Study at Cardiff | Postgraduate

Musical Acoustics (PhD/MPhil)

Programme Aims:

To offer knowledge and expertise for a career in the academic world, industry or to pursue a variery of other opportunities in which a strong background in physics is useful and important.

Programme Description:

The wide range of expertise within the School of Physics and Astronomy enables the School to offer a variety of opportunities for higher degrees by research.

The musical acoustics group is interested in the physics of sound production on musical instruments, specialising in the acoustics of guitars and stringed instruments. The main objective of the work is to determine quantitative relationships between the physical construction of an instrument and its final tone quality.

A broad range of experimental techniques is used to study the mechanics of instruments, including laser holographic interferometry. The group also constructs large-scale computer models to predict the behaviour of instruments and to generate sounds for psychoacoustical evaluation. Recently it has established acoustical parameters for the characterisation of musical instruments.

Special Features:

• The Musical Acoustics Group has a wide range of facilities at its disposal in its laboratory, including laser holographic interferometry for visualising the modal properties of musical instruments and a small anechoic chamber, in which we investigate the sound fields generated by the vibrating structure
• Research students take specialist academic courses and courses to develop their communication and personal skills
• There is a full programme of seminars and the individual research groups hold regular meetings where members present new results and discuss their research in detail
• There is an annual postgraduate conference and a research student poster competition
• There are active collaborations with research groups overseas and regular attendance at major international conferences by staff and students

Entry Requirements:

Suitable for graduates with a first or upper-second class honours degree in Physics, Astrophysics, Mathematics, Electronics or a related subject, depending on the research area.

Applicants whose first language is not English are normally expected to meet the minimum University requirements (e.g. 6.5 IELTS).

Supporting materials required:

• Research Proposal                             
• Two academic references and copies of full transcripts

Note: International students pursuing part-time programmes of study are not eligible for Tier 4 General Student) visas and must have alternative leave to remain in the UK if they intend to study at the University in person.

Next intake: The University has four entry points for research degrees; 1st October, 1st January, 1st April or 1st July

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