foundationsresearch training. Will professors in art schools in the future be judged upon their
artistic or their more academic skills? Will the emergence of a generation of artistic
phds lead to an ‘academic drift’ that prevents the promotion of otherwise outstanding
artists to become teachers of painting and music?
This is indeed a question that goes to the heart of the discussion around university
policies and practice- based research. so far we have not seen the conflict arise in cases
of the recruitment of professors or other teachers in the art schools. But it will probably
not be long before this tension will be shown in some countries where the number of
people who have undergone research training or been part of fellowship programmes
is steadily growing.
There are some similarities between the norwegian programme and the Fellowships
in the Creative and performing arts scheme established by the arts and humanities
Research Council in the uK. The aims of these fellowships are:
- To support artists who have not had the opportunity to carry out a significant
programme of research at post- doctoral level within a research environment,
and who would benefit from time to pursue a sustained programme of high
quality practice- led research within the creative and performing arts. The
artist’s own creative/performance practice must be integral to that research. - To enable artists to develop their research careers by working in a research
environment, and by improving their research skills, including developing
their knowledge and understanding of advanced research methods. - To encourage and nurture the development of new or existing research
environments and cultures within the host organization through supporting
the work of individual artists. - To maximize the value of the creative and performing arts by promoting their
dissemination of research outcomes and where appropriate, to facilitate the
knowledge transfer of those outcomes, both to the research community and
to other contexts where they will make a difference.
in order to be eligible for funding under the fellowships scheme the research
questions or problems, the outputs and – most importantly – the research methods,
must involve a significant focus on the applicant’s practice as distinct from history or
theory. The proposed research should also be placed within an appropriate context of
research.
according to the rules established by ahRC the proposed work must have a clear
research focus which distinguishes it from work which is purely a development of an
individual’s professional practice. it should further aim to illuminate or bring about
new knowledge and understanding in the discipline.
The applicant is supposed to demonstrate his or her postdoctoral standing. an
important feature of the programme is, however, the clear distinction between a
postdoctoral standing and the phd. as explained in the funding guidelines:
This does not mean that you must have a doctorate, as long as your CV
demonstrates that you have equivalent experience that would prepare you
for undertaking research at post- doctoral level. For example, if you are able to