DFA Fine Art

Course Summary

Our Professional Doctorate in Fine Art (DFA) course is the longest-running, most developed of its kind, with a group culture and centralised structure that makes it unique. It’s designed for artists from the UK and abroad who wish to make their practice the basis for doctoral study and can be undertaken over three years full time or five years part time. It differs from practice-led PhDs in that you will arrive with an art practice to be analysed and developed rather than a 'project' to be carried out.

Students enrolled on the course are engaged in a wide range of practices, including painting, installation, film, video, performance, photography and printmaking. Unlike a PhD, an exhibition of practice replaces the thesis as the main evidence of research. There’s a strong focus on professional practice and your body of work will represent an original contribution to fine art practice.

Your Future Career

Our course has attracted global attention, with students coming to study with us from as far afield as China, Nigeria, Taiwan, Brazil, Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia, Canada, Russia and Japan. We are proud that this course has helped propel so many of them into successful careers all over the world as gallery directors, deans, professors and teachers of art, as well as becoming renowned exhibiting artists in their own right.

Among our nine students who were awarded the Doctorate last year was the acclaimed artist, Max Hattler. The work of the German video artist and experimental filmmaker has been exhibited and admired at hundreds of film festivals as well as in museums and galleries. His is just one of many success stories. Professor Murtaza Jafri is now the Principal of the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan, while Young-Gil Kim is Professor in Art at Kongju National University in South Korea.