Durham is a world-leading centre for research in music, rated in the top three UK departments in the REF 2014 assessment.

We are internationally recognised for our expertise in a range of distinctive yet complementary research areas, working within and between the fields of musicology, ethnomusicology, theory and analysis, music and science, composition and performance. These research interests are reflected in a number of high-profile collaborative projects, many of them interdisciplinary in nature , as well as the work of individual staff members, postdoctoral researchers and research students.

Our research impacts on the world beyond academia in numerous ways, for example through performances and recordings, exhibitions, talks and education projects. Key to this are strong relationships with a range of local, national and international organisations.

We are committed to enhancing equality, diversity and inclusion in music research, and to fostering the positive public impact of our research, including through collaboration with a wide range of non-academic organisations and individuals. We also enthusiastically support the development of open research: as well as supporting open access publication we share many data collections and other research materials with the research community.

We welcome enquiries from anyone who wants to come and research in the department, whether as a research student, postdoctoral or visiting researcher.