DMA Research Project Guidelines & Human Subjects Protocol
How will the Research Project be used?
The Research Project is an essential part of the student’s DMA work, along with the recital recordings, printed programs, and any written or printed materials relevant to the student's performance and research. When the candidate completes the degree, the entire body of work becomes a part of the collection at Mills Music Library, making it available to performers and scholars for reference and study.
Requirements for the DMA Research Project
- It must enhance the student’s understanding of the major field.
- It must be relevant to current performance and scholarship.
- It must culminate in a tangible object that is cohesive, understandable, and useful to performers and scholars.
- It must include a written document containing the results of the research (the nature and extent of this component will vary).
- It must be compatible with the student’s abilities, interest, and expertise.
- See the important information below regarding HUMAN SUBJECTS.
Within these broad parameters, the student will determine the topic, format, and length of the Research Project under the guidance of their Doctoral Performance & Research Committee (DPRC) and the Director of Graduate Studies.
Project Proposal
Before beginning significant work on the project, the student must submit a “Project Proposal” outlining their plans. Details can be found on the Project Proposal Registration Form.
Proposal Deadline
The proposal is typically submitted during the semester of prelims and is discussed at the Prelim Oral Exam. At the latest, this proposal must be approved by all committee members as well as the Director of Graduate Studies during the semester prior to the semester of graduation.
Examples of DMA Research Projects
| Method book | A textbook taking specific approaches to teaching of repertoire or technique for the candidate’s instrument. Material may be focused on a specialized repertoire (i.e. Extended Techniques) or may cover a group of topics (i.e. Repertoire, Accompanying, Improvisation). |
| Bibliography or catalog | An extensively annotated bibliography or catalog of works that deepens understanding of research on performance in the student’s field. Annotations provide the student’s original thinking and conclusions on appropriate use of the resources included. |
| Collected essays on Doctoral Performance & Research | A cohesive collection of essays on repertoire performed at the student’s DMA Recitals. The collection is presented as a single body of work with a well-structured, consistent format. Such a collection of essays addresses issues like programming methodologies, contexts of the repertoire, and aspects of interpretation brought to bear on the performances. These essays are much more extensive than so-called program notes. |
| Extended essay on a Lecture-Recital | A written presentation of a lecture-recital text with accompanying illustrations and examples. Recordings of musical illustrations are included so that the essay is comprehensible as a cohesive entity. As with the collected essays above, the written document should be more in-depth than is commonly the case with lectures. |
| Edition or premiere performance of a major work | An edition or premiere performance of a major work with extended annotations and commentary on performance techniques, musical interpretation, and editorial procedure. A recorded performance of the work is included. |
| Performance study score | The candidate’s performance study score of a major work with a written analysis and full description of the process of preparing the work for performance. |
| Research paper | An analytical or historical study of a musical work or a body of music that is related to the student’s performance area. The document demonstrates the student’s integration of analytical or historical research into performance, and thus represents a significant contribution to the student’s performance field. |
| Professional-quality recording featuring the candidate as performer | A professionally produced studio recording (not a recording of a live concert performance) featuring the candidate as a primary soloist or ensemble performer. The design of the repertoire content is a cohesive program, with the candidate providing brief essays on aspects of repertoire, program, performers, or any other relevant topics. The candidate assumes a leadership role in all aspects of the project, including planning, production, and editing of the recording. |
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Original composition (Required for DMA Composition) |
The project will be an original composition showing a certain level of ambition and rigor, either in the size or scope of the creative work chosen, e.g. an opera, symphonic work, concerto, to name a few examples. Although it may be based on pre-existing text or other materials, the bulk of the project must be original creative work by the DMA Composition candidate. No additional written component is required. Note: The proposal should contain a thorough discussion of the composition to be undertaken, including the title, instrumentation, and duration of both individual movements and the piece as a whole, as well as compositional techniques and strategies to be used. |
HUMAN SUBJECTS PROTOCOL
The School of Music is committed to respecting all federal and university policies regarding responsible research and scholarship. As a doctoral student preparing to write your PhD Dissertation or DMA Research Project, you will need to determine whether your research is going to involve human subjects.
What is “human subjects” research?
The definition of a “human subject” from the federal guidelines is “a living individual about whom an investigator (professional or student) conducting research obtains data through intervention or interaction with the individual or identifiable private information. Private information includes information about behavior that occurs in a context in which the subject can reasonably expect that no recording is taking place or information the subject has provided for a specific purpose and can reasonably expect will not be made public.”
Does my project involve human subjects research?
The following activities that you may be considering as part of your project constitute human subjects research:
- oral histories
- personal interviews
- questionnaires/surveys
- analyses of existing databases consisting of personal information
- field work
Who monitors human subjects research?
Your research will need to be approved and monitored by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) as part of UW-Madison’s “Human Research Protection Program” (HRPP), which has a comprehensive website: https://irb.wisc.edu/
Who can I contact to confirm whether I’m doing human subjects research?
If you believe your research may involve human subjects as defined above and on the IRB website, please schedule a consultation with an IRB expert to discuss the next steps: https://irb.wisc.edu/education-training/consultation-presentation-request/
Requirements for research involving human subjects
- Complete an online training.
- Submit a human subjects protocol prior to starting work on the project.
- Maintain contact with your IRB throughout the project.
- Obtain “informed consent” from any and all human subjects.
- Properly retain records after completion of the research.
What is the role of my major professor?
Your major professor (research supervisor) is co-responsible for safeguarding the rights of human subjects and must complete all of these steps along with you. Therefore, he or she must consent to the conduct of human subjects research as part of your project.
Last revised September 25, 2025