Overview
The Professional Doctorate in Fine Art has been running at UEL for over 20 years. It is designed for artists working across a range of media and methodologies who wish to make their practice the basis for doctoral study.
Unlike a PhD, an exhibition of artworks replaces the thesis as the main evidence of research, supported by a 15,000 - 20,000-word written report. The programme is designed for artists from the UK and abroad and is undertaken 3 years full-time and 5 years part-time.
Students are engaged in any of the forms of contemporary art, including painting, printmaking, sculpture, film, installation, photography, text-based and digital work. They arrive with a creative practice to be analysed and developed rather than a research question or a project to be carried out. Work-in-progress seminars are the backbone of the programme, building critical, creative and presentational skills and peer support.
Along with twice-yearly exhibitions within and outside of the University, students are given the support to develop their creative practice, professional practice and theoretical research to a doctoral standard.
See examples of our graduates' work on our Fine Art Professional Doctorate alumni page.
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Course modules
NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.
Download course specification
Entry requirements
What makes this course different

Industry experts
You will study on an increasingly prestigious course under the supervision of some of the country leading fine artists and theorists including Michael Pinsky, Debra Benita Shaw and Karen Raney.

Career prospects
Our doctorate has helped develop the work of internationally acclaimed artists such as Max Hattler, the renowned audio-visual artist and animator.

Work exposure
You will have excellent opportunities to exhibit your work and take advantage of our close relationships with many galleries and our regular engagement with professional venues and practices.
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What we're researching
We have maintained an international reputation for artistic innovation and research excellence, due in large part to the work of our high-profile art practitioners and researchers in related fields.
Reader Michael Pinsky is a British artist whose international projects have created innovative and challenging works in galleries and public spaces. He has undertaken many residencies that explore issues which shape and influence the use of our public realm.
Taking the combined roles of artist, urban planner, activist, researcher, and resident, he starts residencies and commissions without a specified agenda, working with local people and resources, allowing the physical, social and political environment to define his working methodology.
His work has been shown at TATE Britain; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chengdu; Saatchi Gallery; Victoria and Albert Museum; Institute for Contemporary Art, London; La Villette, Paris; BALTIC, Gateshead; Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow; Modern Art Oxford, Milton Keynes Gallery, Cornerhouse, Manchester; Liverpool Biennial, Centre de Création Contemporaine, Tours; Armory Center of the Arts, Los Angeles and the Rotterdam International Architectural Biennial. His most recent solo exhibition was at Somerset House, London.
DFA Programme Leader Karen Raney is an academic, former editor, painter and writer whose novel All the Water in the World was published in the US and UK, translated into five languages, and was shortlisted for a Costa Book Award 2020. She was the winner of the 2017 Pat Kavanagh Literary Prize. From 2000-2015 she was editor of Engage Journal of International Visual Art and Gallery Education. Her academic research includes theories of creativity, contemporary art, gallery education, fictional representations of death, and art practice as research.
Debra Benita Shaw is a Reader in Cultural Theory and co-director of the Centre for Cultural Studies Research. She is known internationally as a critical posthumanist interested in urban studies, feminism and science fiction criticism, and has gained considerable recognition in the fields of architecture and critical geography. Her textbook, Technoculture: The Key Concepts (2009) is used in science and technology studies courses around the world and she is regularly invited to address symposia on approaches to urban change, posthuman theory and literary criticism. With Jeremy Gilbert, she organises the yearly seminar series Culture, Power & Politics.
Senior lecturer Antigoni Memou is the author of Photography and Social Movements (2013). She has published in the academic journals Third Text, Photographies, Philosophy of Photography and Ephemera and has presented her research at numerous international academic conferences.
Her research includes the history and theory of photography; the politics of contemporary art; digital image and social media; visual activism and tactical media; art institutions and issues in contemporary display; Latin American photographic practices; the impact of globalisation on art, photography and culture; cultural and critical theory; cross-disciplinary approaches to art history.
Making a difference
UEL is one of the UK's leading modern research universities. In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF), 92 per cent of UEL's overall research was rated as world-leading, internationally excellent or internationally recognised.
Your future career
The Doctorate in Fine Art (DFA) leads to employment outcomes by requiring students to engage with the art industry of galleries, critics, publications, and artist-run spaces outside of the University.
The 60-credit taught module in year 1 includes seminars in art writing and publication, funding and exhibiting.
Job roles
Many doctoral students are already in employment as academics, teachers, curators or artists, and the DFA often leads to an extension of their professional roles or to new employment.

The course had an immensely positive impact on my art practice and professional outlook. It provided me with critical context and support, which led to the creation of a new body of work, progressing from short film towards installation-based works including multi-screen setups and a water screen. The Doctorate has helped me steer my entire artistic practice towards a more considered, grounded, and unified expression, a solid foundation on which to build in years to come."Dr Max Hattler
world-renowned animator, Doctorate in Fine Art at UEL
How you'll learn
This programme is the UK's longest-running Professional Doctorate in Fine Art and is equivalent to a PhD. The full-time model is three years, part-time is five years. The doctoral programme has three strands - creative practice, professional practice and theoretical research - and it is designed to follow, within academic parameters, the organic, foraging, unpredictable nature of art practice.
This distinguishes it from the more academic fine art PhDs. For our students, the proposal is not a project outline to be carried out, but a starting point from which their work can, and does, move in unforeseen directions. Students are supervised by the programme team and by dedicated supervisors drawn from art and design and related areas, who have relevant research and expertise.
Guided independent study
After writing and registering their proposal, students work with allocated supervisors, and a core staff team provides continuity and integration. A strong group dynamic and exhibition culture are central to the programme. Work in progress is aired through regular seminars attended by all year groups. Interim shows take place each year, with critics, curators and artists from outside the university invited in to critique the work. Students are encouraged to seek out and curate their own external exhibitions.
Academic support
Our academic support team provides help in a range of areas - including learning and disability support
Dedicated personal tutor
As a researcher, your personal tutors are the programme team and two, or sometimes three, doctoral supervisors.
Workload
Six work-in-progress seminars are scheduled per semester, with individual tutorials and feedback sessions in addition. The first semester of the programme is devoted to writing the doctoral proposal, supported by the programme team. All students exhibit their work at the yearly showcase exhibition.
Your timetable
A detailed timetable is given out to incoming students before the start of the term and is explained fully during induction. Thursday is the day when DFA seminars and proposal tutorials take place. Supervision can be arranged individually on other days.
Class sizes
There are between 20 and 30 researchers on the Doctorate Fine Art across all years. Work-in-progress seminars are attended by all year groups. Supervisory tutorials are individual.
How you'll be assessed
Knowledge is assessed by:
- Creation of a doctoral proposal accepted for registration
- Work in progress presentations
- Supervisory tutorials
- Annual review process
- Viva examination
Thinking skills are assessed by:
- Creation of a successfully registered doctoral proposal
- Work in progress presentations
- Supervisory tutorials
- Annual review process
- Viva examination
Practical skills are assessed by:
- Work in progress presentations
- Supervisory tutorials
- Annual review process
- Viva examination
Skills for life and work (general skills) are assessed by:
- Work in progress presentations
- Supervisory tutorials
- Annual review process
- Viva examination
Research/project work
Registration of proposal happens within 6 months of enrolment (full time) or 12 months of enrolment (part time) and is back dated to the enrolment date. Supervisors are negotiated according to the student’s research area. Ethics is considered by the student and supervisors, and ethical approval is applied for if relevant, at the time of registration or subsequently. Viva examination takes place after 3 years (full time) or 5 years (part-time). The viva exhibition is the thesis to be examined, supported by a 15,000-20,000 word report.
Students with disabilities and/or particular learning needs should discuss assessments with the Course Leader to ensure they are able to fully engage with all assessments within the course.
Campus and facilities
Docklands Campus, London, E16 2RD
Our waterfront campus in the historic Royal Docks provides a modern, well-equipped learning environment.
Join us and you'll be able to make the most of our facilities including contemporary lecture theatres and seminar rooms, art studios and exhibition spaces, audio and visual labs and a multimedia production centre.
Features include our 24/7 Docklands library, our £21m SportsDock centre, a campus shop and bookstore, the Children's Garden Nursery, cafés, eateries, a late bar, plus Student Union facilities, including a student lounge.
The University of East London is one of the few London universities to provide on-campus accommodation. Our Docklands Campus Student Village houses close to 1,200 students from around the world. We are well connected to central London and Canary Wharf, with London City Airport just across the water. We also run a free bus service that connects Docklands with Stratford campuses.
Who teaches this course
This course is delivered by School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering
The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.