2 Candidates for a Professional Doctorate (PD) in the arts

Would you like to do doctoral research in which your artistic or creative practice is an integral part? And are you curious, motivated, and eager to engage in a new interdisciplinary artistic research program? The Maastricht Experimental Research In and through the Arts Network (MERIAN) is looking for candidates to develop a research proposal, in order to participate in the Arts + Creative PD- (pilot) trajectory.

What is the PD Programme?
PD stands for Professional Doctorate: a program for investigative professionals in arts and design, who aim to develop their artistic research practice further. The Arts + Creative PD program has been developed by professors from 15 universities for arts and design in the Netherlands. It is currently in a pilot phase: eventually the PD should become the equivalent of a PhD for the Dutch Universities of the Applied Sciences. MERIAN is looking for two PD candidates who want to develop a research proposal in order to start the Arts + Creative PD- (pilot) trajectory in May 2025.

Who are we looking for?

The PD program is open to practicing artists and designers (from all artistic genres and disciplines), teachers and researchers at art schools, and talented graduates. The formal requirements are that you have a relevant master’s degree or a validated equivalent, and an active practice in the arts, design, or other creative domain. Your artistic or creative practice forms an integral part of your doctoral research. In addition, you are eager to engage in interdisciplinary research that is problem-based and methodologically innovative, and which focusses on topics that are artistically, academically, and societally relevant. Your artistic research practice should be related to one of the artistic (inter)disciplines taught at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (at Maastricht Institute of Arts, Conservatorium Maastricht and/or Institute of Performing Arts).

About the Maastricht-style of Artistic Research

Your project should connect to and align with the vision of artistic research of MERIAN. The Maastricht style of artistic research is not equivalent to artists doing academic research, or vice versa. Instead, MERIAN believes the values of artistic research emerge from (and through) specific empirical and analytical practices. MERIAN starts from the premise that these artistic research practices necessarily involve exchanges between art and academia, between artists and scholars, between making and thinking. As a MERIAN PD candidate you mobilize the powers and fragilities of artistic, academic, and professional practices to engage in research that is problem-based and methodologically innovative, and which focusses on interdisciplinary topics that can fruitfully be explored across the arts and academia.

About MERIAN
MERIAN is a collaboration between the Jan van Eyck Academie, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (specifically the research center What Art Knows) and Maastricht University (specifically the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and University College Maastricht at the Faculty of Science and Engineering). MERIAN is an institutional space for the development of new norms and forms of embodied knowledge, aiming to renegotiate relationships between existing cultural- and knowledge institutions to address urgent matters of societal concern.

What does the PD offer?

The PD programme gives you extended time for doing research in and through your artistic practice. During your research, you will innovate your own research methodologies to fit the issues your research addresses, and you will relate critically to the local institutional and geographical context of your research. You will also do some teaching that is relevant to your artistic research practice within the educational programs of the MERIAN partners. The PD programme can be taken full-time (four years) or part-time; the latter with a maximum duration of six years. The PD programme is mostly in English. During the PD, you will receive a salary (scale 11 CAO HBO) and a small budget towards research costs, which you are expected to boost if necessary by applying for funding from other sources. Following and completing a PD trajectory does not result in a formal degree yet (it is expected that the PD is to be legally secured during the pilot phase).

As MERIAN PD candidate, you will be located at and employed by the research centre What Art Knows at the Maastricht Institute of Arts, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. Your supervision team will be a collaboration between artistic and academic expertise from the MERIAN partners, together with professional expertise from relevant partners from the working field.

How to apply?

We do not expect a fully worked out research proposal yet. To apply, please send:

• a first draft of your research idea (max 500 words), in which you include:
  • a research theme and/or questions that emerge from your artistic practice;
  • the artistic and/or academic methodologies you aim to use/develop;
  • how your project relates to relevant artistic, academic and societal contexts;
  • the names of possible supervisors from relevant work field and/or professional practices.
• a portfolio with examples of artistic and academic work, or combinations thereof, that you find relevant for your application in MERIAN. This must at least also include examples of written work;
• a CV.

Please respond to this vacancy via this website.. The deadline for applications is June 16th 2024. Interviews will take place end-June.

Timeline
Following an assessment process involving a panel of relevant experts, minimal two applicants will be selected for entering the pre-PD training Programme run by the national Graduate Committee Arts + Creative, in September and October 2024. In this pre-PD program, you develop your idea into a full research proposal in the format requested by funding partner SIA. In this pre-trajectory, you will be supported by researchers from research centre What Art Knows. Training days will be reimbursed. After an assessment of the research proposal by the national Graduate Committee, a maximum of two candidates will be selected to start the actual PD Programme at MERIAN in May 2025.

More information?
If you have questions about the procedure, contact Ghislaine Boere: Ghislaine.boere@zuyd.nl . If you have questions about the content of the PD programme, you can contact Ties van de Werff, professor (lector) at the research centre What Art Knows (ties.vandewerff@zuyd.nl) .

Diversity and Inclusivity
MERIAN is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive research community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education. We encourage you to apply for this position regardless of your background or identity.