The Music and Art Private University of the City of Vienna (MUK) was able to acquire almost one million euros in additional research funding. The university – a subsidiary of Wien Holding – is thus making a lasting impression as a lively research location in the middle of Vienna.
The 2024/25 academic and funding year brings positive news for the Music and Art Private University of the City of Vienna: Six new research projects are supported by funding agencies such as the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Volkswagen Foundation and the City of Vienna. The approved funds totaling 990,000 euros will go to the institution to create additional research positions and enable research papers to be printed.
Research service interface
The research projects were created thanks to the initiative of individual researchers who develop their projects in close collaboration with the MUK research service. The research service was implemented by the Vice Rector for Science and Research, PD Dr. Ass. Prof. Rosemarie Brucher, in 2019.
Third-party funded projects complement and enrich the ongoing research of MUK scientists and teachers in the areas of music theory and composition, film/film music and media, contemporary theater and art education, dance and performance art. In addition, they network the university with international partners and benefit not only the students but also the city of Vienna through events, encounters and dialogue.
Topics: democracy, film and dreams, microtonality and theater
Film scientist PD Dr. Claus Tieber in his four-year FWF project on the influence of sound films on screenplays 1927-1934 the media change that took place with the shift from silent films to sound films. The FWF research project by cultural and media scientist Dr. Marietta Kesting has also already started, which takes a scientific look at promising dreams in the arts.
A comprehensive research project on the importance of queer movements for democracy will be rolled out in March. The project, financed by the German Volkswagen Foundation for more than three years, is led by Dr. Andrea Rottmann from the FU Berlin and brings together partners from science and civil society in Germany and Austria. Dr. Eike Wittrock, Professor of Dance Studies at the MUK, will be working with the Viennese theater maker Dr. Gin Müller develops theater workshops on queer history. Other partners include JLU Giessen and the umbrella organization of German-speaking queer archives, libraries and collections. Eight percent of the total funding volume of around 1.4 million euros goes to researchers at the MUK.
The international and transdisciplinary research into aspects of microtonality in jazz is based at the interface of composition, improvisation and interpretation research. The FWF project is carried out as part of the PEEK program for the development and exploitation of the arts under the direction of Lars Seniuk MMus, professor of trumpet, ensemble and big band at the MUK.
Microtonality in jazz is also the focus of Philipp Gerschlauer’s dissertation project, whose study on the development and implementation of a microtonal keyboard is funded by the cultural department of the city of Vienna. In the project of MUK professors Margit Legler and Andreas Helm, applied results from historical dance research are made fruitful for the pedagogy and reception of music of the Baroque era. The research results are to be published in book form and supplemented by video clips. Last but not least, under the title Acting & Double Consciousness, funding was approved for the printing of a study by Vice Rector Rosemarie Brucher, which presents a new perspective on the development of acting theory at the beginning of the 20th century, which was influenced by psychoscientific discourses.
About the MUK
The Music and Art Private University of the City of Vienna (MUK) is a public institution that offers students in the music and performing arts faculties affordable, excellent artistic, scientific and art education professional training. With currently around 900 students and more than 280 well-known teachers, the MUK brings together internationally outstanding artists in the fields of music, dance, acting, singing and artistic research.
At the locations Johannesgasse, Bräunerstrasse and Singerstrasse, the inner city campus of this only university in the city of Vienna is significantly integrated into the urban and cultural life of Vienna. As a subsidiary of Wien Holding, the MUK is wholly owned by the City of Vienna and, through this sponsorship, is closely networked with other cultural institutions.
Further information and links
Press photo
The photo for the broadcast is in the Wien Holding press area www.wienholding.at/Presse/Presseaussendungen available. Reproduction free of charge in the course of reporting with mention of the copyright.
Image caption: Research at the MUK. In the picture from left to right: Univ.-Prof. Joonas Lathinen PhD (Deputy Head of Doctoral Studies), Hanna Praßl-Wisiak BA BA MA MA and Dr. Julia Meer (Research Service), PD Dr. Claus Tieber, Univ.-Prof. Margit Legler, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Eike Wittrock and PD Dr. Ass.Prof. Rosemarie Brucher, Vice Rector for Science and Research at the MUK. Photo © MUK.