At a glance

• Value: US$44,250 (US Dollars) over three years
• You must have been accepted for a doctoral place in one of the Departments of the School of Film, Music & Theatre to be eligible for this scholarship
• Questions about this scholarship can be directed to Ms Eithne Egan, School Manager, School of Film, Music & Theatre eithne.egan@ucc.ie
• Deadline: 15 July

PhD Scholarship in the School of Film, Music & Theatre, University College Cork.

The School of Film, Music & Theatre, University College Cork, is delighted to announce that applications for the Danijela Kulezic-Wilson Memorial Award for PhD students are now open. The Award is intended for students intending to begin their PhDs in September 2025 or January 2026 and has a value of US$44,250 (US Dollars) over three years.

The Scholarship, first offered in 2022, has been made available by Douglas Murray and the WHH Foundation in memoriam Dr. Danijela Kulezic-Wilson, a member of staff in the Music Department until her passing in 2021. Dr. Kulezic-Wilson’s innovative research on film music and sound is respected worldwide and was an outstanding exemplar of interdisciplinary thought.

The award will be made to the applicant who, in the opinion of the selection panel, proposes a PhD in any of the disciplines available in the School of Film, Music & Theatre that is notably innovative and, in line with Dr. Kulezic-Wilson’s research, addresses topics and/or employs methodologies that exhibit interdisciplinarity. The award is available for PhDs employing either scholarly or practice-based approaches, or in any combination permitted by the School’s current doctoral programmes; those in which practice is an integral part are especially welcomed.

The Award is intended to facilitate the creation of a community of PhDs with different disciplinary approaches but overlapping interests within the School. It is desirable that successful awardees will contribute substantially to the academic, artistic, and cultural life of UCC and Ireland; to this end, awardees will be required to contribute to the management of an annual postgraduate symposium intended to showcase the work of the awardees and others.

The Award is particularly intended to support applicants who are unable to obtain funding from elsewhere or fund the costs of a PhD directly. Those with particular financial need are encouraged to contact Ms Egan to discuss their situation.

We encourage the widest diversity of applicants. University College Cork is committed to being a fully inclusive global university. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) are core values under the University’s 2022 Strategic Plan. UCC holds a Bronze Athena SWAN award in recognition of its commitment to advancing equality in higher education. We encourage applications from everybody, regardless of age, care-giving status, disability, ethnicity, gender and/or gender identity or expression status, nationality, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion/creed, and/or sexual orientation. We value the enrichment that comes from a diverse community and seek to promote equality, prevent discrimination and protect the human rights of each individual in line with equality legislation.

The UCC School of Film, Music & Theatre is a place of ground-breaking creative learning and experimentation that promotes parity of esteem for theoretical and practical teaching, research and practice. Our School nurtures the ambitions of all who walk through its doors, and produces the most innovative, pioneering research and analysis of creative practice across disciplines in Ireland. 

Douglas Murray is an Emmy Award-winning film sound designer who has worked in the feature film industry for many years. He has worked on many renowned films, including The English Patient, Cloverfield, Ad Astra and The Batman (2022). In 2020, he earned an MA in Experimental Sound Practice at UCC. The WHH Foundation was founded in 1961 by William H. Hurt and supports a broad selection of causes throughout the USA.

It should be noted that, in addition to the award to be made this year, Douglas Murray and the WHH Foundation have committed to a further two scholarships for prospective PhD students in the UCC School of Film, Music & Theatre, which will be offered in in 2026 and 2027. Details of application processes and deadlines will be announced in due course.

Application Procedure 2025

The applicant should apply for the Award after they have been accepted for a doctoral place in one of the Departments of the School of Film, Music & Theatre. Please note that this round of applications applies to awards for PhDs commencing in the current academic year ONLY, and preferably in September 2025 or January 2026.

The application should include the following:

• A cover letter detailing how the proposed research/creative work addresses the terms of the award (no more than 1000 words).

• A CV detailing prior academic and/or practice-based achievements, such as first degrees, notable public performances. Those that show a relationship to the proposed topic of research are particularly of interest.

Students may be required to attend an interview (in person, where possible; otherwise online) as part of the decision-making process. An award will not be granted until an applicant has accepted a doctoral place within the School of Film, Music & Theatre.

Applications must be received via email by the deadline of 15 July 2025 at the following address: Ms Eithne Egan, School Manager, School of Film, Music & Theatre, UCC, Email: eithne.egan@ucc.ie.

For queries you may contact John Godfrey, Head, School of Film, Music & Theatre, Email: j.godfrey@ucc.ie.

School of Film, Music & Theatre, University College Cork: https://www.ucc.ie/en/fmt/.

Graduate studies in the School: https://www.ucc.ie/en/fmt/graduatestudies/.