Doctoral Research in Information, Communication and Media (MRes/MPhil/PhD)

Research in Information, Marketing, Communication and Media is primarily concerned with the use and impact of communication, media, information and knowledge.

The School of Creative and Cultural Business is active in research across communication, marketing, information and media themes and these interests are reflected in the design of our courses.

The University can offer Information, Communication and Media research degrees in the following broad areas:

Communication and Media

• Media discourse & representation
• Gender and media
• Media history
• Postmodern cultural and media theory
• Publishing
• Fan and celebrity culture
• Media effects, audience reception and participation, and moral panics
• On- and offline bookselling
• Political communication and information
• Digital consumer behaviour
• Export markets
• Services Marketing
• Consumer socialisation and demographics
• Fashion and retail
• Events and festival consumption
• Events management strategy 
• Events and social interaction
• Dark tourism
• Entrepreneurship in the creative industries 
• Knowledge exchange - Collaboration between SMEs and academia
• Transport in remote, rural and island areas
• Transport, cultural identity and place
• Transport service and operational innovation 

Information Management

• Cultural heritage (including digital cultural heritage and local studies)
• Digital Curation (including research data management; creative and cultural resources and business data)
• Information behaviour and use
• Information and digital literacy
• Information and publishing law
• Information for Political Engagement (including social media and political participation)
• Information ethics
• Knowledge Management
• Preservation of intellectual heritage
• Value and Impact of Public Libraries
• The development of new information professionals (including CPD and online learning spaces)

Normal entry requirements are a first or upper second class honours degree of a University of the United Kingdom, or from an overseas University, or degree equivalent qualification, subject to the approval of Robert Gordon University. Applicants holding qualifications other than those above shall be considered on their merits and in relation to the nature and scope of the proposed research programme.

Applicants will normally register for an MSc/PhD or MRes/PhD with transfer to PhD dependent on satisfactory progress. However, applicants who already possess a Masters degree which includes a significant research component could be registered directly for a PhD, subject to a satisfactory research proposal, and clear evidence of research expertise.

Any applicant whose first language or language of previous University-level instruction is not English must normally demonstrate competence in English. This should be a score of IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.

Disclaimer

Course fees are reviewed periodically and so are subject to change for new applicants. All tuition fees are fixed for the duration of a course at the rate confirmed in your offer letter. You will also be liable to pay a graduation fee of £40 before receiving a University award.

All applications should be made via the University's application form for research students. Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Robert Halsall for Communications, Marketing and Media applicants or Dr Andrew Davis for Information Management applicants.

Completed application forms should be accompanied by:

• Two academic references
• A transcript or mark sheet for all graduate qualifications
• A research proposal
  Guidance on Writing a PhD or Professional Doctorate Proposal (PDF 335KB))
• For applicants whose first language or language of university education is not English
  - Certificate of English language competency score of IELTS 6.5 in each of the four test components (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking). Students who can demonstrate successful completion of tertiary (university or college) studies in a country whose national language is English, may be exempted from this requirement

Applying to become a research student