Since the winter semester of 2019, the Anton Bruckner Private University has been offering a jointly run, structured artistic-scholarly and scholarly doctoral programme in which early-stage scholars – both academics and artistic researchers – are trained together in the basic principles of research-based thinking and action. In addition, our doctoral students are supervised in their personal doctoral projects by up to three leading international experts in their field.

In our training, we strive for a modern understanding of knowledge acquisition in which transdisciplinary thinking and action, the mutual permeation of practice and theory, and an ethical approach to people and resources are a matter of course.

Our doctoral students have access to studios for dance, the computer music laboratory Sonic Lab, a modern recording studio, and concert halls for a wide range of requirements. They benefit from a vibrant art and research environment at the university and in the European media city of Linz, with its four universities and the Ars Electronica Center. In addition, we offer our doctoral students a broad professional network from the outset through our collaborations with four renowned Austrian and one Swiss university for second supervision: Paris Lodron University (Salzburg), University of Art and Design Linz, Bern University of the Arts (Switzerland) and University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

Through our series PARL – Platform for Art and Research Linz, we invite guest lecturers from a wide range of fields in the arts and sciences to present different approaches in art and research. In the academic year 2022/23, we hosted guests from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium and the USA. Teaching is complemented by workshops and elective courses that provide students with the tools and skills to gain a foothold in the international research community. These range from courses in scholarly writing in English and introductions to research ethics to methods of empirical research.

Regular study time: 6 semesters

Prerequisite: Admission requirement for the Doctoral Programme is the completion of a professionally relevant diploma or master programme or an equivalent programme at a recognized post-secondary educational institution.

The doctoral programme at the Anton Bruckner Private University, an artistic university with strong departments in historical musicology, cultural studies, music education and dance studies, as well as collaborations with internationally renowned partner universities, explicitly supports interdisciplinary approaches and encourages direct reference to artistic and scholarly topics, methods, findings, as well as dissemination and mediation formats.

Artistic-Scholarly Doctoral Programme

The aim of an artistic-scholarly doctoral programme is to realize a research project in which artistic and scholarly methods are related to each other and the result of the research can be understood and communicated on both levels. It is essential that the research project uses one's own art practice as a central focus. Research questions arise from art, the knowledge and experience of the artist and lead back to it. Artistic research often involves interdisciplinary work, but is fundamentally research for art, through art and with the means of art.

In the artistic-scholarly doctoral programme, research fields can be chosen from the following subjects:

  • Historical Performance Practice
  • Instrumental Performance Studies
  • Composition
  • Theory and Practice of Artistic Research
  • Contemporary Performance Practice
  • Contemporary Dance

Degree: Doctor artium (Dr. art.)

Scholarly Doctoral Programme

The scholarly doctoral programme imparts and promotes theoretical understanding and methodological skills at the postgraduate level. The aim of the scholarly doctoral programme is to educate the next generation by teaching the ability to work independently in a scholarly way that goes beyond the academic pre-professional training. Graduates are familiar with the current state of research in their field. They can critically analyze various issues at the intersection of science and art and are able to develop new research questions and work on them in a methodically sound way.

In the scholarly doctoral programme, research fields can be chosen from the following subjects:

  • Interpretation research
  • Cultural studies in the field of musicology
  • Musicology
  • Music education

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


Team Doctoral Programme

Lüneburg, Barbara

Lüneburg, Barbara

Univ.Prof. Dr.

Head of Doctoral Studies, Violin, Multimedia Performances, Composition, Artistic Research

T +43 732 701000 516

Laubhold, Lars-Edvard

Laubhold, Lars-Edvard

Univ.Prof. Dr.

Deputy Head of Doctoral Studies, Music History, Interpretation Research

T +43 732 701000 515

Coden, Enrico

Coden, Enrico

M.A. M.A.

Lupardus, Erin

Lupardus, Erin

M.A.

Scharl, Bernhard

Scharl, Bernhard

Mag. B.A.