the video game and interactive entertainment industries expected to be larger than the film and television industries combined before the year 2020.
Our Guildford home is one of the largest creative communities in Europe, with the Guardian referring to Guildford as the ‘Hollywood of video games’. The area is home to video game developers such as EA/Criterion, Epic, Supermassive, Media Molecule, nDreams and Hello Games, as well as Pinewood’s Shepperton film studios. We’re also less than an hour from video effects houses in London, and home to many music, audio and video production studios. As a digital media arts researcher you’ll have the opportunity to meet and work with local companies like these through the local G3 Futures Symposia and our 5G Digital Gaming Initiative.
We have close links with the University’s electrical engineering, life sciences and performance studies teams, as well as with industry organisations such as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and the Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH).
You could be supervised by former video game studio directors, technical directors, film and television directors, screen writers, composers, visual effects compositors and supervisors, technical artists, software developers, film and media theoreticians and historians of digital media.
We’re part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council TECHNE PhD funding and training consortium, and could support your PhD with studentships and funding.
What you will study
Our PhD in Digital Media Arts draws together the study of contemporary film-making and game design, as well as film history and games studies into the broader study of culture and mass media. We also consider a wider context of contemporary screen and digital media related activity, including digital culture and multimedia production.
As a student of our PhD in Digital Media Arts you will develop the ability to conceive, design, implement and adapt a substantial process of research with scholarly integrity. You will develop a substantial body of work through original research, which could potentially be published, exhibited, and/or performed nationally and internationally. You will engage with major developments in current and emerging media and technologies and demonstrate an awareness of the significance of work in digital media arts.
As a student studying for a PhD in Digital Media Arts you will have two supervisors, who will guide you through your PhD. Your supervisors will be experienced with creative visual media and at least one will be a researcher in digital media arts. As a cross-disciplinary programme, the PhD in Digital Media Arts allows you to have a mixed supervisory team, with one supervisor from outside the Department of Music and Media. Your second supervisor could come from engineering, computer science, life sciences, or another part of the University. Your supervisor will help you refine your research, assist with your methodology, and be able to read your work.
You will be required to present your research to your peers and our staff at least twice during your studies, normally once around your confirmation and again around the time of your viva.
You’ll be able to join a wide-ranging programme of research and doctoral student training events throughout each year of your course, including conferences, visiting speaker sessions, research meetings, and training workshops. We’ll also provide you with training in research skills, including training provided by the TECHNE research consortium. You’ll also benefit from University-wide training offered by the Researcher Development Programme, which can benefit your personal effectiveness, research management and engagement with stakeholders.
Course facts
| Qualification | Study mode | Course length | Start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PHD | Part-time | 96 months | October 2018 |
| PHD | Full-time | 48 months | January 2019 |
| PHD | Full-time | 48 months | October 2018 |
| PHD | Part-time | 96 months | January 2019 |
| PHD | Full-time | 48 months | April 2018 |
| PHD | Full-time | 48 months | July 2018 |
| PHD | Part-time | 96 months | April 2018 |
| PHD | Part-time | 96 months | July 2018 |
Additional costs
There are additional costs that you can expect to incur when studying at Surrey. Find out more.
Code of practice for research degrees
Surrey’s postgraduate research code of practice sets out the University's policy and procedural framework relating to research degrees.
The code defines a set of standard procedures and specific responsibilities covering the academic supervision, administration and assessment of research degrees for all faculties within the University.
Download the code of practice for research degrees (PDF).
Research themes
- Emerging media
- Practice research
- Creative production
- Art, science and technology interactions
- Virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality
- New immersive experiences
- Visualisation and serious games
- Interactive storytelling
- Virtual cinematography
- Spectatorship, participation and play
- Interactive cinema
- Digital poetry
- Narrative and character portrayal in video games and interactive media
- Acting and performance for animation, games and film
- Embodied media
- Digital aesthetics
- Post-narrative theory
- Media psychology
- Generativity
Our academic staff
- Professor David Frohlich
- Professor Tony Myatt
- Dr Maria Poulaki
- Dr Gavin Stewart
- Jon Weinbren
- Kirk Woolford
Research facilities
As a Digital Media Arts PhD student, you’ll gain access to a wide range of professional audio, video, and interactive production facilities, including:
- Multiple state-of-the-art motion capture facilities
- Film studios with 4K cameras from Varicam, Sony, and Panasonic
- Games labs running Autodesk, Adobe, Unity and Unreal
- Physical Computing tools including Kinect, Raspberry Pi, Arduino
- Edit suites running Avid, ProTools, Logic, Pyramix, ADR
- Lighting and sound-recording equipment
- Electronics workshop
- Foley suites
In addition, you’ll be able to request access to facilities in other departments at the University, including within engineering, life sciences, veterinary sciences, and so on, on a project-by-project basis.
Entry requirements
Applicants are expected to hold a good honours degree and usually a MA in a relevant Arts subject or appropriate professional experience.
Candidates submitting proposals that include practice-based research will be required to provide evidence of appropriate experience and expertise.
View entry requirements by country
English language requirements
IELTS Academic: 6.5 or above (or equivalent) with 6.0 in each individual category.
View the other English language qualifications that we accept.
If you do not currently meet the level required for your programme, we offer intensive pre-sessional English language courses, designed to take you to the level of English ability and skill required for your studies here. The University of Surrey is also an IELTS test centre.
Selection process
Selection is based on applicants meeting the expected entry requirements, assessment of application, successful interview and suitable references where required.
Fees
| Study mode | Start date | UK/EU fees | Oversees fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part-time | October 2018 | £2,130 | £8,000 |
| Full-time | January 2019 | £4,260 | £16,000 |
| Full-time | October 2018 | £4,260 | £16,000 |
| Part-time | January 2019 | £2,130 | £8,000 |
| Full-time | April 2018 | £4,195 | £16,000 |
| Full-time | July 2018 | £4,195 | £16,000 |
| Part-time | April 2018 | £2,100 | £8,000 |
| Part-time | July 2018 | £2,100 | £8,000 |
For fees payable in 2018/19, these will increase by 4 per cent, rounded up to the nearest £100 for subsequent years of study. Any start date other than October will attract a pro-rata fee for that year of entry (75 per cent for January, 50 per cent for April and 25 per cent for July).
Overseas students applying for 2018 entry should note that annual fees will rise by 4% rounded up to the nearest £100.
View a complete list of all fees for our research programmes.
Studentships
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences studentship
Funding information:
This studentship includes a tuition fee waiver (home/EU or international) and a maintenance stipend at current research-council rates for a full-time PhD.Development of novel radiation-grafted powder ionomers for use in high performance alkali membrane fuel cells
Funding information:
Funding status: Directly Funded Project (European/UK Students only) EU/UK fees for 3 years: 2018-19 level £4195 Standard stipend for 3 years: 2017-18 level £14,553 £5k bench fees across three-year projectIntegrated Control Systems for Safe Automated Driving in Emergency Conditions
Funding information:
The studentship will cover fees and a stipend for Home and EU applicants.Metal Halide Perovskites for Photovoltaic and Light-Emission Applications
Funding information:
Applicants must have a masters degree or first class undergraduate (or equivalent) in Chemistry, Materials Science, Physics or Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the time of start of the PhD. The post is open for home-fee qualifying applicants.Postgraduate open afternoon
Visit the University to find out more about studying here
Webinars
Join a webinar and engage with our world-class academics
Discover
Find us
01SE01, Senate House
University of Surrey
Guildford
Surrey GU2 7XH