The PhD in Creative Practice is a practice research doctorate based in the School of International Communications at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Practice is a primary method of enquiry, and the creative work forms a substantive part of the contribution to knowledge. The creative work is submitted for examination alongside a written component that locates the project within relevant sub-fields of creative practice and scholarship, theoretically supports its research enquiry, and critically assesses its contribution.

The programme is designed for artists, creative technologists, designers, filmmakers, game makers, media researchers, and sound practitioners who want to conduct research through making. Creative outputs may include compositions, documentaries, exhibitions, films, games, immersive and mixed-reality experiences, installations, screenplays, sound works, or other creative works.

You will work with supervisors whose expertise is appropriate to your project. Research training supports the design, documentation, and critical articulation of practice research, while specialist facilities include a Dolby Atmos-equipped audio post-production and 4K colour-grading suite with DCI-compliant digital cinema projection and an interconnected live room; two dedicated music studios; the Digital Heritage Centre; the Mixed Reality Lab; a Virtual Production (VP) and Motion Capture (MC) studio; and the MacLab.

The doctorate develops through staged progression. You will establish the research enquiry and methods, develop and test the creative work, refine and share the project, and prepare the creative and written components for examination and viva. The precise relationship between practice and writing will be agreed early in the project and reviewed as the research develops.

Who the programme is for

• Experienced creative practitioners who want to develop research through their practice.
• Researchers developing original projects in experiential storytelling, games, immersive media, screen, or sound.
• Artists and creative technologists whose projects connect creative practice with cultural, social, industry, or technological questions.

Special features

• A practice research doctorate in which creative work contributes substantively to knowledge.
• Supervision matched to the project’s creative form, research question and methodological needs.
• Access to specialist facilities for screen production, mixed reality, and sound.
• Research training designed for creative methods, ethics, documentation and critical reflection.
• Opportunities to present, exhibit, screen or otherwise share work during the doctorate.

We supervise projects in which making is integral to the research enquiry. Proposals may work in any medium that the School can supervise and support. We are particularly interested in projects that use creative practice to investigate a research question, rather than illustrating a conclusion reached in advance.

Supervision is organised around, but not limited to, four strands. Projects may sit in one strand or across several.

Immersive, interactive and experiential media

Mixed reality, extended reality, immersive media, experiential storytelling, games, playable documentary, interactive environments and related forms of spatial or participatory practice.

Media, culture, and heritage

Creative projects engaging with screen cultures, identity and inequality, intangible cultural heritage, folk traditions, performance, curation and public presentation. Critical or contextual research in these areas should remain clearly connected to the proposed creative practice.

Screen production and storytelling

Film, documentary and non-fiction media, screenwriting and development, experimental screen practice, serial and platform-based storytelling, and virtual production as a creative and research method.

Music, sound arts and design

Sound art, sound design, music composition, music-led screen practice, music technology, spatial audio, audiovisual composition and research using specialist sound production tools.

Initial enquiries

You should direct your initial enquiry and outline proposal to the PGR Director for the School of International Communications. The PGR Director will advise on the fit of your project and, where appropriate, connect you with potential supervisors. You may review relevant staff profiles before making contact, but all formal initial enquiries should follow this route.

Dr Stephen Goulding

Stephen.Goulding@nottingham.edu.cn

You will normally be expected to have:

• an honours degree at 2.1 or above, or an international equivalent, in a relevant subject; and
• a master's degree at merit level or above in a relevant area.
• Substantial professional creative practice at an appropriate level may be considered in place of a master's degree. Equivalence will be assessed through the quality of your portfolio, your proposal and evidence that you are prepared for doctoral research.

Applications will be assessed in relation to:

• academic achievement and evidence of research readiness;
• the quality, originality and feasibility of the proposal;
• the quality and relevance of the required creative practice portfolio;
• the fit between the project, available supervision and the facilities the School can provide;
• your capacity for independent research and constructive collaboration.

Key dates

We welcome qualifying applications all year round. You may consider either a Spring or Autumn entry that better suits your study plan. To ensure you will be able to register on your desired date, please submit your application at least 3 months in advance. 

2026-27 Academic year (for self-funded applicants)

How to apply

Required: Applicants must submit a written research proposal articulating the applicant’s project using the categories highlighted in the template below.

Optional: Applications may also choose to submit an additional Creative Practice Portfolio including samples of relevant works.

Your proposal should show that you are planning a research project, not only a creative project. We want to understand the ideas that drive you, the field you want to work in, how you already engage with that field as a maker and as an audience member, and how creative practice will help you answer your questions.

Prepare your proposal using the structure below. Suggested lengths are guides rather than fixed limits. Use the space you need and keep the proposal focused.

1. Working title

Give a clear title that names both the creative project and the research question or theme.

2. Project summary (200 words)

Summarise your idea, the field you are working in, your research questions, how creative practice will help you answer them, and what the project will contribute.

3. Starting point (300 words)

What idea, interest or question drives this project? It may begin as a hunch, a feeling, a problem you have noticed, or a work that has stayed with you. Tell us what you want to find out, rather than describing a finished artwork.

Name the field or fields you want to explore. Explain why the project matters to you, to the field, and to audiences or communities beyond it.

For example:

Vampyr (1932) disrupts cinematic continuity to evoke an uncanny psychological experience. I want to explore whether this effect can move from the cinema screen into an immersive experience, and what happens to it when the audience moves through the space.

4. Creative practice context (500 words)

Identify significant examples of creative practice relevant to your project. These might be works you have experienced, viewed, played, visited, studied or read about. Briefly explain what you found important about them, how they have shaped your thinking, and how your project relates to or differs from them.

This section should show an informed and critical interest in the field. An immersive theatre proposal should engage with relevant productions or practitioners. An XR proposal should show awareness of significant XR works and current creative approaches.

5. Scholarly and theoretical context (400 words)

Identify the key scholarship, theory and debates that bear on your research questions. You do not need a full literature review. Show that you know the main conversations in your field and explain how your project connects to them.

6. Research questions (150 words)

State one to three questions that the project will try to answer. Good questions are specific enough to guide what you make and how you reflect on it. They are open enough that making could change your understanding.

7. How creative practice will answer your questions (500 words max)

Explain how making creative work will help you answer your research questions.

Some projects use research to develop a creative work that communicates new knowledge. Others discover new knowledge through making, testing, revising and reflecting on the work. Many projects combine both. Tell us which matters most to your project and how it will shape the research.

Then describe what you expect to do, including:

• the kind of creative work you expect to make, and why that form suits your questions;
• the main research activities, such as prototyping, fieldwork, interviews, archival research, workshops with participants or audience testing;
• how you will record and reflect on your process, so that what you learn through making can be shared and examined. 

Your creative work may change as the research develops. That is expected. We are more interested in how the work will emerge from the research than in a fixed description of the finished piece.

A production workflow is not enough on its own. If your workflow is part of the research, explain what it will help you find out. 

8. Contribution (150 words)

Drawing on sections 5 and 6, state briefly what has not yet been done in creative practice or in research that your project addresses. Then explain what your project will contribute to practice, to knowledge, or to both.

9. Timeline

Provide a phased plan covering the duration of your three-year project.

10. Resources and production requirements

Identify the facilities, equipment, software, materials, technical support, access, travel, participants, crew and production budget your project may require. Distinguish essential requirements from desirable resources and explain how the project could be adapted if a resource is unavailable.

11. Research ethics

Identify relevant ethical issues, including consent, work with people or communities, representation, data management, intellectual property, cultural protocols, health and safety, and other project-specific risks.

12. References

List the scholarly and creative sources cited in the proposal using a consistent referencing style. For creative works, give the creator, title, year and format.

Creative Practice Portfolio

An optional portfolio can be submitted as part of your application. It should demonstrate relevant creative experience, originality and technical or craft ability.

Your portfolio may include:

• a showreel of approximately two to five minutes;
• links to films, documentaries, sound works, games, installations or interactive media;
• scripts, storyboards, design documentation, prototypes or extracts from work in progress;
• brief contextual information explaining the project, your role and the relevance of each example.

You may also include supplementary materials such as concept notes, pitch decks or visual mood boards. The optional portfolio should be provided as a PDF document with additional links where necessary included in the PDF.

Suggested Reading

If creative practice research is new to you, we highly recommend the following reading as a starting point.

• Nelson, R. (2022) Practice as Research in the Arts and Beyond

In addition, here are some further reading options if you want to go deeper.

• Barrett, E. and Bolt, B. (2007) Practice as Research: Approaches to Creative Arts Enquiry
• Batty, C. and Zalipour, A. (2025) Research, practice, knowledge: introducing the creative knowledges enabling framework, Media Practice and Education, 26(4), 461-477
• Bulley, J. and Şahin, Ö. (2021) Practice Research Reports 1 and 2, PRAG-UK
• Candy, L. (2006) ‘Practice Based Research: A Guide.’ CCS Report, 1(2), 1-19.
• Candy, L. & Edmonds, E. (2018) Practice-based research in the creative arts: Foundations and futures from the front line. Leonardo, 51(1), 63-69.
• Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner
• Skains, L. (2018) Creative Practice as Research: Discourse on Methodology. Media Practice and Education, 19(1), 82-97.
• Smith, H. and Dean, R. (2009) Practice-led Research, Research-led Practice in the Creative Arts

Our step-by-step guide contains everything you need to know about applying for postgraduate research.

Fees

Tuition fees are set annually for each degree. See the Graduate School's fee information.

Scholarships

Applicants are eligible to apply for scholarship funding opportunities within UNNC. The most popular of these is the Faculty Scholarship of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Students may also secure funding (based on their eligibility and research topic) from other sources, too, such as the Strategic Development Fund and other Innovation related sources of funding. See the University's PhD scholarships pages for further information.