The PhD specialisation in Music Therapy was established in 1993 at Aalborg University and ran as a Nordic research network funded by NorFA. In 1996 the PhD programme was set up as an international research school which in 2008 became one out of five doctoral programmes under the umbrella of the Doctoral School of the Humanities. In 2022, the programme was merged with the Doctoral programme at Department of Communication and Psychology, but kept it’s status as a PhD specialisation in music therapy.

The PhD specialisation has been directed by Inge Nygaard Pedersen (1993-1995), Lars Ole Bonde (1995-1997), Tony Wigram (1997-2011), and Hanne Mette Ridder (2010-present). In April 2016 the 20 years anniversary of the specialisation was celebrated at an international symposium. Since the beginning, over 60 PhD theses have successfully been submitted and defended at a public viva at AAU. See a list of all theses here.

In order to provide an academic research culture with a perspective on practice integrated at all levels of training and research, the doctoral students are expected to document clinical expertise within a specific field. With this as a starting point, the aim is to promote accumulation of clinical evidence, scientific knowledge, advanced competence in research methodology, theory development and international cooperation in a collaborative atmosphere of learning. Clinically based research is increasingly demanded in health care, and the doctoral students are trained in research methodology that is directed towards both process and outcome research. Clinical fields that have been the focus of doctoral research to date are diverse and include autism, paediatrics, psychiatry, neuro-rehabilitation (dementia, acquired brain injury, disorders of consciousness), forensics, psycho-oncology and psycho-somatics.

Pedagogically the doctoral program is informed by the principles of Problem Based Learning, offering strategies where the doctoral students learn through peer-reflections and collaborative peer learning. They are expected to take the role for self-directed and self-regulated learning with problematization as an important driving force. By offering internal courses where the students work with the peer group, invited presenters and the supervisors, a cross-disciplinary and enriching learning community is created where ideas and problems are shared, and where learning has value at an academic as well as at a professional and personal level. The peer group consists of a majority of highly experienced music therapists, but also other professionals, and at all levels of their doctoral training. The newly enrolled students therefore learn from the peers who are at different stages of the research process, and also from the public PhD defences where a committee of three experts discusses and evaluates the research with the candidate.

The PhD is the third cycle of degrees following the BA and the MA and is a three-year full-time researcher training including course work of 30 ECTS. The goal of the PhD specialisation is to train researchers with sufficient theoretical, technical, methodological and applied clinical research knowledge in the field of music therapy research to assure scientific rigor. The biannual PhD courses held at Aalborg University therefore are a central aspect of the collaborative learning. (See information about the PhD courses)

The PhD specialisation in music therapy has a strong foundation in the milieu around the well-established five years integrated BA and MA training in music therapy at AAU and has attracted international researchers with the intention of promoting new scientific areas within music therapy. From 1997 funding was provided by the Faculty of Humanities for the awarding of scholarship grants to students from Denmark and abroad to undertake PhD level research while continuing their clinical work. Several full-time fellowships have been funded by the Faculty of Humanities or by the Danish Research Council. In 2007 the Danish Research Council, Forskningsrådet for Kommunikation og Kultur, handed the award for being the most dynamic research milieu in Denmark to Tony Wigram and Lars Ole Bonde. In 2010 the doctoral programme was awarded a mobility grant of 11 million DKK by the Danish Research Council that allowed a considerable increase in the enrolment of international doctoral researchers. The Department of Communication and Psychology supports the PhD specialisation with an academic environment, research administration and by offering tuition free scholarships.

The PhD specialisation in music therapy is organized within the Doctoral School of Social Sciences and Humanities  at AAU and follows the Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions (PhD Order) and the regulations and curriculum of the Doctoral School of SSH. The programme works within the objectives that doctorateness implies the demonstration of advanced scholarship and academic enquiry. The training offered through courses and supervision is aimed to enable students to carry out independent and original research in defined areas, and to produce PhD theses demonstrating a high level of academic skills and scientific rigour.

Quality of supervision is a high priority at the Doctoral Programme in Music Therapy. The internal regulations require students to meet targets for their research as specified under Regulations and Guidelines, and the quality, structure and procedures of supervision are significantly influential in ensuring that students maintain their timeline and schedule, and produce a high quality doctoral thesis.

The doctoral researchers are not only appointed an affiliated supervisor, but also an external supervisor that has a specific expertise of importance for the research. Apart from this, there is a peer group marker on good supervision as the students present their research progress every six months at the biannual PhD courses and with their supervisor alongside. This ensures that the quality of supervision is placed under continuous scrutiny in conjunction with feedback of the research process from the peer group, from the other affiliated supervisors as well as from invited guest professors.

See a list of supervisors here.

Wigram, T. (2007): Doctoral Research School in Music Therapy, Aalborg University. The article describes the growth of the Doctoral Research School in Music Therapy, and explain some of the important elements of the school.

Ridder, H.M.O. (2015). Doctoral Education: A model of problem-based learning. In K. Goodman (Ed.), International Perspectives in Music Therapy Education and Training: Adapting to a Changing World. Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Limited.